A funny thing happened
Stand-up comic Lawrence Leung didn't seek it, buthe has becomean inspiration to Chinese-Australians with hit showsat home and abroad, writes Sue Green
Lawrence Leung didn't plan to become a role model. His stand-up comedy and high-rating television shows do not draw on issues such as racism, a goldmine for some of Australia's "ethnic" comedians. Nor does he make jokes about Chinese culture and his background - all those Saturday mornings at Cantonese school, for instance.
Yet Melbourne-based Leung, whose parents Doris and Leo moved from Hong Kong to Australia, gets fan mail from many young Chinese-Australians for just that reason.
"I don't think I would jump on my own ethnic background to make jokes out of it," he says. "I guess in one way, by just representing myself as myself, that does the same thing. People aren't looking at me as the stereotype of an ethnic comedian."
Leung, who runs his own "chunnel" on YouTube, says he has many Asian fans - every now and then he looks down from the stage at a comedy festival and realises most of the audience is Chinese. "I have had e-mails saying, 'Thanks for being an Asian face on TV'. I did not set out to be a role model, but I think for some people what I'm doing appeals to their sense of identity."
His shows screened on ABC, the national broadcaster, and Leung says that having an Asian face on a mainstream channel "maybe shows how far Australia has come without actually saying, 'Look at this'. Maybe I am an ethnic comedian without trying to be one".
Like many Chinese-Australian children, "I was raised to be a doctor. I got very strong encouragement from my parents to work very hard at my studies with the aim of becoming a doctor," Leung says.