British comics Russell Howard and Milton Jones look forward to Hong Kong shows

Comedians don’t come much more different than Russell Howard and Milton Jones.

Howard is avuncular, chatty, a spinner of tales and an explorer of subjects with an act drawn from observations of everyday life. Jones specialises in a stream of head-spinning one-liners, surreal deconstructions of language and flights of wordplay fancy, exacerbated by a trademark deadpan delivery and startled, slightly otherworldly, mad-uncle appearance, with eye-straining Hawaiian shirts and anti-gravitational hair.

But both, unusually among stand-ups, tend to steer clear of strong language and material that could cause offence. And that’s why both are performing at the Udderbelly Festival, which until February 14 is serving up a family-friendly mixture of circus performers, comedians, music and dance at Central Harbourfront.

Howard, who performs January 21 to 23, is one of the biggest live-comedy draw cards in his native UK, regularly packing out 10,000-plus-capacity arenas. Having that many people laughing along with you “feels pretty incredible”, he says, but he’s also looking forward to the more intimate Hong Kong shows. “When you’re playing to 300 or so, you can make the show really interactive and fun.”

SEE ALSO: Udderbelly brings a taste of the Edinburgh Fringe to Hong Kong

Howard last performed in Hong Kong in 2004. “My mum was really excited and genuinely asked me if I was doing the gig in English,” he says. “I pointed out that I’d known her for 23 years and I did not have a mastery of the Chinese language.