27th September, 2015 – The Factory Theatre, Sydney

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The opening night of Victor Lee’s debut solo comedy show ‘According to VictorLeedia‘ was not only sold out – the venue bumped him up into a bigger room – and it sold out again!

On the comedy grapevine we had heard good things about his first show (very good things) so there was perhaps even more professional curiosity than normal to see Victor’s show for ourselves.  We had seen Victor do short spots at various Sydney comedy venues, so were keen to see how he had crafted together his first solo show.  We attended the second night of his 2015 Sydney Fringe show at The Factory Theatre in Sydney.

The first impression as we took our seats at this, his second sold-out show, was the visual impact of the stage.  Complementing the standard lush stage curtain backdrop and professional lighting, there were what appeared to be some elegantly prepared and positioned props on stage, already teasing us with promises of the fun to come, but also conveying a clear message: this guy has got his act together.

Another strategic comedic technique demonstrated by Lee before he appeared on stage was providing us, the audience with a warm-up act.  Many good comics do this – not only to ‘warm-up’ the audience, but so they have a chance to personally assess us, the audience, before we ‘officially’ meet.  They will be determining which jokes of the warm-up act are ‘hitting’, and the general personality of the audience, often so they can make small changes to the tone of their show, the choice, order and delivery of material, and even how they make their entrance.

Lee’s warm-up act is the ubiquitous (well, at least in Sydney) Kyle Legacy.  Larrikin Liverpudlian Legacy immediately engages us, does some amusing pseudo-mockery crowd work and does material that some of us have seen before.  Perhaps sensing what an occasion this is, Legacy rises to the challenge and delivers this material better than we have ever seen, including some superb extensions on some of his tried and tested material.  Job done, Legacy times his exit like a pro, at the peak of laughter and applause, to bring on our ‘main act’ Victor Lee.

Lee comes on stage to enthusiastic applause.  He is immaculately groomed and beaming confidence, yet another reassurance for the audience that he’s ready for business.  From the outset, he has an incredibly warm, engaging energy on stage and the audience responds to him with warmth.

In some of his show advertising, as well as in an early joke , Lee makes what appears superficially to be a pretty lame reference to his Asian heritage by mentioning chopsticks.  Early on in his show, he produces a pair of chopsticks on stage, and delivers an impressive and hilarious party trick with them.  Once delivered, the trick appears to temporarily ‘backfire’ on him on stage, but Lee deftly handles the spontaneous chaos and plays with it, eliciting yet more laughter from us.  Even more impressive is the revelation that he has misdirected us with a lame chopsticks joke, then got the same joke up walking (dancing?) for us.  This is no apparently aimless ambling for cheap laughs.  Lee is a tour guide, now walking (dancing?) us expertly through his verdant sense of humour.

Lee’s epunymous (double pun intended) show name’s evoking of encyclopedia is revealed to be deliberate and calculated: Lee’s show is structured like a laughter lexicon.  Each letter of the alphabet in turn provides a joke or story, which not only gives us a beautiful sense of progression through the show, but gives us an even better appreciation for the thought and preparation invested in this show.

To be fair, some of the jokes do fall flat, and Lee’s acting out of his own frustration, disappointment or mock despair at our non-reaction start inflating the room with laughter again, ready for his next joke.  Evidently English is not Lee’s first language and that may be partly to blame for some of the jokes missing their mark.  However, with the level of work and commitment to entertain already evident in this show, you know he will take the misses back to the drawing board and work them into hits.

While the show is definitely not wall-to-wall laughs, we can see that it’s not designed to be.  Lee wants to share some shadows as well as some sunlight.  Well into the show, Lee tells an amusing anecdote about choosing the right noodles in a restaurant and part of the resolution is “whatever you choose is right for you”.  For us, this story epitomised the spirit of Lee’s show: Every choice we make is the right choice for us.  If you think the joke itself is funny, Lee will concur, laugh with you and exude energy that congratulates you for going with him.  If you don’t think the joke is funny, Lee will agree with you, punish himself and/or the joke to reclaim your laughter, re-position himself in the middle of that laughter, and move on.  Whatever he chooses to deliver is right for him.  Whatever we choose to laugh at is right for us.  Everybody wins.  Group hug!

Woven between the laughs and lulls, though, are some profound insights about life.  Lee teases out his delighted surprise at our amusement and wonder at one of his insights.  He milks the laughter out of us with his astonishment at (perhaps) both his own intelligence for producing this insight, and our intelligence for understanding and applauding it.  More group hugs!

We won’t spoil any more of his surprises in case you go see According to VictorLeedia for yourself (and on balance, we think you should).

A feel-good debut from Victor Lee augurs well for a future in comedy if he wants it.  He has already proved himself adept at some of the fundamentals that even some seasoned veterans of the comedy game can struggle with.  Although there are still patches in some of his material and delivery, his warmth and earnestness on stage buys him a lot of audience forgiveness.  His whole show is a kind and gentle interplay with the audience and a genuine feel-good experience.  We hope to see even more engaging comedy from this delightfully entertaining comedian.

Victor Lee’s Next Show:

http://www.factorytheatre.com.au/events/2015/11/29/victor-lee-according-to-victorleedia

Victor Lee’s Social Media Links:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/thevictorleedia

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheVictorLeedia

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thevictorleedia/

YouTube:  Victor Lee on YouTube

Note: Victor Lee donated all profits from his Sydney Fringe shows to Can-Too

Profits from his reprise show on November 29 will be donated to the Cerebral Palsy Alliance.