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Rachel Blundy

Benjamin Quinlan is living a double life.
By day, the 33 year-old is CEO and managing partner of a strategy consulting firm, and by night, he is making a name for himself as a stand-up comedian.
The former consultant, whose mother is former Hong Kong model Maria Quinlan (Shu Ling Ling) and father is acclaimed Australian composer Noel Quinlan, recently supported British stand-up comedian Russell Howard for a show at Baptist University.
As a self-proclaimed “Hong Kong kid”, Quinlan has also starred on his own, winning runner-up in the Hong Kong International Comedy Competition last year.
The Hong Kong jester standing up for Cantonese comedy
“I think making people laugh is one of the biggest kicks you can get,” he says. “I have always enjoyed performing.” He recalls that when he started doing stand-up, he was motivated by “wanting to make people happy and having a high like no other in performing arts”.

“It was definitely something on my bucket list for a long time.”
Quinlan grew up in Hong Kong, attending South Island School. Early in his secondary years, his family relocated to Australia.
He came back to the city in 2009, choosing to live close to his original family home in Braemer Hill out of “nostalgia”.

He went on to work for large financial firms, including UBS, Oliver Wyman, and Deutsche Bank. But in 2014, he took a seven-month sabbatical after suffering a breakdown due to working 100-hour weeks.
“I was on the verge of being really unhappy,” he recalls. “It was awful. No human being can work those hours.”
While recuperating, Quinlan decided to travel and try out stand-up comedy. He took the plunge after friends told him they enjoyed listening to his entertaining stories about Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is such an amazing place for comedy because it writes itself for you
Benjamin Quinlan
He is currently preparing to play two one-man shows at Take-out Comedy club in Soho, where he has become a regular act, on June 16 and 17.
And he credits his mixed heritage with helping him connect with both local and expat audiences.
Quinlan, whose parents have moved back to live with him in Hong Kong, was first introduced to comedy by his father, an avid fan of British sitcoms including Blackadder, Fawlty Towers and French and Saunders.
“I think Hong Kong is such an amazing place for comedy because it writes itself for you, you don’t need to write it,” he claims. “I think Hong Kong is East meets West, but gets it wrong.”
He cites a large number of storefronts around town as offering up material. “I just think: ‘where did you come up with the name?’ I once saw a store, and this person was obviously a fan of Calvin Klein and Giorgio Armani because it was called ‘Calvin Giomarni’. I find this stuff very funny.”
For his stand-up material, Quinlan draws heavily on his experiences in the city. He mocks the amusing accents and behaviour of MTR train drivers, Wellcome supermarket workers and announcers at Hong Kong International Airport.

Another comedic victim is his Cantonese mother, who he jokingly refers to as the “cheapest person on Earth”. He gives an example of how she offers their dinner guests chopsticks from Tsui Wah and napkins from McDonald’s.
He also tells the story of the time his dog Buster broke his leg while he was living in Australia, and he faced an AUS$600 (HK$3,480) vet bill. His mother suggested it would be “more cost effective” to buy a new dog.
In yet another anecdote, he relates how his mother once almost assaulted one of his friends in a bid to pay the bill, before declaring his friend was “so cheap” for not coughing up herself.
“Mum makes me laugh every single day,” he says. “There is that movie Lost in Translation; I feel like Bill Murray with my mum. She doesn’t know that she’s hilarious but she is.”
Chinese comedian Zhou Libo up against weapon, drug charges in New York
Quinlan claims he speaks “enough Cantonese to get [him] into trouble and out again” and enjoys making fun of Chinese culture, particularly the Chinese accent. But he says occasionally audience members take offence.
“I think there are always going to be people who take offence to everything in comedy,” he says. “The trick is to not make that the majority of the room you are performing to. I find Asian people, being Chinese myself, very direct; there is no filter. It is very blunt and I think Westerners find that amusing.
“And I always laugh because I sometimes think that Cantonese, especially the Chinglish aspect, is not the way Chinese people speak. They speak like that because Western people speak to them like that.”
Quinlan would relish the chance to become a full-time stand-up, but says for now he is enjoying his comedy journey.
“It is definitely a dream of mine,” he says of the possibility. “But comedy is a longer game so it does take a while to get to that ultimate goal.”


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Meet the Hong Kong-Australian comedian making fun of Chinese mums, MTR train drivers and Wellcome supermarket workers

By day, Benjamin Quinlan works in strategy consulting. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Ben Quinlan a Hong Kong/Australian comedian who is quickly making a name for himself on the local comedy circuit. He recently supported Russell Howard and will be doing a one-man show at Takeout Comedy in June. Photos taken at Takeout Comedy in Central. 31MAY17 SCMP / Jonathan Wong

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Benjamin Quinlan recently supported British comedian Russell Howard at his performance in Hong Kong and is preparing for his own one-man shows


Comedians and comedy