Jason Chong (part 2)

Vision Australia ID 0:02

This is a Vision Australia Radio podcast.

Kate Cooper 0:04

On Vision Australia Radio, welcome to our conversations with emerging and experienced, creative voices in our community - on air now and also available on Vision Australia Radio podcasts. I'm Kate Cooper, and our guest today is comedian, writer, filmmaker and ABC radio host Jason Chong. We spoke with Jason last week about being the 2024 OzAsia legend awardee, and about the OzAsia Festival. I'm delighted to continue our conversation this week. Welcome to the program, Jason.

Jason Chong 0:57

Thank you so much for having me, Kate.

Kate Cooper 0:58

And we are getting to radio at last. Now, I've got a three part question here. First of all, from the beginning, what is your radio story? What drew you to this particular medium? And what do you love about it? 

Jason Chong 1:13

Right, okay, I'm gonna answer the middle one. First, the thing that drew me to radio, I think, was shows like Martin and Molloy. So I always wanted to be funny, I think. And I had some friends who I feel like we would talk, like they would talk with the radio. And I always really, I really enjoyed that program - you know, I have all the CDs still that they released, Tony Martin and Mick Molloy. But I also liked, you know, just listening to the radio, How Green is My Cactus and things like that, from... a childhood growing up in the '80s and '90s.

And so Radio Adelaide or 5UV had a really great student radio program. So I signed up. We were a bit late for the signup. From what I remember me and two friends who weren't at that university, but I must have emailed or called a guy, John Murch, who was... this my student radio director, and he said, Oh, look, you've missed the training, but you know, I'll keep you guys in mind if anything happens. And I think the show that they had put in swore a lot in their first episode, and they got dumped. And so they called us in the second week and said, Would you like to do a show? 

And so we just kind of got thrown in, no training. We weren't panelling the first one - I think John, or maybe his co-radio director, had to panel for a couple of weeks until we learned. But it was a midnight to 1:30am show, and we loved it, was... it was great. We were only... on every second week. And so when the week we went on, we had, there was a very similar show in our time slots, we'd call them, and then they'd call us for our show. We're big fans of each other, yeah, and I don't know, I guess... people enjoyed it. Who knows? So we were at Radio Adelaide for like, maybe five or six years, the three that I was at uni, and then I went away for a bit, and then came back and hosted the drive show. 

And then, I guess, really, luckily, the first radio station in 20 years to open up in South Australia happened. That was Nova. And so I put in an application to give out icy cold cans of Coke, and got that, and then was in on air within a couple of months. Yeah. So that's kind of, just a bit of a whirlwind - but it all kind of started with community radio.

Kate Cooper 3:19

Brilliant. So you host Sunday mornings on ABC Radio 891, and that includes the hugely popular Talkback Gardening segment.

Jason Chong 3:30

Yes. Now my granddad and my mother were exceptional gardeners. My sister and nephew have inherited their talent. I'm a complete Dad.

Kate Cooper 3:38

What are your gardening skills like? And how has hosting Talkback Gardening with the amazing Sophie Thompson helped you with your gardening knowledge?

Jason Chong 3:47

Yes, it is a crime against Sophie that my name is even on the promos for that show, because she does all the work. I am not a green thumb at all. I've tried - when I when I was at school, I had a little cactus on my my desk at home that I managed to vaguely keep alive from time to time. It got a bit wilty at times. Then I put some water, it bounced back a little bit... so I have no green thumb. My wife is definitely the, she takes care of the garden in our house.

My Mum got into wicking beds - a couple of years ago and presented me one Christmas with this beautiful wicking bed full of fruits and vegetables and stuff. So she said, all you need to do is just put some more in there and it'll and then you'll just have herbs and whatever you want. And it was dead within a week. And she's still not forgiving me, so I'm definitely not a green thumb.

But Sophie is amazing, and I am just making sure that I'm listening all the time. I know that now it's very, been... it's been... a very, very hot summer, might be a dry winter, so not a good time to do big damage to trees in pruning. And I know that there's a seaweed-based fertiliser, fixes every problem... that's the only thing that I take away from my time with Sophie. It's seaweed-based plant tonic, is what she calls it. And it is amazing.

Kate Cooper 5:01

Thank you for sharing that with us. That's handy to know, Jason, you spoke on your Sunday morning radio program fairly recently about an inventor in your family - and earlier in our conversation, you also said, when you were growing up, you were interested in being an inventor, but you had a stone gatherer from back in the 1920s in your family. Would you share that story with us now?

Jason Chong 5:26

Yeah, I don't know much about it. I My Mum doesn't even know what a stone gatherer is. She just knew that it was in the family. And in fact, she thought that it was the stump jump plough, because that is a... very famous invention, but that was not us. So there's... we're Crosby's, who did a lot of, spent a lot of time in Cadena, Wallamunto... that kind of area. And recently, I think, to research that... story, I was like, I wonder if there's anything on it. So I Googled Stone Gatherer and Crosby - and there was only one article, and it was like a digitised newspaper... so I guess, like, you know, microfiche in a library. All of that stuff is available online now. 

So it was this very old, yellowed, you know, old font kind of article, and it talked about this man, Mr. Crosby, who invented this stone gatherer and had... a public display. And apparently, a lot of people were really impressed with it. So I don't know what happened to it, or why it didn't become more of a thing. But yeah, the Crosbys were farmers, and did a lot of, yeah, where the earth was stony. Apparently this thing could just gather up stones, and not only, I think, did it make the fields workable, but then they could use the stone for building and roads and stuff like that. 

So, I mean, if there's... any intellectual rights anywhere, I guess I own some of them, and I should... see what's coming to me. Ought get paid in stones... no.

Kate Cooper 6:52

You also said on a recent program that going to work and getting people's pet photos sent to you was a pretty good way to live your life - from your experience now or in the past, what is special about having a pet so good?

Jason Chong 7:06

I have a dog, Ziggy - if you're listening, Ziggy, hello - and yeah, I realised that the... text line for the ABC can accept pictures as part of the text message. So I started asking people for their pet pictures, and people are very happy to oblige their pets. And so as I look through the text line often, you know, people complaining about rates, or, you know, This person's no good. And then, every now and then, there'll be a dog wearing a party hat, and it's so good, it's a wonderful way to go to work and know that there's all these pets waiting for you. I get regular pets who are always listening, and I always get photos from, and it's excellent. 

We have a dog called Ziggy. He is a rescue from the AWL, and he, we got him at like, 12 weeks, or maybe... a bit later. It was a bit later than, like... puppy stage, but not much. And he was, they said he was maybe dumped in a park, but probably what happened is that someone, you know, someone's dog had babies, and they brought him in and said, Oh, look, my family's in a park, so he was in a litter. And he's just amazing. He's a big dog. He's got a Staffi head and and like Boxer or Ridgeback kind of body, so he's got long legs, and he's... excellent. 

Dogs are, well, I guess any pets, whichever one speaks to you, are so great - they, he's always happy to see me. He knows when, you know, we're not feeling great, and gets cuddly. Oh, they're so good now that we've got a baby as well. He's really taken to her. He's gentle, you know, when he needs to be. He's kind of hoping that she'll, you know, want to play a bit more with him. And, yeah, he's just got such a lovely nature.

Kate Cooper 8:42

And Jason, I asked you earlier about ad libbing, and you know, does it come naturally? Can you learn it?

Jason Chong 8:48

But you're ad libbing while you're on air. On Sunday mornings, you're responding to what your guest is saying or what your phone in is saying. So do you develop a repertoire of skills of managing that you'd have to be really focused constantly. You can't miss a beat.

Kate Cooper 9:08

That's a lot of concentration. Do you sort of walk out of there and just do something really relaxing?

Jason Chong 9:18

Yeah, I'm finding myself having Sunday afternoon naps at the moment, which is, which is lovely. I'm really enjoying that. Yeah, I think the the ad libbing, it does require you to be listening, because you can't comment on something if you don't know that it happens. So you do have to do that. And you would know doing radio that you're often reading texts or, you know, checking levels and finding out what's coming up, and what's the time, and how long do I have to wrap this up, so there is a fair bit of management to go. It does take a lot out of you.

But I guess it's like anyone's job, you know, you're, when you're at work, you're... working hard, and if you can make it feel like you're or, you know, appear to other people that you're not working hard, then they can enjoy it as well. Yeah, but when, when it's time to head off, yeah, it's good to you. Just relax and watch a few videos on my phone and take a bit of time to myself.

Kate Cooper 10:05

Yeah, well, I wanted to ask you, actually, when you're not on radio, creating, performing your works, what does downtime look like? What do you enjoy doing, and what gives you the most joy?

Jason Chong 10:17

Right, well, I've got a two year old, so there's no downtime. She's excellent. That is what I like. That is what I like doing. I'm I really lucky. Last year, when I was doing nights, I had the mornings with her. Yeah, we were going to put her in childcare for like, nine o'clock in the morning, but that meant would have, meant I wouldn't have seen her all day, so I would spend time with her until I went to work, and then drop into childcare and just watching her. She's in this amazing spot where she's, I don't... like she, I'm trying to, trying to find a way to say that every parent hasn't already said. 

But she is constantly finding her boundaries and and then surprising us by jumping over, whether that be, you know, I said I can only say two word sentences, and now I'm doing four or things like that. And she's just she's at this point where she's curious and she's finding connections, and she's recognising patterns, and it's just really interesting. So I often just find myself just looking at her, and she's this morning, she was eating strawberries, and I was just looking at her beaming as she was poking holes with her fingers in strawberries and ripping them apart, and some of them would find her way into her mouth, but yeah, that's what I really enjoy doing. 

I've also, just after COVID, I started getting into ice hockey, and so I have been playing ice hockey games and and things, and watching a lot of ice hockey highlights from from America and Canada. So I really enjoy doing that. It's about to be footy season. I enjoy the crows, so they might not suck after many years of sucking a little bit. So yeah, so I find myself very busy, and most of it is, is the daughter, and then when I get a bit of downtime, I'm watching people play sports.

Kate Cooper 11:51

Well, is there much of an ice hockey scene in Adelaide?

Jason Chong 11:55

It's very kind of tight knit community. There's, there's a lot of people that kind of play. I think we had six teams, and they both had, like, a and b, so that was in the winter league that we just played. And there's, there can be up to 20 people on the team. So, I mean, that's, there's a... rule that people keep telling me: Don't do maths on-air, and I've just forced myself to that. So if there's six times two, 12, and then 20, that's 240 people. Okay. I mean, there's, there's not always 20 people on team. It might be, you know, 10 sometimes, but yeah. So that's... and that's just like a mid kind of level league. 

And then there's a better one that plays kind of during the winter and probably has about the same amount of people in there. And yeah, so I think that there's a, there's a lot of people, and it's, there's a nice, everyone's very generous, and they take you from when you're learning, and they encourage you to kind of join one of these teams, and then you can go up to the next league. And yeah, so, yeah.

Kate Cooper 12:48

So do you have to do much running around, or is it more the stick skills?

Jason Chong 12:54

Yeah, well, but I mean, you've got to do both, but you can, you can practice the stick stuff off ice, so you can kind of muck around in your kitchen floor or whatever, whatever's smooth, and you can use a ball instead of a puck. But the skating is the thing that's really difficult to learn, because you've got to be on the ice to do it, and that costs money every time you want to go. So yeah, I'm not a very I'm not very good at either, but I'm probably less good at the skating.

Kate Cooper 13:20

Yes, it's all about balance, isn't it?

Jason Chong 13:22

Yeah, yeah. And it's, you know, flexibility and, and I've got short legs, I'm a short guy who has also proportionately short legs, so I'm not very fast, but it also means I'm low to the ground, so I don't have to fall as far.

Kate Cooper 13:35

So you don't fall very often.

Jason Chong 13:37

No, no, I didn't say that. I just said that when I do, I'm not I don't have to fall very far, and you've got all the padding on you and stuff. It's, it's a lot more fun to fall in the padding.

Kate Cooper 13:45

Yeah, I hadn't realised that there was an ice hockey scene here in Adelaide. Can I ask where you practice, where you play?

Jason Chong 13:53

Yeah, it's all at the the Ice Arena in Fever, or Mount Fever, as people might remember it. It's now called, I think, just the Ice Arena, but there are some other ice hockey rinks kind of in development now. There was, there was going to be one down in Marion, but I don't think that's happening anymore. There's one up north that I think is still on the cards. I think they did very expensive to run, especially in a place like Adelaide where, you know, the more roof you've got, the more the sun is is beating on it. Yeah, and to keep, you know, ice frozen in in Adelaide is, it's not an easy thing to do, so we're very appreciative of it.

Kate Cooper 14:28

On Vision Australia Radio, you're listening to our conversation program, Emerging Writers. Our guest today is comedian, writer, filmmaker and ABC radio host Jason Chong. You talked before about your daughter and just the enjoyment of watching her eating strawberries. Does your daughter or other family members provide material for your standup comedy?

Jason Chong 14:54

Oh, yes, absolutely. Yeah, you you want to be my family. And that's the... it's the contract we make together. Yeah, everyone's been part of my family.... my Dad was a lot of it, because he was kind of my touchstone to the other, I guess, being being Singaporean, living in in Adelaide. So it was always, you know, things my Dad said, or, you know, my Dad got angry. So it was all those stories of my childhood. People seem to find them funny, to the point where my Mum was like, You never do stories about me. 

So I did a show called Jason Chong's Mum that was basically about her, but not really. I just kind of did some things at the start, a the end, and I called her. She didn't realise I was recording, but I got her to record my intro, and I said, Oh, look, I just, could you just record something for me and just say... all I wanted her to say was, Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my son, Jason Chong. And she was like, Okay, okay, yeah, I can. I can. Okay. Well, when I was eight months pregnant, was having these Braxton Hicks-like contractions, and she started telling my whole birth story. 

And I was like, This cannot be the start of the show, Babu. And she's, Okay. And then just she started again, and she's just went into all the details again, and it was terrible. So I ended up having to record a computer voice on my computer saying, Ladies and gentlemen, this is Jason Chong's Mum... and got the voice through the intro instead. Anyway, she came to the show and she didn't like it. No, she didn't like it. She... didn't like the bits about her.

Kate Cooper 16:22

And how did you resolve that? Have you won her over? Does she like the bits about her name?

Jason Chong 16:27

She's... no, she's very, she's very supportive. Actually, how we ended the show was... I told some stories about about her and growing up and and stuff, and there was a box on the, still next to the microphone, and I asked people to donate things, to send his presents to my Mum, so anything they had in their pocket. So we got a lot of you know, extra like chewing gum and bus passes and things like that. And people were very generous. And then I would send that box. She was living in Western Australia at the time, so I'd send that box to her. And then we would open it over a Skype call, and then I'd explain all the things are, this person gave you a, you know, this is a flyer for a show that he didn't like, or whatever. And then I'd make that a video and put it on on my YouTube channel. 

So, yeah, so that was nice. It was really nice to actually be able to spend time with my Mum, because we'd, you know, spend 10 minutes opening a box every day of the show, and it was really nice. Yeah.

Kate Cooper

And you mentioned COVID before. What kind of impact did that have on you as a performer? How did it change the way you think about performing?

Jason Chong

Yeah, I guess it made me not want to do online gigs like other people were doing. Yeah, it it was pretty tough, because I didn't have, obviously, you know, there were no just no gigs. And if you wanted to do a gig, you had to do it over Zoom. And that had its own problems where, you know, laughter is such a an important part of of live standup comedy, and to have that, you know, delayed even by a little bit or through people's microphones and people turning their microphones on mute because they didn't want to interrupt, was obviously a big hassle. 

So luckily, you know, I had kind of other strings my bow with the film production and things like that, so I could kind of pivot a little bit. It's interesting to know that it can all go away just before that. I don't need to remember that there was a those big fires in Kangaroo Island, and we, I was organising a tour to go over to Kangaroo Island, and the idea was that we would sell the tickets in Adelaide, but for people in Kangaroo Island, then we'd go over and bring that money over to KI - and then, obviously everything got shut down. I was going to do it after that at Fringe. And the last day of Fringe that year was the day we went into lockdown. 

So that never happened, but, yeah, comedians are always the kind of first to put on a fundraiser, or if they're not the ones putting on the fundraiser, they're the ones asked to perform or host fundraisers. But there wasn't much help available when... things got tough for us and our industry got taken away. And I do understand that everyone else is, you know, was also having to look after their own stuff as well, but it's been a tough road for the arts. 

And, yeah, it's, you know, those who can support it. It's really important that you do because that's the only thing that you know, the performing aspect of it is the only thing that you, generates income - all the rehearsals and all the, you know, writing and the development, all of that stuff is just free work. And so when you go to a thing and you and you say, Oh, look, you know, this is a $50 ticket, it seems a bit expensive. And there's, you know, 1000 people here, that's $50,000 they they shouldn't, but, you know, but that's... not even a year's pay for one person. But this thing could have been in the works for years, and there could be hundreds of people on the payroll. 

So yeah, arts is not a... great economic model, I think. So, and that economic model really relies on on people coming to shows. So if you can... that's a very long winded answer, I can't even remember the question - COVID it was, but it's also and what you've talked about is community as well, and where the arts comes into it is about bringing people together, about that sense of community, of being part of the South Australian community, whether in Adelaide or in any of the regional or rural, remote areas that there's always that that need, but also that push to come together as community. 

And I remember very clearly the first Adelaide symphony orchestra concert I went to after COVID restrictions were lifted and performers could actually perform to a live audience. It's the most moving experience. And the symphony orchestra is fantastic, and I loved them for that. But just that, being able to go back and to be in the same room must have been magic for you, too, being able to have that live audience back when you did perform, yeah, and depending on when you did that, you probably were in a quarter capacity or half capacity room. There is absolutely no way that the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra can make a profit performing to quarter-filled rooms or half-filled rooms. And that was, you know, technically a sellout, but, but they would have been losing 1000s of dollars on that. 

So that's how strong that urge to perform and have community is with artists, where we will often lose money just for the just for the experience that fringe I did a show that I knew couldn't make money, but very luckily, I got an athlete fringe grant for that, for that, and so I did a show that was only for 30 people at a time. And yeah, but I wouldn't have been able to do it if, if I didn't have the grant, because I can't afford to just put on a show for people, have them pay and still lose money over it, of course, but what you've done is enrich the lives of those 30 people, or those different groups of 30 people, just like the ASO, it reaches my life and the life of everyone in the audience whenever we go.

Kate Cooper 22:11

So you can't quantify monetary terms the richness that live performers give to us.

Jason Chong 22:19

Yeah, yeah, I know that. I mean, the art has been doing it so tough. And it's such a it's such an irony, considering, when we were locked down, all we wanted, where's the art? Where's the entertainment? How am I getting my TV now? And, you know, everyone got on Netflix, and that is, that is art, that is the same people who are, you know, doing stand up in clubs. They're the same people that are, you know, eventually get the stand up comedy specials on Netflix or or write the flea bags and all that kind of stuff. So, yeah, so it's a complicated it's a complicated relationship between art, artists and their art, I think, because... yeah.

Kate Cooper 22:55

And I'm going to ask a related question that I've asked a number of guests over the past couple of years on this program. What does the word community mean to you?

Jason Chong 23:08

Okay, community is, I guess people gotta every time I feel like, oh, that's the definition. I can go with, and I can say, then by the time I start saying it, something else pops into my head. Yeah, I can tell you what it maybe isn't. It's not necessarily people that you get along with, because I feel like people in your community that challenge you are as important as the people that you kind of get along with. Because, yeah, if you just had a whole bunch of yes, people around you, then that's not that's not a great community. That's something else. I guess it's people who may not even have the same goal, because there's been so what I'm doing, I'm specifically thinking about my comedy community. 

So the people that I kind of started doing comedy with, and we all had different goals and went on to different things. And sometimes someone would say, Hey, I'm doing this thing. Could you help me? And I, you know, it's not something that I've even wanted to do or thought about, but I've done it and then enjoyed it and got a good experience out of it as well. So I don't know, I don't know what, exactly what a community is, but I guess a community is maybe people that you look forward to spending time with. Is that... what have other people said? That's a great question. 

It depends, in part, I think, where people grow up, or where they happen to be living now, whether they've got a geographical community, or whether, for example, with the spoken word poets on the program, we've talked about the spoken word community in Adelaide, which is incredibly supportive. So when there's an open mic event, for example, people go along if it's the first time they get big round of applause, if somebody's in the middle of performing and they forget, you've got people who very warmly click their fingers just as... an encouragement. So... it's really the people who give you the encouragement to do what you really want to do and follow your passion. That's how I put it. I think, yeah, I'll have to think about a bit more on that. It's great, good question.

Kate Cooper 25:16

And Jason, before we wrap, would you tell us how our listeners can find your website and what they'll find on it?

Jason Chong 25:24

Oh yes, I've no idea what you'd find on it now, but jasonchong.com.au is my website. I'm got the socials as well. For some weird reason, I've got various combinations of Jason Chong and then comic, comedian, comedy, because at different times I've things have been taken or I just didn't think about it at the time. Yeah, that's they're the best places to find me, I think. And I don't know what's on my website, because I probably haven't updated it in many years. So jasonchong.com.au - that's the one.

Kate Cooper 25:55

Thank you so much, Jason. I've had a lovely time.

Jason Chong 25:59

Thanks so much for asking me.

Kate Cooper 26:00

Our guest on Emerging Writers today was comedian, writer, filmmaker and ABC radio host Jason Chong. This program is produced in our Adelaide studios, and can be heard at the same time each week here on Vision Australia Radio - VA Radio on digital, online at varadio.org, and also on Vision Australia Radio Podcasts, where you can catch up on earlier episodes. 

And before we go, at Vision Australia radio, here in Adelaide, we're doing 100k Our Way this April, we've joined forces to take on the challenge of Vision Australia's annual fundraiser, 100k Your Way. Throughout the month, our team will be walking, running, swimming, cycling, rolling and rowing our way to 100 kilometres each - because for someone who is blind or has low vision, staying active and independent isn't always easy. Even a simple walk or run can be a challenge. Vision Australia is changing that by playing a crucial role in empowering people of all ages who are blind or have low vision, to move the way they choose. 

I'm Kate Cooper from the Emerging Writers program, and I've committed to walking 100 kilometres in April. So if you would like to support this important cause, head to varadio dot org,select the 100k Your Way team link and simply click on Join the Vision Australia Radio, Radio Adelaide team - you can join us and or make a donation. Your contribution and encouragement to our team, no matter the size, will make a meaningful difference to many lives. Thank you for your support. Let's make a positive impact together.

Oh.

Vision Australia ID 28:11

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