Suffer in Your Jocks

Thirty years since he first performed at the Adelaide Fringe, Hung Le returns, triumphantly! Hung’s Fringe career started in those early, halcyon Fringe days at the Lion Arts Precinct, performing with Red Faces winners “The Como String Quartet”. The Quartet (with five members) had a meteoric rise to fame going from Hey, Hey It’s Saturday to performing comedy festivals across the globe, including a gig with The Muppets in London and supporting Weird Al Yankovic at the mammoth Montreal Comedy Festival, Just for Laughs. The quartet, however, was short-lived and Hung soon found himself exploring a solo career and wondering whether he was more comedian than musician.

Hung stumbled into his first solo gig at the Fringe. He went into the Fringe office sporting a shirt that said ‘Trust Me I’m Greek’, sat down and said, “I’m a comedian from Melbourne give me a gig” - and they did!  His slot wasn’t until 2.30am, but he was headlining. He had four jokes and a piece of plastic poo but somehow he managed to fill the twenty minute slot and to get himself an encore. He thought, “How easy is this job?” and the rest, as they say, is history.

In this world premiere of Suffer In Your Jocks, Hung segues from one story to another in his signature, somewhat disjointed, style. Even if the connections between gags are sometimes puzzling, that doesn’t make the show any less enjoyable. On the contrary, it rollicks along at such a pace that you will be at the end of the show before you know it, having been entertained with stories as diverse as Japanese toilets, Chinese on the goldfields, butthole tanning and robot girlfriends.

Hung really hits his stride when talking about issues that have affected him most profoundly.

On April 29, 1975, when he was nine, Hung’s family were forced to abandon their home, near the Saigon Imperial Palace, and their country. His family were among the first boat people to arrive in Australia and he provides a fascinating insight into his experiences and the plight of all refugees.

There’s a few timely reminders in the show that COVID has hit our arts industry particularly hard. Hung, a popular regular on the cruise circuit, has effectively had two years of unemployment, which has haltered his usual momentum. Do yourself, and Hung, a favour. Get along to see him on dry land while you can. He’s as funny and intelligent as ever. Bravo to thirty years!

Jenny Fewster

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