Hong Kong stand-up comedian talks about shyness, performing online, live shows, and dying
- Tim Chan is more nervous about a one-to-one conversation than performing in front of a crowd
- For the past two years he has also been performing in English, and his non-fluency enhances his act
Hong Kong funnyman Tim Chan has something in common with many stand-up comedians around the world – and it’s not just a shared love for making people laugh. Like many comics, Chan is an introvert.
“I love to be around friends but I’m not very talkative ... I am actually a very shy person,” says the 34-year-old, who left a career in IT as an app developer to pursue comedy full time in 2018. And he’s not alone. Google “shy comedians” and those fitting that label include Steve Martin, Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey and the late Robin Williams, who have all talked about being quite reserved in real life.
Chan, who is performing at The Hub in Wan Chai this Saturday, says he is more anxious having a one-on-one conversation with a stranger than standing on a stage in front of a big crowd. “I like to impress people by making them laugh and when people say ‘Oh, you’re funny’ it makes me happy,” says the 2011 winner of the Hong Kong International Comedy Festival award (Cantonese category).
Since 2019, Chan has been making people laugh in English as well and he embraces the fact that he is not fluent. In fact, his show this weekend is called “Tim Chan: I Got F in English!” He tries to give insight into the emotional state of the local Cantonese population by tapping into everyday life for his material. He jokes about relationships and Hongkongers’ obsession with food, for example. “I find humour in myself and my simple life,” he says. “ Of course I also mention current issues like a newspaper closing and people leaving the city,” he says, referring to the much-discussed closure of popular local tabloid Apple Daily and a sharp rise in emigration, but always with a punchline. “I’m a Hong Kong comedian so I don’t have money to leave,” he adds.
He started performing in English because he found that the Cantonese comedy landscape wasn’t all that fertile. “It’s challenging because there is very little competition, so there are not many references for me to compare with,” he says.