Ghetto-Winnipeg Vong is the best comedian Vong that Vong can be

February 3, 2009 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

I took this week off of work to get some comedy writing done. I’ve been working on my one-hour one-man show for a few months now, and I’m hoping to have it completed before the summer festival season, though I won’t debut the actual show until end of the year at the earliest. I haven’t been making a lot of progress lately, so I was hoping the focus off of my dayjob for a week would help me get a jump start.

This being my debut long-form show, I’ve been thinking long and hard about what I want to present and who I want to be on stage. After some careful consideration, I’ve decided to go back to my roots, the ghettos of Winnipeg. I already have a bit of material written about my life in Winnipeg, but now I want to really dig in deep.

I’m a bit of a chameleon when it comes to my personality. I’m very much different depending on whether I’m with my parents or my family or my friends or at work. Part of this comes from my upbringing, as there were definitely rules applied to how I should act depending on who was in the room (more respect, for instance, is paid to elders and people of authority and so on). The other side of this, though, is perhaps a bit of my comedic playfulness.

Different people bring out different parts of me. I’m more gay with my gay friends; I’m more ghetto with my ghetto friends. This is all common in most people of course, but I think with me it’s a little more pronounced. With individual friends, I tend to almost absorb a bit of their personality and reflect it back in an enhanced way. I didn’t realize this until recently moving in with a co-worker, and I found myself acting differently.

This got me thinking about which version of me I want to bring on stage. The answer is simple: I’m the best me when I’m with my older sister in Winnipeg. She brings out the me that I like best. We have a chemistry and connection that is pretty damn special. I think I’ve also suffered a bit from being away from Winnipeg too long.

Back in Winnipeg, I was able to maintain an incredibly balanced life as far as my friends go. One-third of my friends were straight guys, one-third were female, and one-third were gay. My personality back then had the versatility to appeal to all three demographics. Since leaving Winnipeg, my life has been dominated by my gay friends as well as some women from school, work and comedy. The part of me that appeals to the straight male demographic is slowly fading away.

This brings up the question of whether I am able to go back to that personality on stage while being so far removed from that place emotionally. I’m writing about a period of my life while being in a completely new life in a new city. I’m not sure how possible it will be.

I’m going to continue writing this week and see where it takes me, but I am seriously considering using my summer vacation days to go back to Winnipeg and complete my writing there. I’ll let you all know how it goes.

Filed under: Living, Performing
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Hanging out with my friend Linda from the Winnipeg ghetto was fun

January 19, 2009 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

Tonight I had the chance to hang out with one of my oldest and dearest friends from the ghetto. We talked about our lives now and then, and we had a great time. I’m fortunate enough to have a lot of long-lasting friendships that still feel current. Though we talk about our history, our current friendship isn’t dependent on our past lives and is strong on its own merits.

Some of our conversation reminded me of how I was when I was younger: absolutely fearless and in my own world. I didn’t even remember that I used to carry around a butt pillow (yes, a butt pillow) around the university and would take it out of my bag and sit on it. I was so in my own reality, that I truly didn’t care what others thought. I wish I had that type of total abandon now.

The visit came at a great time, as I am delving into my past Winnipeg life as the centrepiece of my hour-long set that I hope to have completed before the end of this year. I was contemplating whether I should go back to Winnipeg for a few weeks in the spring or summer to help bring back the emotions to jump-start my writing process. I think after tonight, though, I’ve decided to hold off.

I think the best method would be to complete the writing process while I’m alone in Toronto. I would then go to Winnipeg and do a private performance to only friends and family, where I would ask for input.

I used this strategy back when I was preparing for my first ever comedy show in Calgary, Alberta. Since my family and friends know my stories by heart, seeing as how they lived through them with me, I was greatly helped by the comments last time. In fact, the whole part of my first set regarding “magical powers” came from a simple comment from my engineering friend, Erin.

Filed under: Living, Performing
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Why am I so boring at my dayjob when I’m paid to be funny at night?

November 24, 2008 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

I went to a work outing tonight at a local pub, and I was incredibly boring. I mean, totally, completely no personality at all. It was almost exactly like I was at my dayjob. It’s strange, because I know that having personality can be quite helpful at work, and it’s not like I don’t have personality (otherwise, why would I be a stand-up comedian?).

I think my mindset comes from my inclination to compartmentalise different aspects of my life. The way I am at work is similar to how I am around my parents. The way I am on stage is similar to how I am with my friends. It would be helpful if I could find some middle ground between my ghetto personality and my boringness at work. In fact, more than a few people at work have said I need to come out of my shell (these people of course did not know much about my night life).

When I’m in a party situation, and also when I’m on stage, I have enough personality to take over an entire room. It’s basically my job to do so, and it comes rather naturally. My nickname in university was “The Vong Show,” because I basically brought the party with me wherever I went.

It’s a shame then that working in media where there are a ton of personalities, I can’t seem to express myself other than being 100 per cent business-like at all times. There’s no easy fix, as my behaviours are ingrained, but I do hope that someday I can come off as something in the middle: not boring and not the centre of attention but someone who’s interesting.

Filed under: Living, Performing, Working
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Vongizzo from Winnipizzo returns to the ghettos of Winnipeg for vacation

November 10, 2008 by vongsundara · Leave a Comment 

I’m on a quick four-day visit to my old ghetto in Winnipeg. It’s been about a year since I have been back, and I always love coming back to visit. All my family and friends are here, and I’m reminded of just how lucky and loved I was growing up. I was able to build up such a large network of life-long friends here, and I would definitely be living here if Toronto hadn’t beckoned me for career reasons.

I arrived just after a huge winter storm. I guess it’s for the best, as this is how I remember Winnipeg anyhow. I have been on a whirlwind tour of family and friends, and I’ve just about fit in everyone I was hoping to see, especially my newly born nephew Jack.

The kind of sad part of my trip is that I also came here to grab my karaoke equipment for my upcoming party in Toronto. I’m about to go into my sister’s storage to look for it. I hope I don’t get charged extra for bringing the equipment with me on the plane.

Filed under: Living
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