laughter Crafter

HONG KONG-BASED BILINGUAL STAND-UP COMEDIAN AND EMCEE VIVEK MAHBUBANI HAS BEEN A STAGE PERFORMER FOR OVER 15 YEARS. HE CHATS WITH TINA THAKRAR ABOUT FINDING HIS ROOTS AND BUILDING AN IDENTITY IN THE WORLD OF COMEDY

- TINA THAKRAR

It’s the month of April, and the city of Melbourne is abuzz with its annual international comedy festival where hundreds of local and international comics descend on the city for one purpose only - to make people laugh. Among them is Hong Kong-based bilingual comic Vivek Mahbubani, who brings with him a unique brand of observational comedy that’s relatable, fun, clean, and just good-natured, in both English and Cantonese. Frequently featured in the lists of the best comedians in Asia and the world, Vivek has been a stand-up comedian, emcee, host and performer for over 15 years now, and is slowly inching towards taking his comedy to the world stage.

Vivek first tried comedy at the Hong Kong International Comedy Competition in 2007, when he was just a budding 25-year-old web designer who enjoyed watching standup comedy by the likes of Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld and Kevin Hart. “I loved the idea of having a job where you just hold a mic and talk! So when I saw the ad for the comedy competition, I went for it, and ended up winning the Cantonese category in 2007 and the English in 2008. That set the ball rolling.” About 10 years ago, after a few years of setting up his foundation and working on his craft, Vivek went full-time with his comedy.