By the sound of it, 10am is too early for Paul Chowdhry to be giving an interview. His deadpan baritone comes over the phone from London slurred with sleep. 'What time is it there?' he wants to know. It's 5pm.
'That means the show will be in the afternoon [London time]. That's a strange time for comedians to perform,' he says, referring to tonight's stand-up routine at the Punchline Comedy Club.
If he's not totally awake for the interview, at least he comes across sharper on stage. His sardonic delivery cloaks an acerbic wit that cuts at his subject matter. The approach was a hit at last year's Edinburgh Festival, where his audiences grew by word of mouth, and it's gained him roles in film and television.
He played himself in the John Malkovich film Colour Me Kubrick, and a role in the stage play Finding Bin Laden nearly led to a part in a planned screen version of it. He missed out on that, but still jokes about it.
'I played a Taleban warlord,' says Chowdhry. 'As far as I know, Osama bin Laden is playing my role. He's more of a name. Obviously people would come to see Osama bin Laden more than they would come to see me.'
The stage role typecasts Chowdhry, but it's the climate of post-September 11 and post-London bombings that influences much of his stand-up routine.
'People see you as an Asian comedian, whereas the other two guys coming to Hong Kong [Sean Meo and Michael McIntyre] aren't Asian comedians - they're just British. But they're not referred to as 'English white comedians'.