If you're a lover of comedy and have frequented the Malaysian stand-up comedy scene, chances are you would have come across Juliana Heng Huijing aka Quirky Juliana.
The 29-year-old spoken word poet and comedy show producer is part of a new wave of Malaysian stand-up comics.
Just as her namesake stage name, Juliana's jokes are quirky and they touch on her autism. Now, the award-winning comedian is looking to represent her country by joining Britain's Got Talent 2020.
Mashable Southeast Asia recently got touch with Juliana to find out more about her dream on going international and how she intends to go about making Simon Cowell laugh.
Hey there, Juliana. Let's start from the beginning. How did you get into the Malaysian stand-up comedy scene?
As an autistic, I am not able to laugh at the same time as everyone in comedy shows, funny movies or social gatherings where insider jokes are common. This is because I process jokes at my own time. Which means I will only get the jokes when I reach home.
However, when I see people laugh, I am intrigued by the power of laughter in connecting a roomful of strangers through sharing relatable jokes and funny stories. As a Chartered Accountant who has trouble sitting still, I decided to try my hands in stand-up comedy on 15 September 2015.
Due to numerous self-doubts, I didn't really do comedy until 6 September 2017. Since then, I have not looked back! After doing stand-up comedy solidly for 2 years, I've come to realize that stand-up comedy is the best way for me to deal with challenges as an autistic, coping with a dysfunctional family, and coming to terms with feeling small and invisible. I've experienced suicidal thoughts too due to dark periods in my life.
By bringing taboo issues or topics that are not widely discussed through the use of comedy has become my mission. It is very empowering for myself and everyone who has been through adversities in life. I hope that people laugh, have a good time and have a take home message too!
Can you share with us how and when you got the idea to incorporate autism awareness into your stand-up gig?
I got the idea to incorporate autism awareness into my stand-up gig in April 2019. It’s a way for me to accept and deal with my autism along with it’s challenges. The comedy piece is derived from a poetry piece I wrote on my autism.
The process of writing a poem allows me to dive deep into my life. The best part is I don’t need to be funny when sharing my challenges of having autism. For comedy purposes, using the same information I have, I just need to blend in a couple of twists and punch lines when describing my challenges with autism.
This was how I wrote my comedy piece, “Autism Acceptance Through Comedy”. I am glad I managed to make it light-hearted yet thoughtful at the same time.
How do people generally respond to your jokes, especially those on autism?
People are usually pleasantly surprised that I can take comedy in this direction. My comedy piece comes across as entertaining yet able to help them see life through the eyes of someone with autism spectrum. Some members of the audience also personally know someone on the autism spectrum, be it their family members, friends or co-workers.
This is how they're able to relate to my comedy. Most of them are inspired and can’t wait to share what I am doing with the autistic person they know. For audiences who have yet to know anyone on the autism spectrum, I am glad that my stand-up comedy has altered their perception by relooking at autism in a different light instead of just getting their knowledge of autism from the movie Rain Man.
What challenges do you typically face when crafting jokes centered around such a delicate topic?
One of the challenges is limit the jokes to my own life experience only. I can't speak on behalf of every person on the autism spectrum as no two autistics are the same. Another challenge I commonly encounter is ignorance.
Autism is still not widely known among Malaysians. For them to follow my series of autism jokes, I need to first make autism understandable to the audience. Instead of bogging them down with just facts, I need to find my own spin when explaining what is autism in my own quirky way while preserving the dignity of this delicate topic.
What led you to give Britain’s Got Talent 2020 a shot?
A friend encouraged me to try out Britain’s Got Talent 2020. I was hesitant at first as I auditioned for Asia's Got Talent last year but was not shortlisted. However, I live on a mantra that goes like this: “Don’t let the past or present situation limit how far you can go!”
I decided to give myself another chance! I will be performing “Autism Acceptance Through Comedy”, a stand-up comedy piece on how I deal with autism and encourage people to relook at autism in a different light. This piece has earned me a 2nd Runner Up in Short + Sweet Comedy Competition 2019 and 1st Runner Up at the Preliminary Round of Bangkok International Comedy Competition (BICC) 2019, sending me into BICC Finals 2019.
Since autism has not been extensively discussed in the stand-up comedy scene, by performing on Britain’s Got Talent stage, I will have a wider audience to speak about my autism in the hope that fellow autistics & parents with autistic children can have a light-hearted yet thoughtful way of relooking at autism as a gift instead of an inconvenience or a burden.
However, Juliana needs your support in order to realize her dreams of making Simon Cowell laugh at Britain's Got Talent 2020. She needs US$4520 (RM18,888) to cover her flight, accommodation, food, and other expenses.
You can donate here to support the stand-up comedian who needs to be in Nottingham, United Kingdom on 15 December 2019 for the auditions.
"If you want to chip in for my journey to London so I can get to the Britain's Got Talent 2020 audition, I will thank you my whole life!" she exclaims on her SimplyGiving page."There is no minimum amount because every dollar matters," she also assured.
Here's hoping Juliana gets her dream realized!
Cover image by Juliana Heng.
