Aaron Chen was the funny little Chinese guy from the wonderful but short lived ABC Comedy, then ABC2 programme, John Conway Tonight. Aaron was Conway’s sidekick until John suddenly became ill after only three episodes. After which point it became Aaron Chen tonight for the remainder of the series run. So, Chen is lucky because he has a head start with the comedy festival as he’s known from TV. I went to a sold out Friday night preview held in the Powder Room at the Town Hall which is neither tiny nor huge, but sold out is sold out and it was one of only five shows on the boards of hundreds of shows playing that to gain that honour.

Chen is also lucky because he is gifted with – actual talent. Like art and music for example, taste in comedy is quite subjective. As someone who’s absorbed a lot of comedy in their time I am something of a tough customer and I believe I’m being objective when I say there are scores of mediocre stand up comedians, included in which are almost all of the big Australian names in my opinion, with a few noteable exceptions. However, when someone is actually really good, and I include Aaron Chen in this company, I laugh my head off and you know when you’ve seen a good comedian, it hits the right spot. Most of us are aware comedy can be incredibly difficult to do well, so I sympathise with the not so good and in awe of those lucky enough to be able to do it really well.

And as Chen took to the stage, I admired his comic skill and while his style is very loose at times, the great deal of work and polish behind the scenes you sense go into it. When we arrived, we were greeted with the sight of a gold coloured tv flanked by two amusing paintings of Aaron with a naked, muscular torso, and wondered where Aaron would be taking us with this. As it turns out, he claimed his father did the paintings and seemed quite earnest and sincere when he said so, so I believe him. The portraits of course were played for comic effect, with wry amusement. Chen’s style is frequently dry, deadpan wit.

One of the keys to being a good comedian I think is to be yourself and as with any kind of writing, find your own voice. I know comedians are taught this, but it’s easier said than done well. A bit of luck is involved in finding that groove I think and raw talent, and Aaron has done so successfully. While the show is written, you get the impression that some of it is improvised with audience interaction and is spontaneous, as comics often do. Chen gets to show his natural wit here and is very good with audience interaction, really knows how to make use of it. It’s just a shame then that nearly every single person he spoke to, from here in Melbourne, Sydney and Ireland, were mystifyingly passive aggressively defensive, cold, arrogant and rude.

He tweeted after the show that it didn’t go so well, and presumably that was based on the reaction he got from the audience members he interacted with. I beg to differ though, in my humble opinion, it was an excellent hour of comedy and I could tell from the superior energy of elevated consciousness that I got from the show that lingered for a day afterwards in the same way you get from a good meal at a restaurant, a concert or a holiday. Chen covered an amusing array of topics, a highlight of which was his ‘Crazy Rich Aaron’ storytelling series throughout the show. He is getting impressed reviews similar to this one and ‘Piss Off, Just Kidding’ is definitely one of the shows worth checking out this comedy festival from a genuinely committed, gifted comedian.