HK International Comedy Festival

The Hong Kong International Comedy Festival (traditional Chinese: 香港國際喜劇節; simplified Chinese: 香港国际喜剧节) is an annual comedy festival in Hong Kong. It was founded in 2007 by the stand-up comedian Jami Gong.

History

The festival was founded in 2007 by the stand-up comedian Jami Gong, who is the founder of the The TakeOut Comedy Club Hong Kong.[1][2] As he was in an airplane, he thought of the idea of creating a film festival and wrote his thoughts on a sickness bag.[3] The first competition featured 20 Hong Kong comedians.[1] The festival has expanded to include comedians from all over the world.[1] Participants in the film festival include the American Tom Cotter, the American Chad Daniels, South African Barry Hilton, the Hong Konger Vivek Mahbubani, the Briton John Moloney, the American Paul Ogata, the American Dwayne Perkins, and the American Tom Segura.[lower-alpha 1]

There are separate English and Chinese language competitions with the latter having only a few participants so is substantially tinier.[7][5] The festival also includes a weekend featuring improvisational comedy.[3] A panel of judges determines the winner based on three categories: how innovative the material is, how the listeners respond, and the quality of their stage presence.[3] The prize in 2013 was US$5,000 and three performance opportunities.[8]

On 31 August 2014, journalist Linda Kennedy's profile of the festival was broadcast on the BBC's The Arts Hour television programme.[9] The Straits Times in 2016 called it "one of Asia's largest comedy festivals".[7] In 2016, the 22-year-old Malaysian comedian Hannan Azlan became the first woman and the youngest person to win.[10][11]

Winners
Hong Kong International Comedy Competition (English Competition)[12]
Year Host Winner 1st Runner Up 2nd Runner Up
2007 Paul Ogata Tom Schmidt Chris Musni Dean Rainey
2008 Tom Cotter Vivek Mahbubani
2009 Kerri Louise Ashley Strand Stuart Schofield Umar Rana
2010 Shecky Wong Andrew Chu GB Labrador Chris Musni
2011 Butch Bradley Tama Churchouse Jinx Yeo Alex Milner
2012 Ruben Paul Rishi Budhrani Joanna Sio Turner Sparks
2013 Paul Ogata Jason Leong Jim Brewsky Ryan Hynek
2014 Tom Cotter Jim Brewsky Alex Milner William Childress
2015 Gina Yashere Drew Fralick Turner Sparks Garron Chiu & Benjamin Quinlan (Tie)
2016 Paul Ogata Hannan Azlan Ben Quinlan Garron Chiu
2017 Ahmed Ahmed Ben Quinlan Andrew Chu Garron Chiu
2018 Barry Hilton Garron Chiu Storm Xu Andy Curtain
2019 *No show held due to Hong Kong protests
2020 *No show held due to Covid-19 lockdown
2021 Jami Gong Pete Grella Steve Lee Kari Gunnarsson
2022 *No show held due to Covid-19 lockdown
Hong Kong International Comedy Competition (Cantonese Competition)[12]
Year Winner
2007 Vivek Mahbubani
2008 Fab
2009 Yebi Hu
2010 Chris M
2011 Chan Lok Tim
2012 Fab
*2012 was the final year for the Cantonese portion of the Comedy Festival

Footnotes

References
  1. Lord, Richard (2018-10-08). "Comedians from around the world to perform at Hong Kong International Comedy Festival". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 2023-05-06. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  2. Parkes, Douglas (2016-10-12). "Preview: Hong Kong International Comedy Festival 2016". Time Out. Archived from the original on 2023-05-06. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  3. Ng, Abigail (2013-08-27). "Interview: Jami Gong - Hong Kong International Comedy Festival". Time Out. Archived from the original on 2015-08-17. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  4. 爛玩精 (2014-09-23). "第八屆香港國際喜劇節" [The 8th Hong Kong International Comedy Festival]. U Lifestyle (in Chinese). Hong Kong Economic Times. Archived from the original on 2023-05-06. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  5. Morin, Clare (2008). "The joker is wild: Jami Gong is on a mission to make Hong Kong Asia's capital of comedy, writes Clare Morin". Time Out. Archived from the original on 2008-11-20. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  6. "香港國際喜劇節　笑聲震天" [Hong Kong International Comedy Festival: loud laughter]. Oriental Daily News (in Chinese). 2015-09-12. Archived from the original on 2023-05-06. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  7. Yong, Nicholas (2012-09-30). "Agenda". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2023-05-06. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  8. Hebert, Sean (2013-08-28). "The 7th Annual HK International Comedy Competition Sep 26-Oct 5". HK Magazine. Archived from the original on 2013-09-05. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  9. Kennedy, Linda (2014-08-31). "The Hong Kong International Comedy Festival: Linda Kennedy reports from Hong Kong". BBC. Archived from the original on 2023-05-06. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  10. Watt, Jarod (2016-10-30). "A Malaysian walks into a bar with a ukulele, asks for Singaporeans, and..." South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 2023-05-06. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  11. Graham-McLay, Charlotte (2017-10-14). "Heard the One About Asia's Comedy Scene? First, You'll Need a Permit". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2023-05-06. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
  12. "Schedule". Hong Kong International Comedy Festival. Archived from the original on 2019-10-26. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
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