Interview: Rarely Asked Questions – Ken Cheng: Page 2 of 2

News: Comedians Ken Cheng And Evelyn Mok Appear In New Documentary Series

6. What do your parents think of your job?

They are fine with it. Supportive generally. I already dropped out of university before I started comedy so anything's an improvement from that. 

7. What’s the worst thing about being a comedian?

You can often feel like what you do is worthless. Sure, people enjoy laughing, but there are so many funny things in the world, and you're competing with hundreds of thousands of comedians as well as the internet. This gets especially bad when you sometimes forget what's funny. The thing nobody talks about is how relentless it is, in terms of how much you have to keep being funny, keep putting out more content. Once the dopamine from a good gig wears off, it's like, okay, next thing. 

8. I think you are very good at what you do (that’s why I’m asking these questions). What do you think of you?

Thanks I'm inclined to agree with you. I think if I tried to breakdown exactly what I thought I was good and not good at, this would last hours, but overall I rate myself highly. I'm still improving loads every day though and that's all part of it.

9. How much do you earn and how much would you like to earn?

I probably am getting to the point where I could earn enough from comedy to get by but ideally I'd earn a lot of money. Enough to buy a house really. I don't know exactly how much exactly, maybe like 737k? That will probably leave me with enough for me to support my family after my death.

10. How important is luck in terms of career success – have you had lucky breaks?

I think luck is very important but there are different types of luck. There's the sort of luck that you ended up successful not directly through your conscious decisions, but through other factors out of your control. That luck is certainly the most prevalent but that's true in loads of things. But certainly even with that, talent still has some bearing. Having played poker for a living, you have to always deal with the fact that everything is a combination of luck and skill. I've had all sorts of luck so far. I'm lucky to have even discovered comedy at all. Winning Dave Joke of the Fringe was incredibly lucky. It's all a gamble sure, but the cards fall how they fall.

11. Alan Davies has said that comedians fall into two categories - golfers and self-harmers. The former just get on with life, the latter are tortured artists. Which are you – or do you think you fit into a third category?

 

I think I naturally flit between the two. I think you can easily fall into the latter; it's a tough industry mentally and emotionally and you can get bogged down by it. But also there's a point where you have to go, right, I gotta just get on with it. I gotta push back all those fears and doubts and just do it. 

12. Who is your favourite person ever and why – not including family or friends or other comedians?

 

Ken M. He is the master of trolling and who I base a lot of my online interactions on. 

13. Do you keep your drawers tidy and if not why not? (please think long and hard about this question, it's to settle an argument with my girlfriend. The future of our relationship could depend on your response).

 

Does it count that you don't keep anything in your drawers because it's all over the floor? I'm not that tidy. I hope that response breaks you guys up. 

 

 

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