Saudi-born and Jordanian-raised comic Wonho Chung has made a name for himself turning heads for the past eight years. He commands a fairly singular niche in the Middle Eastern stand-up scene, something he’s aware of.
“I’m a Korean guy who speaks Arabic,” the 33-year-old said over the phone. “You don’t see a lot of those.”
As much as it sounds like a novelty act, something that could have lost its charm after Chung’s big break on the Axis of Evil comedy tour years ago, the comedian has found longevity performing at corporate events, hosting television shows, scheduling public appearances (Palestine was a recent stop), acting as an ambassador for Dubai Tourism Commerce Marketing and honorary ambassador for Korean tourism in the Middle East, and, most recently, filming a “light-hearted” travel documentary in Europe.
On May 2, however, that all comes to a halt. He has a job to do: putting on his first English-language stand-up show in the region at Ductac theatre.
“I realised that I performed in October [in Arabic] and six months down the line, I can’t come up with an entire [new] set,” he said. “I said, ‘You know what? Let me try to do an English-language performance in Dubai.’”
This is virtually unchartered territory for him, as his only prior experience was a half-hour set in Norway at the Oslo Freedom Forum last year.
“It gave me a massive boost of confidence. I remember how I felt days before my performance in Norway, I was super nervous. I kind of have the same feelings now,” he said.
“But from what I hear, tickets are selling faster than my Arabic show, and I know a lot of my friends are coming — even my hairdresser is coming, and a couple of her friends. She’s Japanese, and she’s like, ‘Ah! Wonho Chung!’”
Ahead of his set, he tells us what kind of humour people can expect, and shares how his parents went from thinking he was a clown to believing he was rubbing elbows with Angelina Jolie.
What kind of jokes are you going to be performing?
I want to do a lot of jokes about things that we as Dubaians experience, or like, or get bothered by. An example can be, like, you know when they introduce this thing where you have to fill up your car with gas by yourself after midnight? And for people in Dubai, it’s like, ‘What? Excuse me? Are you really asking me to do [that]?’ Things like people who move to Dubai and don’t get curtains for their house, and in the morning they’re greeted by the window cleaners.”
Did you ever think when you were starting out that things would get so crazy?
No, never. When I was younger, I dreamt of a career in entertainment, I studied piano for many years, I studied classical singing, opera, musical theatre, for six years, actually. I did a lot of amateur theatre, and that was always my dream. But I never thought it would come true in the Middle East because we don’t have a lot of theatre, they didn’t have the stand-up comedy culture back then, so it all came kind of as a serendipitous coincidence ... The reason I have my career is because millions of people watched me on YouTube.
What’s your parents reactions to what you do?
My parents for the longest time did not know what I was doing for a living. They’re like, ‘What, you’re a clown? You make people laugh?’ I’m like, ‘No, no, no, I’m not a clown. I don’t wear a red nose, I don’t wear a funny costume.’ They’re like, ‘Are you sure? Are you sure you’re not going to embarrass a family? And how can you sustain a career like this?’ I was like, ‘Trust me, I make more money than you guys made growing up.’ I’m supporting them now, so.
When do you think it really hit them?
For my Dad, it’s when he saw me on MBC 1, it was a news bulletin and they featured me in a report, so for my Dad to see me in a report on a very credible news channel, he kind of saw the magnitude of it. Plus, mind you, he doesn’t speak Arabic — so he doesn’t know what I’m talking about on stage!
My Mum, she’s a Vietnamese lady who likes gossiping and stuff, so once she bought one of those gossip magazines, and she saw a picture of me. On one page, there’s a big picture of me with my name and everything, and on the next [page], there was a different article about Angelina Jolie. She was like, ‘Oh my god, you’re on the same level as Angelina Jolie!’ So she went from not knowing what I do, to thinking I’m an A-list Hollywood superstar.
Visit ductac.org to book your tickets; price range from Dh150 to Dh250. The show is on May 2 and will begin at 8pm.
