Lawrence Leung has tried many things on film – he tried to learn how to break dance, he tried to become a rock star and he tried to become the fastest person in the world to solve a Rubik’s cube. Leung won the 2009 GQ Magazine Man of the Year award in the comedian section and was a nominee for the 2009 Cleo Bachelor. He has also created two comic series for the ABC and has been performing internationally for a decade. On September 23, the comedian is coming to Perth to share his dream of owning a jet pack. OUTinPerth spoke to Leung who gave us some well measured answers on just how well he has thought this through.
What’s your show about? Lawrence Leung wants a Jet Pack is a comedy show but more specifically an obsessive quest to try to fly… It has a lot of me going around speaking to people [and] modern-day jet pack enthusiasts.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you want a jet pack? 10 – Well, a jet pack means that you can pretty much go anywhere you want, you can escape out of traffic jams, you can get to places faster without having to worry about carpooling or being late. You can just strap on the jet packs and go. You can also escape from social situations which are a little bit awkward… I think everyone needs a jet pack although I’m not sure what the traffic would be like up there.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how safe do you think you would be with a jet pack? Hmm serious question, probably 3, with practice maybe 5. I’m pretty clumsy, I’m a clumsy guy. When I was a kid I used to walk into my doorknob once a day, so I always had the exact same bruise in the same position on my arm to the point where I a had a tattoo of a bruise because it was there constantly. So by going on how clumsy I am and uncoordinated, chronically having a jet pack might be the worst.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how practical would a jet pack be? I would put that at an 8… as I explained in question one with all the things you could do with it. But really, it would not be practical at all because it’s not very efficient.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited are you about coming to Perth? 9.5 – I love the idea of performing in an old theatre, [it’s] kind of magical. I also quite like Perth, I’ve been there once before, looking up the Perth Arts Festival a few years ago and I had a smashing time. You guys are really cool people so I’m really looking forward to coming back and telling a story.
Lawrence Leung wants a Jet Pack comes to the Astor Theatre on September 23 – visit BOCS ticketing for more details.
Benn Dorrington
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