Introducing Taiwanese comedian Kuan-wen Huang who brings his debut hour ‘Ilha Formosa’ to the Gilded Balloon.
In his first ever stand-up hour, already nominated as one of the best shows at the Leicester Comedy Festival, Kuan-wen recounts how he traded in his beloved island of Taiwan for rainy Britain and what it means to be Taiwanese after generations of migration and shifting identities.
This show is an ode to his home island. The title ‘Ilha Formosa’ means ‘beautiful island’ in Portuguese. The island was discovered by Portuguese sailors in the 16th century, well before it was incorporated into Chinese territory. For the record, the Taiwanese people are extremely grateful that the Portuguese did not stay...
‘Ilha Formosa’ shows a glimpse into the daily lives of 23 million people who live dually in one of the supposed most vibrant democracies in Asia and also potentially the next tinder box of world conflict, all starting with Kuan-Wen’s own family. He finds humour in the absurdity of world politics and conflicting national identities as he observes his own folks from abroad and how rapidly his home island has been changing. From the famous toy maker to the manufacturing powerhouse that can hold the world hostage with its semiconductor chips.
Kuan-wen is a South London-based comedian and also a UK Chartered Account (CA) and Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA)! He is the only Taiwanese comedian known to perform English stand-up professionally in the UK. For three years in a row, Kuan-wen performed as part of the Yellow Xmas” line up alongside Phil Wang, Nigel Ng, Evelyn Mok, Ken Cheng and Yuriko Kotani. He was invited by the British Library to perform at the opening of the Chinese and British exhibition in 2022.
He has appeared in the Radio 4 show Drop the Dead Panda and writes for and acts in the forthcoming second series of East Mode’with Nigel Ng and is set to perform on the new series of Comedy Central Live.
Kuan-Wen Huang’s ‘Ilha Formosa’ is at the Gilded Balloon - Lounge at 5.40pm from 2nd - 27th August (not 15th). For tickets go here.
What is the last thing you do before you go onstage (apart from check your flies and/or check your knickers aren't sticking out of your skirt and check for spinach between your teeth)
Starting the timer, which is my casio watch. As I run shows myself, I know how annoying it can be when comedians overrun.
I know roughly the length of my gags but I sometimes ad-lib or interact with the front rows a fair bit to make the jokes more tailored to the specific room. That is why I still need to check my watch to see how much time I have left.
A lot of comedy clubs give the acts a light a minute before their set time is up, but I very often just fail to locate the light.
I don’t wear watches in real life in general. Because of comedy, casio watches became one of the few things that should belong to the past but I had to resurrect from my childhood. It makes me look like a nostalgic Japanese dude who is yearning for Japan’s heyday and a return to the Showa era. I can use my smartphone in theory, but it is just too laborious and awkward to unlock the phone to check it halfway through the set. A quick look at my wrist is faster.
What irritates you?
Comedians who are straight men and who say on stage “I am not gay BUT IF I HAD TO SUCK A DICK” or “I am not gay BUT IF IT’S Chris Hemsworth/Jason Mamoa/The Rock/Idris Elba I will kneel down”.
I always feel at this point “If only I could just go grab Chris Hemsworth and get him to whip out his dick. Now DO IT! SUCK IT like you said you WOULD!!!”
It’s not only insincere, this has also been done by so many others so many times. Not to mention they’ve probably never been bullied before as a gay boy. God forbid they bullied gay people in the past themselves and still feel fine doing this gag.
What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done?
Cycling on London roads. In particular, sharing the cyclist lane with angry bankers in lycra, a helmet and a camera on their helmet rushing back to their suburban houses during rush hours. The sight of them always reminds of betta fish, so unnecessarily decorated and so much aggression inside.
What is the most stupid thing you have ever done?
I once sat on the toilet (not just physically sitting there … doing No. 2 is implied) with headphones on, listening to the radio on my phone. Not wireless headphones - I don’t even know why I put them on as I was in my own place, my own toilet. I could have put the phone’s loudspeaker on. I left the phone on top of the counter behind the toilet
When I finished with my business, I stood up to flush the toilet - the phone dove straight into the toilet because the headphones’ cable was suddenly pulled upwards by me standing up. I panicked and immediately pulled the cable to fish my phone out of the toilet water, like fishing a salmon out of a river. I did manage to get my phone out, but even if it was just a brief split-second in the water, it was an unflushed toilet after all. Basically my phone was covered in my own ****.
I used so many wet wipes to clean it and used rice to try to soak the water out. But I am so glad that phone went kaputt because if it still works, I don’t know whether I will have the courage to ever put THAT phone to my face to take a call again.
What has surprised you the most during your career in comedy?
How much British people like puns. Even those most obvious ones that must have been done tens of thousands of times.
Interview continues here.
Picture by Karla Gowlett
