Game for a laugh
John Moorhead marks two decades of bringing world-class comedy to Hong Kong, writes Oliver Clasper
Behind every successful artist is an invisible team of people working to bring the talent to the public's attention. From studio engineers and casting agents to film producers and book editors, these are the men and women who make things happen. And the same is also true of the comedy world.
One such man that Hong Kong comedy fans have to thank is John Moorhead. In the past two decades, Moorhead has helped nurture the local comedy scene, first taking to the stage himself and then working as a booker, trawling smoke-filled comedy clubs in Britain to find the best and most exciting talent.
As a booker I like variety. If I have someone dark, I want someone lighter or happier too
"I've always liked comedy and I have my father to thank for that. As a kid, he used to take me to Marx Brothers movies downtown, or show me a stand-up comedian he admired. And then I would try to make him laugh, which isn't easy for a child, intentionally at least," Moorhead, 48, says from his native Australia where he now lives, having relocated from Britain in 2009.
Moorhead's formative year was 1993, when he took over the Hong Kong Comedy Club that took place at the Godown venue in Admiralty, which he renamed Punchline, a more generic title he could market around Asia (he was the first person to bring a Western comedian - Tim Clark - to China that same year).
Moorhead says the local comedy circuit hasn't changed much since, except - for better or worse - there were more British people back then. "Before '97 you could just turn up and work behind a bar, so you had a lot of young, comedy-savvy people. You also had thousands of Brits working on the new airport, so there was a big audience for comedy. We would do four nights in a row and it would be packed. It's still busy, but nothing like pre-'97. And before I took it over the standard was pretty low. It was just local expats and after the first show, and then the second, and then the third, they tended to tell old jokes."
Looking back at what Punchline has become, Moorhead admits he had no idea it would still be going two decades later. "You just start it for the love of it, without a grand plan." Moorhead was no stranger to performing. Between 1985 and 1988, he attended drama school in London - training and working as an actor - and when he moved to Hong Kong in 1991 his first job was with Star TV.
A few years after establishing Punchline in Hong Kong, Moorhead decided to return to Britain, without any real plans to continue building his brand - but build it he did. During the past 20 years he has amassed some of the best contacts in the business, signing and booking acts through The Comedy Store in London, which he sees as the yardstick for quality comedy.
