Jason Leong Vying for Funniest Person

Jason Leong is setting his sights on representing Malaysia in the Funniest Person in the World competition, an international competition organized by Hollywood’s Laugh Factory.  The 31-year-old doctor has been doing stand-up comedy full-time for two years now.   He added that his weekly visits and participation in open stand-up comedy shows are his approaches to sharpen his comic skills, making him the hardest working comedian in the country.  Initially, he started telling jokes with racial themes but he gradually shifted to personal experiences, funny things that happen to ordinary persons like him.

There are 89 contestants from 56 countries in the competition and voting is done online by choosing the video clip of a particular comedian.  On December, the top 20 contestants whose video clip has the highest votes will perform live in the semi-finals in Finland.  There are two from Malaysia (Leong and Harith Iskander) but only one will have the chance to represent the country.  Leong said that people should vote for him for he belongs to a new breed of comedians with international exposure in Australia, US, Hong Kong and the Philippines, among others.

According to Leong, stand-up comedy in Malaysia started six years ago and has grown much through the years as evidenced by the increasing number of people, mostly Malaysians, buying tickets to watch their shows.  There are about 30 Malaysians doing stand-up comedy, 10 of whom can be considered professionals or regulars.  However, the industry is still in its initial stages as compared to its European and American counterparts.