EDINBURGH 2023: Kuan-wen Huang Q&A

BWW caught up with Kuan-wen Huang to chat about bringing IIha Formosa to the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about IIha Formosa.

It’s a show that allows me to introduce myself and by extension, a show about my home country Taiwan.  Ilha Formosa is the name the 16th-century Portuguese sailors gave us when they “discovered” my island (like we never existed before Europeans came).  Taiwanese people still call our island “Formosa” in common parlance and at least until the Victorian time, it was widely used in the western world to refer to Taiwan. 

Taiwan is great! But it did not manage to stop me from moving away. I left partly because of the geopolitical situation my country faces (I served in the army for 19 months) and partly because of my very controlling tiger mum, who is a logical product of Taiwanese culture and traditions.  I love my island and my mum dearly, but I find that I could only love both with peace of mind from a distance.  I joke about these complex relationships and my journey across the Eurasian continent. 

Western media have a tendency to only mention my island when China is concerned. In writing this show, there’s an attempt from me to take the agency back and to debut with my home country in this show together.  Any mention of our powerful neighbour would just be ancillary. 

What do you think sets it apart from other shows at the festival?

Edinburgh Fringe has always had some international flair, but I don’t think there have been many – if any at all – Taiwanese comedians who do a show about Taiwan.  Someone who is born and bred on the island and completed the compulsory military services.

I may be too optimistic; there may simply not be many people who care.  But I am happy to take the shot. 

Oh! And that my teddy Nounours will be making his Fringe debut with me. 

With this being your festival debut, do you think you know what to expect from the Fringe?

Yes and … no? I have some faint ideas of what it might be like (having done the Fringe on mixed bill line up or with split-shows before) and I have talked to other comedians who have had their debuts.  I suspect this is one of those things that others can keep describing to you how it’s like, but until you give it a go yourself, you never truly understand how it feels and what to expect.  

It is a bit like anal.  (Sorry for the vulgar analogy, but this is the best analogy I can think of)

Where else might we know you from?

I recorded “Comedy Central at the Edinburgh Fringe” in 2020, when the Fringe could not take place so ten comedians shot the socially-distanced performance facing a zoom audience on a big screen (which I described as the Grindr interface).  I also did “Comedy Central Live” that was broadcast in 2022.  I was also featured in BBC Radio 4’s East Asian sketch “Drop The Dead Panda”.

Depending on when this is published, you may have seen me from one episode of season 2 of East Mode with Nigel Ng.  I played the character of a spoiled caricatured millionaire in the episode of “Kaching Kingdom”.  I also wrote another episode “AI Parents 2.0” for this series. 

I also host my own podcast “Comedy with an Accent” on which I interview comedians who are mostly non-native English speakers how they switch between languages and deal with the audience’s view on their stage persona because of their accents. 

What would you like audiences to take away from it?

This depends on the background of the punter and the show has something for everyone.  

For anyone who is a tiger mum survivor, I am using my experience to laugh at the absurdities of my upbringing to let them know it is OK to love your mother from a distance that also protects yourself.  

For western audiences who want to know a little more about Taiwan – a bit more about Taiwan, but not like a condescending BBC2 hour-long documentary (and a little bit of soft China-bashing, which I’d argue are done very fairly).

For those who have multiple cultural heritages and those who migrate from one country to another, relatable material on transition between cultures and the adjustment shock. 

For my fellow Taiwanese compatriots, a show that makes our homeland the centre of story and a chance for us to self-deprecate.  

For my fellow British compatriots, observations of this weird island from someone who joined from the outside.  

For people who don’t care about any of those above, there are jokes. Great jokes I think. 

Also, reasons why the world should try to save Taiwan when the war happens. 

Kuan-Wen Huang’s debut stand up show ‘Ilha Formosa’ is at the Gilded Balloon – Lounge at 5.40pm from 2nd – 27th August (not 15th) for tickets go to www.edfringe.com

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