You moved to New York City in 2015 to join The Daily Show with Trevor Noah as a senior correspondent. Was it challenging breaking into the American comedy scene?

There’s nothing like the New York comedy scene. It’s more open and edgier than Melbourne. You can get away with saying anything as long as you're funny. There's so much opportunity, with 20-30 shows every day of the week. But The Daily Show definitely opened a lot of doors for me. I was allowed to prove myself as a stand-up comic quite quickly, compared to those who were out there trying to book show after show in New York.

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From climate change to anti-Asian hate crimes, do you find it exhausting having to cover this kind of new stories at The Daily Show?

I don’t know if comedy has made me more of a sociopath or if I’m just naturally like this. But that's the job. I can brush it off quite easily at the end of the day. I imagine it’s the same as being a doctor in the emergency room. When you keep seeing the most horrific stuff day in, day out, you don’t even get emotional about it anymore. 

You've also been involved in a lot of discussions about racism, diversity and Asian representation in Hollywood. How do you feel about always being asked about the ‘Asian experience’?

One of the reasons why I started comedy in the first place was because I didn’t see anyone talking about things from this perspective. So, I don’t mind it when people ask—I get it. It is frustrating when journalists keep asking me generic questions and I provide generic answers; it can feel so pointless. But I’m proud to be able to provide that perspective. At the same time, I don’t agree with doing things just because I’m expected to. I want to be able to focus on what I want to do. And the weird thing is that it’s not something that I ever thought about growing up in Asia. 

Your childhood was pretty evenly split between Malaysia and Singapore. Do you feel more attached to one more than the other?

I’m Malaysian. People don’t really understand what it was like to grow up in Johor Bahru. Maybe they think I’m pandering to both but I don’t really care. I was the kid who would wake up in Johor Bahru at 4am, take the Mickey Mouse bus across the causeway to go to school in Singapore. I don’t differentiate between them like that because they are so close. 

Singapore and Malaysia are just like New York and New Jersey. There’s no doubt who's who in this scenario but the point is how close they are: there’s just a bridge separating them. 

But who has better food, Malaysia or Singapore?

That's not even a question. Obviously, it’s Malaysia. 

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Do you think your career would have taken off in the same way if you were in Malaysia or Singapore?

That’s a good question. I don’t think it would’ve been as good a start. When I was starting out, comedy culture in Asia was still a very new thing. I have a lot of respect for Malaysian comedians like Kuah Jenhan and Phoon Chi Ho, who were building their careers and the whole industry at the same time. They had to do that from scratch. When I was in Australia, I was able to focus on what I wanted to do.

The pandemic has changed the way that people consume comedy, with TikTok and Instagram Reels. Do you think that’s something you’d be interested in exploring?

No, I don’t want to do any of that sh*t ever (laughs). And I'm lucky I don’t have to. In terms of social media, I feel like I’m ancient and I’m not even that old! My brain isn’t wired to make short clips every day. When I started comedy, my main business was not from sponsorships or media. I followed the oldest business model: selling tickets for live performances. YouTube had been around but stand-up comics were precious about our material; we worked on it for a year before we're ready to release them to the public. 

That‘s how I still think about content. Less is more. Quality over quantity. Limited supply, increased demand. I think Dave Chappelle is a comedian that does this very well, and it works. 

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Speaking of Dave Chappelle, you recently attended Chappelle's Summer Camp 2021 alongside Jon Stewart and many more. What is it like meeting your comedy heroes?

Chappelle’s Summer Camp is like the NBA All-Star game for comedy but I actually met a lot of my comedy heroes, including Bill Burr and Dave Chappelle, when I was in Australia. They let me open for them and after I moved to America, we were able to connect even more. Bill Burr produced my Netflix special. It’s great when people I respect think that I’m doing a good job. It empowers you to ignore a lot of the negativity and haters.

Can you share any spoilers from the highly-anticipated Marvel movie, Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings?

I don’t know how much I can talk about it. I’m more afraid of Marvel than the Secret Service. I can say that it was really cool to be part of this project. The filming experience in Australia was life-changing. The plan was to go there for two weeks but because of the pandemic, it ended up being six months and it was so much fun. I was able to hang out with the whole cast—Simu Liu, Michelle Yeoh, Meng’er Zhang—and really get to know them. 

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You have been part of non-comedy movies, such as Bliss and Trust, with an upcoming role in sci-fi thriller, M3gan. It looks like you're taking on more dramatic roles. 

I’m excited to expand my acting range. I’m not a classically trained actor, so when people trust me to be part of their vision, especially in roles that are not strictly comedic, it’s a huge honour.