This week on Talking Heads Peter Thompson is joined by Anh Do, a refugee from Vietnam whose extraordinary drive and talent has taken him to the top as a comedian.
Do was just two years old when his family set out on an overcrowded fishing boat heading for what they hoped would be a better life. On the way they were attacked by pirates and suffered from dehydration. One person had died by the time they were rescued by a German merchant ship.
Life in Australia was a succession of new challenges. His parents were working up to 15-hours a day to try to make a go of it, and initially everything was make-do. Things became even tougher when Do was 13 and his father left home.
Do graduated from university with business and law degrees but says when he compared a corporate job of 60 hours a week to the four-hour week of a stand-up comic, it was a no-brainer! And at 30 Ahn Do was voted Australia's Comedian of the Year. |
