26 August 2018

11.5 years and going strong

OK so by now, with the way the whole world has shifted, I have a strong feeling barely anyone is reading this blog (if you are, leave a comment, let me know you still exist!) But either way, it's kind of become part of my routine to keep writing here, heck I'd hate to kill off a 11.5 year old thing I started just because "no one is reading it". Bleh, no one reads my private journal but I still write it! So I'll just write this off as finger cardio either way.

So how are things? 6 months ago I was just learning how to use the Canon M6 camera, and the other equipment I have my hands on, not to mention I was thinking more from the video angle but guess what? 6 months later I'm well deep into instagram photos!
http://instagram.com/funnyvivek/
It's actually quite fun when I force myself to have 1-picture-a-day just to see how far I can stretch my creativity, not to mention it also makes me learn my tools even more! Now I love taking photos in full manual mode just because I'm able to fully control the effect of the picture, even if it's with a basic M6 camera (or the GoPro for some pictures when I can't access the camera!)

So 6 months ago I also gave up my drumming and web design and I haven't looked back. So web design still has a few lingering projects but other than that, it's pretty much closed down, allowing me to focus solely on my comedy career or at least the comedy world. And explore it I've done! We've got our Laugh Festival coming up in 2 weeks and I'm pumped, swamped, stressed and excited about it!
www.laughfestival.hk
It's actually happening! Almost a month-long of shows and a crazy packed schedule. OK so many people asked me "why?!" and I figured hey why not? I mean, is there ever a time when you can say "people in Hong Kong have laughed enough"? Nah.

So yeah even though I'm not signing any contract for a special, this is definitely something very special to me, and I'm learning a tonne of stuff on the way, a heck of a lot of project and time management but also resource allocation (well time management is pretty much resource allocation).

Along with all the other things I'm doing (like my one-instagram-story-a-day), it's quite exciting as I barely have a day where I go "ahh I don't know what to do today", but usually it's "what do I start on first?!".
Oh I got invited to go check out a private screening for Crazy Rich Asians, then the Netflix show Ghoul and got inspired that night to take a picture and post up on instagram.

And the moment I did that, 2 people unfollowed me! Ahaha.. ok so maybe not the best idea to post a spooky photo on the eve of the Hungry Ghost Festival, but heck, you can't win 'em all!

Otherwise, my fitness has improved a lot. I'm still working hard trying to figure out and fix my right leg which is way weaker than my left leg, but I am leaner than 6 months ago and definitely fitter. I, however, have started to depend on coffee....like I can feel an extra strong "craving" for it on more days than before so I'm trying to balance that off as I really don't want to develop a dependence...

So the cycle of life continues and I'm getting more and more into a routine of everything like I know when I have to start thinking and planning about being part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, I understand when my peak season is and how I have to work out my timing and stop trying to fight time....it's still a very tough learning process because every day I feel like I often step out of myself and watch time zoom by. Like right now, it's 7:12pm, but it was 5:44pm earlier when I last "registered" the time in my head. I used to get stressed thinking "ahh!! 7 already!" but now it's kind of like I expected it to hit 7pm by now.

Well 6 months before the next major update and I'm going to predict I'll probably be busy with CNY peak season gigs and preparation for Melbourne shows? But I do hope by then I'll have picked up on my video editing skills and actually re-started my Mandarin learning classes. There is so much I want to do and learn, my only issue is I often find either I'm mentally dead before it's bed time, or it's bed time before I'm mentally dead (duh)....and very rarely am I mentally alive before it's bed time and I have time to myself...

But here's to my next 6 months, video editing (more than just instagram stories), a few more phrases in Mandarin than "hello" and a clearer grasp on where I'm heading in the world of stand up comedy.

Until then, happy 6 months people!

24 August 2018

Crazy Rich Asians

So have you watched it yet? It's the talk of the town and super duper lucky me got to enjoy a preview screening of it! I got entertained for 2 hours and that's exactly what I was hoping for, no hard brain work, no over-the-top-special-effects, just entertain me for 2 hours lol....

I've been so swamped getting ready for our upcoming Laugh Festival in September, my days are just zooming by! It's Friday and I'm 80% awake at the moment. Unfortunately, I've been going a little harder than usual on the coffee's (ok so it's at most 1 coffee a day except for last Saturday when I did 2 ahahah what?!
But I'm learning so much and growing so much from organizing this festival that it's worth the crazy effort I'm putting in... I'm really excited about the whole festival and hopefully will be a good start in the right direction to pushing Hong Kong further ahead in the world of comedy in Asia!

So how have your last 10 days been? I've been obediently posting to my instagram account daily and even adding daily stories as well! Sure, you might be thinking "dude, why don't you just focus on writing comedy?" but I have to say, the instagram posts give me a whole different angle on my creativity and I'm quite liking it, especially since it's so much more visual. There's just something about photos that words or videos don't seem to do.

And it's also made me observe the world around me so much more closely than even comedy has because I'm not just finding interesting things, I'm noticing patterns in human behavior, it's really all very fascinating. OK I'm geeking out now.

So it's still very hot in Hong Kong and I'm trying my best to avoid turning on the air conditioner but some day, some days the weather just doesn't make it environmentally friendly, especially when I have a bunch of work to tend to and my concentration is already low.... eeek! Today's one of those days where it just feels extra humid and I could use air conditioning and a coffee, both things I'm trying to avoid as much as possible at the moment ahaha....

Well here's to another awesome 10 days and keep up-to-date with my latest progress by following me on instagram and get an insight into the wacky world I live in!

13 August 2018

Bee Bee Boo Da Dee

Well things are shaping up for me as we're less than a month away from this year's Laugh Festival!
Oh and the mandatory Instagram post to share:

So it's been crazy hot and then suddenly typhoon weekend hits and it's been raining, but the good thing is the weather's a bit more pleasant where I don't find myself melting, just...er...sweating.

Things have been quite crazy for me in the last 10 days, after the YouTube FanFest which was awesome, I had to get down and dirty to work out the marketing plans for the Laugh Festival shows. I can't believe I've gone from comedian to comedian and promoter and designer and planner...aha ah well, all in the journey really.

This is the madness that happened when we started the show. Lots of fun and an absolute honor to be amongst all these top level youtubers!!
Well the cool thing is I've been quite disciplined with my instagram posting so at least I've created another creative outlet for myself...visually. But I have yet to get myself totally on board with other areas of social media, but it's just a matter of time. Heck I'm looking forward to next year's YouTube FanFest, who knows what to expect!

But for now, if you're itching a laugh (and you should be!), go on Youtube and watch some comedy, sit back and treat yourself to 20 minutes of ha ha's and then dive right back into reality.

I'm going to do that right now. See you in 10 days!

03 August 2018

YTFFHK tonight!

And here we are.. August already. I'm on my way for last preparation work before the YouTube FanFest tonight and I'm quite excited (and grateful!) that they liked my work last year so wanted me to host the event this year.

It's mighty hot today and of course as usual, my walk to the train station meant I'm already quite sweated up... Sigh.

Anyway, so how has your middle of the year been? I have to say, looking back at this year I have yet to find a good chunk of time where I've been able to laze around.. Oh and speaking of lazing around, the special lady friend informed me that one of my favorite books, The Art Of The Start apparently has a new edition.. Literally 2.0 lol... So she borrowed it from the library and I skimmed through it and all the memories of what I read like 10+ years ago started coming back.. Poof, heck this blog is proof of that!

Good thing is all the principles I learned are still very much relevant and if it wasn't for books like those I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now.

I still encourage everyone I know to read that book if they're interested in started on a personal project.

So if you haven't read it, please make sure you do! It's a pretty smooth read.

And now I shall smoothly transition to the end of this entry because it's time to switch trains.. And switch gears into MC mode!