Review by Steve Bennett

Yes, it’s another ethnic comic getting laughs from a funny accent, a trick that would surely be considered racist had he not got the cast-iron defence that it really was the way his father spoke.

As a performer, Chong’s a livewire with a penchant for cajoling the audience into daft bits of participation, getting them to repeat snatches of Mandarin with silly actions or wave their shoes in the air with abandon.

So far, so jolly. But you can’t help but thinking ‘where’s the beef’ as he runs through all the stereotypes, from eating dogs to bad driving, getting easy laughs all the while.

Then, about halfway through, the substance does arrive, as he describes the shameful ‘white Australia’ policy drawn up by the nation’s first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton, who wanted to stem the ‘tide of inferior and unequal Asians’ into the country. Nice.

This section is hard hitting and informative, though it’s not long until the next bit of nonsense comes along, as Chong recreates the impossibility of the language test imposed on immigrants with an audience volunteer. It’s Playschool, as made by the History Channel.

The mix is rather uneasy, but it works – just about; though the balance would be better for less of the lightweight frivolity such as the ‘Guess the Asian’ gameshow and more sense of purpose. The closing song reiterating all those clichéd images of folk from the Far East is pedestrian, for instance, but the actual story of his dad’s early days in Australia is genuinely interesting.

Despite the mish-mash of styles, Chong, proves himself an energetic guide, light on his feet and able to make merry with the quietest of midweek rooms. When he uses his gregarious charm to make a point, rather than for some Knockabout silliness, it’s the perfect match of style and content.

Review by: Steve Bennett
Adelaide, March 2007

Review date: 1 Jan 2007
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett