At last year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Kuah Jenhan told an epic tale of personal discovery and cultural clash with his show Perfect Stranger, recounting a trip to Uzbekistan. Now returning to this year’s festival for the fourth time, he’s ready to tell a very different side to that story.
A rom-com adventure set in Uzbekistan once more, Electric Butterflies revamps the tale by revealing that the fresh faced 20-year-old Kuah flew from his home in Malaysia to chase his sweetheart – who happens to be a central Asian beauty queen with a very different culture. Of course, things go awry in his search for love – but he learns a lot along the way.
“You know how sometimes, people go to a bar, or they go to a pub, and they see that one person they like?” Jenhan says. “Maybe they don’t talk to them that first time, and then they go back every Friday and hope that they meet this person, and one day something happens and it all falls into place? You know that feeling? The difference is, I kept doing that in a different country. I won’t give away what happens in the end, but I think that that idea is preposterous, even at the very core.”
An enthusiast for narrative-driven comedy, Jenhan savoured the opportunity to tell a funny story that was both personal and gave the audience something more than just jokes. Looking back on his past self, he now sees “why he didn’t achieve what he wanted to achieve” – and appreciates how much he’s learned since.
“Sometimes, when you leave things up to chance, you really do find new experiences,” Jenhansays. “Just the differences in pursuing romance are so different, even from Malaysia and Australia. In general, we are a lot more reserved in Malaysia. We are a lot more shy.”
Jenhan describes the show as a fun exploration into the human condition – not just about love, but also about cultural expression, the universal pursuit of happiness, personal development and how he “constantly fails to learn things”. Excited to share what he personally considers the best show he’s written, Jenhan is looking forward to telling tales on the nature of growth.
“My childhood dream was to go to Disneyland, because as a child, I’d always wanted to go but we could never afford it,” Jenhan recounts. “As a 30-year-old man, I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to bring myself to Disneyland to fulfil a childhood dream’ – which, in essence, the idea is a very introverted-centric idea. When I got to Disneyland, I didn’t like the experience at all, because there are just too many happy people everywhere.
“In my head, I’m like, ‘I knew I was an introvert – why did I do this to myself? Why did I think that a seven-year-old Jenhan would know what to do when this 30-year-old Jenhan can’t even decide on lunch?’ [When] you see yourself in your past, you wish you’re not that person – but the fact is, that had to happen for you to get here.”
