KUALA LUMPUR: He may be the only Chinese contestant in the Malay-language reality-based competition, Lawak Solo, but Aaron Aw Teik Hong is unperturbed by it.
In fact, the Aerospace Engineering PhD student from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) is taking it as an opportunity to brush up his language skills.
“My Malay is quite rusty, you know,” said the 31-year-old from Kuala Lumpur.
“Language is not a problem for me. I’ve done stand-up comedy in Cantonese, English and even in Hokkien. I believe you can connect with the crowd from all walks of life, no matter the language because what matters are your body gesture and the tone you use,” he said in an interview with New Straits Times.
Lawak Solo marks Aw’s first foray into the Malay stand-up comedy scene.
Prior to joining the competition, he has been performing stand-up comedy on a part-time basis.
Calling himself a musician-comedian, Aw usually performs with a guitar, whom he affectionally calls his ‘wife’. He has performed at events and even took part in KLpac’s Short+Sweet Arts Festival in 2013 and 2014.
Initially, Aw wasn’t serious about joining the competition and only after he was persuaded by a friend, did he consider it.
“My friend and I were supposed to audition together but he couldn’t make it due to family and work commitments. I was a bit skeptical going ahead but my friend managed to convince me to go. So here I am, selected as one of the 10 contestants of Lawak Solo,” he said, beaming proudly.
The other contestants are Mohamad Danial Mohd Zaini (Penang), Achmad Rusli (Sabah), Mohd Nornizam Mohd Yusof (Selangor), Mohd Hafiz Abdul Ghani (Perak), Ahmad Fadli Mohd Nazari (Seremban), Nor Hisyabudin Bahar (Kedah), Ahmad Fikry Ahmad Ibrahim (Kedah), and Muhammad Ridzuan Ahmad Hasbulah (Pahang).
When asked the most difficult thing about being a stand-up comedian, Aw said with a frown, it was the need to make the audience laugh in the first 10 seconds.
“Otherwise, we will cry. No, really, we need to have sufficient material to last through our set. It’s a tough job because we are constantly being watched on stage,” he said.
Lawak Solo airs every Friday at 10pm on Astro Warna and Astro Mustika HD (channel 132 and 134, respectively), beginning Oct 21 and it will be hosted by Johan from the Raja Lawak fame.