Performance4a

By Kay Ross State of the Arts, 13 February 2006 The ‘Australia on Stage' program of the City Festival 2006 at the Fringe Club in Hong Kong featured three multicultural Australian stand-up comedians who deconstructed their Asian-Australian-ness: Tibetan-Australian comedian Nick Sun, Anglo-Indian Melbourne girl Georgina Naidu and Hong Kong-born cabaret artiste Rick Lau. Benny Chia, the Artistic Director of the Fringe Club, said: "We love working with Aussie performers; their shows usually have a certain rawness and authenticity about them that suit us to a T, and local audiences have embraced them. Since the announcement of Keating's Creative Nation policy, the Australian government (through the Consulate-General here) has been putting its money where its mouth is. We've been working with Australian artists and arts organisations since 1987, and we've introduced at least 100 acts from Down Under to Hong Kong audiences. Every year we try to bring in new acts and fresh talents to whet people's appetite and keep their interest up." The "Australia on Stage" program was sponsored by the Australian Consulate-General in Hong Kong. Murray Cobban, Australian Consul-General in Hong Kong, said: "Hong Kong audiences love Australian comedians because of their unique sense of humour. Their witty performances are often inspired by individual experiences in the multicultural living environment of Australia. The ‘Australia on Stage' program of this year's City Festival is a celebration of the best Australian-Asian talents nurtured in an open and culturally diverse country." Award-winning comedian Nick Sun is known for his self-deprecating, tongue-in-cheek style. In his show Whatever (18-21 January), he described his comedy as "funny, hopefully". Throughout his act, Nick pointedly insisted that his ethnicity was irrelevant, thereby ironically drawing attention to it. One quip that drew big laughs from Hong Kong audiences was: "I've been here for four days and I still haven't found Chinatown." Melbourne comedian Georgina Naidu poked fun at the weirdness of her Anglo-Indian background in her witty, warm-hearted autobiographical show about home and belonging, Yellow Feather (25-27 January). Backing her up on the onstage sound system was DJ Schmidti, who is of Indo-Fijian-Australian heritage. One of Georgina's funniest lines was: "Essendon football team is so good there's even a place named after them." Cabaret artiste Rick Lau returned to the City Festival after last year's sell-out show, How Now, Rick Lau, with SunRice (25-27 January). It was a light-hearted romp through his life and career, from his childhood in Hong Kong to IT jobs in Europe and the US, and his experiences as a migrant in Australia. Hong Kong audiences, even those who don't speak Cantonese, enjoyed his scenes and asides spoken in Cantonese, because the characters were instantly recognisable. And drawing huge applause was his version of the tongue-twisting song I've Been Everywhere, Man, featuring Hong Kong as well as Australian place names. Outside of the ‘Australia on Stage' program, but still part of the City Festival, visual artist and performer Greg Leong from Tasmania was a guest speaker at a symposium, "Arts Connections: D.I.Y. Touring Arts in Asia". Also speaking at that symposium was Douglas Gautier, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, who is due to take up the role of Director of the Adelaide Festival Centre in May.

 

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