Last year was a stand-out for Melbourne comedian Ronny Chieng.
Things have been looking up since he decided to enter the comedy game and unleash his unique form of humour to a worldwide audience. He won't forget 2014 for a while.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"It's was a good year!" Chieng says. "I got a lot of award recognition for live performances and my comedy album and I had a good run with ticket sales to the live shows and I managed to step it up a bit and graduate to theatre-level audiences. I also got to go to Asia and tour my own show for the first time.
"I have had a pretty good run as I have only being doing comedy for five years but you do need a bit of luck and you do also have to create your own luck.
"I just keep putting out good stuff and hope that I get some good opportunities. For me personally I think it is a mixture of having a pretty unique voice and angle and having some good material to back it up."
Chieng's comedy material must be working having sold out comedy festival shows in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. The multi-award winning comedian took his smash hit solo show Chieng Reaction around the country, and also released his debut Live comedy album, The Ron Way which also received a 2014 ARIA Award. If that wasn't enough – he has also supported international acts like Dave Chappelle which he says "was unbelievable to be asked to do it and unbelievable to actually do it".
Not bad for a guy who had been destined to be a banker or lawyer. Chieng has some pretty impressive academic credentials having attended the prestigious University of Melbourne and graduating with a bachelor of commerce and a bachelor of laws. However, for now comedy fits like a glove and is something he's always considered doing.
"I used to watch Seinfeld as a kid and I distinctively remember wanting to do it but I didn't do anything about it for like 20 years," Chieng says.
"I saw Seinfeld on TV and told my mum that would be something cool to try one day and she was like OK 'here is a five-year-old telling me what they want to when they grow up' sort of thing and what would they know, right!
"I think I very much fell into it and it is a bit of a drug doing comedy - you know getting a room full of people to laugh and getting a room full of people who are expecting to laugh to laugh is one of the hardest things.
"All that alchemy of trying to spin something out of nothing is challenging at times."
Chieng makes it look easy; his laid-back and uniquely confronting style is appealing to a broad cross-section of the community. In his latest show, You don't know what you are talking about, Chieng tackles the broad topic of idiocy and our inability to say, "I don't know".
"The common thread of my comedy shows is conflict and, I guess, the frustration of people who either argue with you or just say stuff which is blatantly incorrect and nobody calls them out on it.
"I guess a part of the show is explaining conflicts I get into with other people."
RONNY CHIENG is performing as part of the Canberra Comedy Festival
When: Thursday, March 18
Where: Canberra ANU Arts Centre Theatre
Tickets: $35 available from canberracomedyfestival.com.au
