Carlos Vidal
YouTube sensation Carlos Vidal is half Canadian and half Peruvian, but his Cantonese accent is pretty darn good. He rose to fame as the creator of a light-hearted instructional video series in which he explains Cantonese slang. He talks to Grace Brown about Hong Kong’s unique sense of humor.
HK Magazine: How did you come to speak Cantonese so well?
Carlos Vidal: I moved to Hong Kong for two years when I was 19 to do volunteering for my church, and I was told to learn Cantonese. It’s still not perfect and I’m learning new words all the time, but it’s fun. Back in Vancouver I still try to speak it—from hanging out in Richmond [a Chinese area] to just talking to Cantonese students.
HK: Many Chinese have said that Cantonese lends itself to being blunt and, well, rude. Would you agree?
CV: Blunt and forward definitely, but rude—that depends on how your own culture receives theirs. The Cantonese are known for being really forward… Good or bad, they tell you like it is! I got told “You lost weight” or “You gained weight” a lot when I was there. Commenting on someone’s appearance change might seem offensive to a Canadian, or in less “abrupt” cultures, but it’s just normal to Hongkongers. It’s just like saying, “Here’s something that I noticed about you.”
HK: What’s your favorite slang word?
CV: “Chok yeung”—the first video [where] I did that went viral. I think it has 615,000 hits. It’s like Zoolander’s Blue Steel, but in Cantonese—an exaggerated GQ model-style pose to look cool. A lot of Cantonese [people] make fun of each other if they look too “chok.” I just love that phrase. It’s so simple and funny.
HK: How does Hong Kong humor differ from American humor?
CV: Aside from being more forward, I didn’t find sarcasm in Hong Kong. I’ve been learning Chinese since 2005 and only just learned the word for “sarcasm.” Hongkongers are the opposite of sarcastic—they just say it like it is, and that’s what’s so entertaining.
HK: Have you ever been recognized on the street?
CV: For sure, in Vancouver and Hong Kong. One time in Mong Kok, some people took my picture. In Vancouver, it happens mainly in Richmond. One guy stopped talking to his friend on the phone to ask me for a photo! That said, my girlfriend keeps me grounded so it doesn’t go to my head.
HK: How do you balance being funny about Cantonese, without making fun of it?
CV: There are some people who comment that I’m belittling their culture or language. I guess that kind of reaction is inevitable, but I only like poking fun at things in a kind way, so hopefully to the majority that comes across. I think you’re allowed to poke fun at cultures if you have experienced them for yourself, but not if you’re ignorant, because then you’re just basing it on stereotypes. When I made the “gung jyuh behng” [“princess sickness”] video, I said, “I’m acting as a girl with ‘gung jyuh behng,” not, “All girls have “gung jyuh behng.”