ABSTRACT
Using the case of Vivek Mahbubani, a Hong Kong born Indian comedian, I examine the subversive use of standup comedy by ethnic minorities as ‘discourse reversal’. I situate the discussion in the radical contextualization of the historical, colonial, demographic and textual configuration in Hong Kong, to properly consider the tri-partite interactivity among comedy content, comedian-audience interaction and the spatial institution of comedy shows. I also critically discuss how Mahbubani's model fully epitomizes the dynamics of (standup comedy as) ‘tactical be-longing’ and majority recognition.
