Kavin Jay on How He Went From Marine Engineer to the "Grumpiest Comedian in Malaysia"

Kavin Jay was already one of Malaysia's most well-known comedians, but he didn't have much of a name for himself outside of Southeast Asia until 2018. That is when his Netflix special Everybody Calm Down launched, garnering much praise from critics and landing him a spot in The Wrap's top 10 Netflix specials of that year – the only Asian comedian to do so.

Now, Comedy Club China is welcoming the so-called "grumpiest comedian in Malaysia" to Beijing as part of his Let's Get Ready to Grumble tour. Notably for CCC, this will be their first show at the swish Chao Hotel in Sanlitun. We hope the management know what they've signed up for.

Below, the Beijinger speaks with Jay about how he went from a grumpy engineer to a globally successful, grumpy comedy star.

You’ve been doing comedy for a long time, and you’re good at spitting out rapid-fire jokes. Is that something that came naturally to you?
It came with practice. When I started about 15 years ago, it was one of those things where I didn’t know what I was doing. I basically just gathered 150 of my friends, put them in a bar, and started telling jokes. It didn’t really work out, because I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t know what a joke was to begin with, so it ended up being a bunch of setups with no punchlines. The worst part was that it was a bunch of my friends! They gave me a bunch of pity laughs, which are very obvious. I remember after the show people were coming up to me and saying, “Great show!” with lies in their eyes. I knew that, behind my back, they were saying, “Why is he doing this, he’s not funny." But in a way, that actually spurred me on a little bit.

At first, I wanted to quit with comedy then and there, you know, bucket list, check, done. Then, I got invited to another open mic about a week later, and I thought, “Hey, if I keep doing this, maybe I’ll get good enough.” So, over the years I learned how to do standup comedy. It was at least three or four years before anything happened for me. And here I am, 14 years later, still learning.

Can you talk about what it was like making the transition from being an engineer to a standup comedian?
Yes, I was a marine engineer with an oil and gas company. As an Asian kid, you’ve only got a few career choices, and one of them was becoming an engineer. That’s what my parents wanted me to do, that’s what I got a scholarship for, and I did it. But the thing is, ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be in the arts. I wanted to do something different. I didn’t want a “job,” so to speak. I had just come back from studying in the UK, where I had been watching a lot of comedy. It wasn't something that was prominent in Malaysia. So, I could either wait three months for a show to come around, or I could make one myself, and in the end that was the easier route.

How did you come to embrace grumpiness in your act?
I do have a grumpiness about me. Basically, I found something that I liked doing, and it was a magnification of myself. It wasn’t a character, it was me, exaggerated. It’s partly because a lot of my comedy is complaining about stuff. I get pretty worked up about the tiniest things. I latched onto that and realized that the audience kind of liked me like that, so that’s what I stuck with.

You were already a well-traveled person, but have your travels on this tour expanded your perspective on anything?
Everywhere I travel, I try to make an observation about what’s happening in that place. And it’s always fun to experience new cultures and to look at it from an outsider’s perspective. Local audiences love when a foreign comedian comes and sees these things. It’s like, “Oh, you see it too, it’s not just us!”

You have traveled to China once before. Did you have any observations here?
Yes, I traveled to Shanghai, though it was not for comedy. This was eight or nine years ago. Mainly, I noticed the fact that the pollution was so bad that I couldn’t see anything. And I had thought it was bad in Kuala Lumpur! In Shanghai, it was really bad.

I also thought it was really interesting that there were three layers of traffic, not just one. Everywhere I went, I got lost, and the traffic was terrible.

Well, we're hoping for clear skies when you come to Beijing, but no promises on traffic! Your Netflix special has been out for a couple of years now. How have things changed for you now that your stand up has reached a global audience?
Actually, when it was being shot, I thought I would get a lot of attention from Malaysia or maybe Southeast Asia. But I wasn’t prepared for what happened next, because I got a lot of attention from people worldwide, and it really was a crazy experience. It took a while for what was happening to sink in, but eventually, it led to this tour.

You’ve said in the past that, despite the difficulties it presents, Malaysia is still your favorite place to perform. Why is that?
I have to say that because Malaysians love hearing that. No, just kidding! It's because it is home, right? And there is no place like home, whether you are performing or doing anything else. But I am really looking forward to coming to China, actually. I always wanted to come, and I know that performing there is going to be different than anywhere else in the world.

Kavin Jay will perform at Chao Hotel at 8pm, Sunday, Dec 1. Tickets are RMB 120 on the door or RMB 100 advance. Click here to learn more.

READ: Comedy Beijing: Where to Go to Laugh Your Ass Off in the Capital

Images courtesy of Kavin Jay, Chao Hotel