Ep24 Hung Le (Comedian since 1992, refugee in 1975 from Vietnam, classical music comedy, travelling everywhere with comedy, working on cruise ships)

Uncomfortable Truths

Hung Le - Melbourne comedian legend! He was the first Asian comedian to perform in Australian comedy clubs and on TV, back in 1987, and he was very successful. In 1975, as a child, Hung and his family had to flee Vietnam when South Vietnam finally fell to North Vietnam. He is one of the first ‘boat people' and his story is incredible! I read his autobiography The Crappiest Refugee by Hung Le – an amazing story! Well worth reading.

We talk about how he first started performing with a classical string quartet, The Como String Quartet, busking in the Bourke St. mall in Melbourne. He was the 3rd violinist, the 5thmember of a quartet, and he became the clown, the funny guy who interacted with the audience, danced with members of the audience, and made everyone laugh.

In 1987 they entered Red Faces on Hey Hey It’s Saturday Night, an incredibly popular live entertainment show on Channel 9 at the time, and they won! The Como String Quartet toured all over Australia and performed in Edinburgh and England. At their peak, the Como String Quartet performed on the Muppets! At the time, that was considered the highest privilege in show business.

Hung went on to try solo stand up comedy in 1992, and has been working as a professional comedian ever since. He has had comedy shows in all of the festivals here in Australia year after year, as well as Edinburgh and Montreal. He has also performed live and on TV in Kenya, the Philippines, and other parts of Asia.

His story is funny, sad, shocking, exhilarating, eye-opening, and educational. I feel very lucky to have had Hung tell me his story. I hope you get as much out of this conversation as I did.