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Culture<br />
UPCLOSE: EMAN LAM<br />
Dancer and stand-up comedian Eman Lam<br />
has performed at some of the biggest clubs in<br />
New York, and now she’s launching a bilingual<br />
stand-up night in the city, Stand Up HK. She tells<br />
Jessica Wei about being a woman in comedy, the<br />
stand-up community in Hong Kong, and having<br />
to talk about dicks and balls.<br />
HK Magazine: When did you start doing stand-up?<br />
Eman Lam: I started doing stand-up a little more than four<br />
years ago. I started in Hong Kong, but I go to the US once or<br />
twice a year, and any time I travel I’ll do stand-up every day.<br />
HK: What’s the difference between performing in<br />
North America and Hong Kong?<br />
EL: <strong>The</strong>re’s a huge difference. People [in North America] are<br />
very supportive of stand-up. People actually pay money, there<br />
are many, many comedy clubs, and it all goes very well. I did<br />
exactly the same set that I do in Hong Kong, and over there I<br />
got a lot of laughs. In Hong Kong, it’s tough because everyone’s<br />
from somewhere else. <strong>The</strong> cultural stuff is hard—it’s hard to<br />
get people to feel for you and laugh at the same things. I try to<br />
write my stuff with fewer cultural differences and more about<br />
food, or relationships—stuff everyone gets.<br />
HK: So what topics generally do well here for you?<br />
EL: I like to talk about relationships a lot. I’m a woman, and a lot<br />
of guy comics mostly talk about dicks and balls. I feel like none<br />
of the female audience members are interested in balls and<br />
dicks, so I just talk about how stupid guys are in general, and<br />
how they try to get girls into bed, that kind of thing. And how<br />
it’s tough to date anyone in a big city.<br />
HK: How big is the stand-up community here?<br />
EL: <strong>The</strong>re’s only one comedy club in Hong Kong, and there are<br />
two or three companies now doing stand-up comedy. But none<br />
of us really have the money to pay the rental to own a comedy<br />
club, so it’s just companies finding venues to do events.<br />
HK: What inspired you to start Stand Up HK?<br />
EL: I got inspired because of the treatment that I’ve been going<br />
through. It’s actually super unfair to do stand-up comedy in<br />
Hong Kong because I’m a woman. It’s a boy’s club. Maybe the<br />
boys are friends, they talk about dicks and balls all the time, but<br />
I’m a woman. I don’t talk about these things with them. <strong>The</strong>y’re<br />
Compiled by Jessica Wei<br />
jessica.wei@hkmagmedia.com<br />
very stingy with my performance minutes, and they don’t give<br />
me a fair opportunity compared to the other comedians. I don’t<br />
know if it’s a sexist thing or I’m just being sensitive, but I feel<br />
like the moment I set up Stand Up HK, every female comedian<br />
joined my company: so actions speak louder than words.<br />
HK: What kinds of differences are there between<br />
the Cantonese and English stand-up communities in<br />
Hong Kong?<br />
EL: I see more and more new local comedians, at least on the<br />
Cantonese side. On the English side, people always come and<br />
go. Maybe they’re teachers in Hong Kong and their schedules<br />
are more flexible to do stand-up, but they come and go. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
might not stick to stand-up for even three or six months, they’re<br />
just trying it out. <strong>The</strong>n they get bored with it and move on.<br />
Not many people actually stay and keep doing it as a passion.<br />
HK: What do you hope to achieve with Stand Up HK<br />
that sets it apart from the others?<br />
EL: We’re the only platform which does both Cantonese and<br />
English sets. <strong>The</strong> existing comedy companies in SoHo only do<br />
English; they stopped doing Chinese [comedy] years ago. I’m<br />
from Hong Kong. We need something in our mother tongue,<br />
to represent ourselves. Chinese people don’t deserve to laugh<br />
now? I want to set up a comedy club for everyone who is here.<br />
As long as you’re in Hong Kong, you’ll have an opportunity to<br />
have a laugh.<br />
Stand Up HK launches with a showcase of eight new<br />
Hong Kong performers, hosted by Lam, on June 18, 7:30pm,<br />
Culture Club Gallery, 15 Elgin St., Central. English show starts<br />
at 7:30pm; Cantonese show at 9:30pm. $160 at the door.<br />
standup-hk.com<br />
Classical<br />
Solomusica: <strong>The</strong> Face of Mercy<br />
In celebration of the Papal year of Mercy,<br />
Solomusica has organized two concerts of Mozart’s<br />
masterpieces: First his Great Mass in C minor,<br />
followed by the seldom-performed “Misericordias<br />
Domini,” a sacred work he composed at the age<br />
of 19 that’s now considered a minor masterpiece.<br />
Featured in this performance by the City Chamber<br />
Orchestra of Hong Kong are Francesca Lombardi<br />
Mazzulli, Roberta Mameli, and Mirco Palazzi from<br />
Italy, as well as Hong Kong’s own tenor Attis Y<br />
Chen. Proceeds go to Save the Children and<br />
Helping Hand. Jun 16, 23, 7:30pm. St. John’s<br />
Cathedral, 4-8 Garden Rd., Central . solomusica.<br />
org. $288-1,450 from ticketflap.com/solomusica.<br />
Voyage with Anne Queffélec:<br />
A tribute to Erik Satie<br />
French classical pianist Anne Queffélec is showing<br />
her roots and delighting Hong Kong audiences<br />
with a musical voyage through 20th century<br />
French classics. Inspired by her 2013 album “Satie<br />
& Compagnie,” she’ll be playing a fun-filled<br />
program comprising works by Satie as well as<br />
his contemporaries Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc and<br />
Reynaldo Hahn. Jun 24, 8pm. Amphitheatre,<br />
Academy for Performing Arts, 1 Gloucester Rd.,<br />
Wan Chai . $280-380 from hkticketing.com.<br />
Paris-Vienna-Budapest: David Greilsammer<br />
Plays with the Sinfonietta<br />
Israeli conductor and pianist David Greilsammer<br />
returns to Hong Kong to perform Mozart’s<br />
Piano Concerto No 17 and conduct the Hong<br />
Kong Sinfonietta through Haydn’s Symphony No.<br />
3, “Drum Roll,” as well as Rameau’s Orchestral<br />
Suite and Ligeti’s “Melodien.” Greilsammer is<br />
a virtuoso who’s collaborated with musicians<br />
and visual artists from a variety of<br />
different musical spectrums,<br />
as well as undertaken<br />
ambitious classical projects:<br />
In 2008, he performed all<br />
of Mozart’s piano sonatas<br />
in a one-day marathon, and<br />
over the 2012/2013 season he<br />
played all 27 of Mozart’s piano<br />
concertos. Jun 26, 8pm.<br />
Concert Hall, City<br />
Hall, 5 Edinburgh<br />
Place, Central.<br />
hksl.org. $150-360<br />
from urbtix.hk.<br />
Masterworks: Jaap & Karen Gomyo<br />
Japanese-French-Canadian violinist Karen Gomyo<br />
and music director of the HK Philharmonic Jaap<br />
van Zweden come together for a two-night stint.<br />
Selections include Rossini’s “La Gazza Ladra”<br />
Overture, Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and the<br />
Asian debut of Dutch composer John Borstlap’s<br />
“Solemn Night Music.”<br />
<strong>The</strong>re will be free preconcert<br />
talks before<br />
both concerts. Jun<br />
17-18, 8pm. English<br />
pre-concert talk<br />
Jun 17, 7:15pm;<br />
Cantonese preconcert<br />
talk Jun 18,<br />
7:15pm. Concert<br />
Hall, Cultural Centre,<br />
10 Salisbury Rd.,<br />
Tsim Sha Tsui.<br />
hkphil.org.<br />
$280-680<br />
from<br />
urbtix.hk.<br />
Bach to the Future<br />
<strong>The</strong> grandaddy of organ music gets the HK<br />
Phil treatment with a tribute concert that takes<br />
his musical innovations and recontextualizes<br />
them within new 20th century masterworks. <strong>The</strong><br />
orchestra will be playing classic Baroque pieces<br />
by Bach, Rebel and Purcell and juxtaposing them<br />
with compositions from 20th century masters Arvo<br />
Pärt and György Ligeti. <strong>The</strong> program will feature<br />
Hong Kong pianist Colleen Lee and American<br />
violinist Caroline Goulding. Prior to the concert, a<br />
performance of Ligeti’s “Poème Symphonique for<br />
100 Metronomes” will be performed by volunteers<br />
from the audience. Concert-goers are encouraged<br />
to bring their own metronomes from home and<br />
register for participation at<br />
education@hkphil.org.<br />
Jun 24-25, 8:15pm,<br />
Poème Symphonique<br />
for 100 Metronomes by<br />
Ligeti in the foyer; 9pm,<br />
Bach to the Future<br />
concert. Concert Hall,<br />
Cultural Centre,<br />
10 Salisbury Rd.,<br />
Tsim Sha Tsui.<br />
$180-380 from<br />
urbtix.hk.<br />
Arcadi Volodos Piano Recital<br />
Russian piano virtuoso Arcadi Volodos returns<br />
to Hong Kong for a recital chock-full of German<br />
classics, such as Schumann’s “Papillons,” Brahms’<br />
“3 Intermezzi” and Schubert’s “Piano Sonata<br />
No. 20 in A.” Volodos has recorded Schubert<br />
sonatas and Rachmaninov solo pieces, as well as<br />
a Gramophone Award-winning album devoted to<br />
Catalonian composer Federico Mompou. Jul 26,<br />
8pm. Concert Hall, City Hall, 5 Edinburgh Place,<br />
Central. $180 to $400 from urbtix.hk.<br />
Comedy<br />
TakeOut Comedy Presents John Robertson<br />
Britain-based Australian comedian, TV presenter<br />
and columnist John Robertson brings his Youtubehit-turned-live-show<br />
“Dark Room,” which merges<br />
stand-up comedy with retro gaming into a liveaction<br />
videogame, to Culture Club. Jun 17, 8pm.<br />
Culture Club Gallery, G/F, 15 Elgin St., Central.<br />
$150 from takeoutcomedy.com.<br />
Jimmy Carr in Hong Kong<br />
One of the biggest comedy names to come out of<br />
the UK, Jimmy Carr makes his Hong Kong debut<br />
in August. Guaranteed in the show: offensive<br />
one-liners, rude anecdotes, and way too many<br />
jokes about his knob. Aug 25, 8pm. King George<br />
V School, 2 Tin Kwong Rd., Ho Man Tin . $488-888<br />
from hkticketing.com.<br />
Dance<br />
Carlos Acosta: A Classical Farewell<br />
After a 26-year career, legendary Cuban ballet<br />
dancer Carlos Acosta is embarking on his final<br />
tour, “A Classical Farewell.” He’ll perform excerpts<br />
from his favorite ballets, including “Swan Lake,”<br />
“La Sylphide,” “Winter Dreams” and “Je ne<br />
regrette rien.” Jun 30-Jul 2, 7:45pm. Hong Kong<br />
Cultural Centre, 10 Salisbury Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui.<br />
$160-520 from urbtix.hk.<br />
Springboard Showcase 2016<br />
<strong>The</strong> Hong Kong Dance Alliance presents a<br />
dynamic program of dance performances.<br />
Included in the program are two world premieres:<br />
“That Day,” by Hong Kong Dance Award-winning<br />
dancer, teacher and choreographer Lam Po, and<br />
two-time HKDA-winning choreographer Justyne<br />
Li’s “Human Internship.” Jun 17, 8pm; Jun 18,<br />
3pm. Kwai Tsing <strong>The</strong>atre, 12 Hing Ning Rd.,<br />
Kwai Fong, hkdanceall.org. $160 from urbtix.hk.<br />
Arts Festivals<br />
Rising Stars of Cantonese Opera<br />
<strong>The</strong> world of Cantonese opera gets another<br />
dose of new blood with the second annual Rising<br />
Stars of Cantonese Opera, unrolling over six<br />
consecutive nights with performances of classical<br />
masterpieces by seven<br />
new rising stars. <strong>The</strong><br />
participating artists<br />
have been trained<br />
by a virtuoso of the<br />
art form: actor and<br />
Stephen Chow<br />
collaborator Law<br />
Ka-ying. Aug 12-17,<br />
7:30pm. “Loyal to<br />
Love” Aug 12-13;<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Lady’s Sash”<br />
Aug 14-15; “<strong>The</strong><br />
Immortal Zhang<br />
Yuqiao” Aug 16-17.<br />
New Wing,<br />
Ko Shan<br />
<strong>The</strong>atre, 77<br />
Ko Shan Rd.,<br />
Hung Hom,<br />
westkowloon.hk.<br />
$80-180 from<br />
urbtix.hk.<br />
24 HK MAGAZINE FRIDAY, JUNE 10, 2016