Jinx Yeo @ Laughing Horse, Southside Social

A smart but safe debut from Jinx Yeo

Review by Ben Venables | 16 Aug 2016

Jinx Yeo's A+ Underachiever centres on his traditional Chinese upbringing, and while much of the comedy is mined from the contrast between Western ideas and the strict and conservative values of his family, the themes resonate because it's a more universal than that. The hour is about those times when our best is not good enough.

There is insight in this show: once, after Yeo finally topped his class it was his father's body language, and not his words, that revealed a glimmer of paternal pride. His description of their relationship should strike a chord for anyone with a buttoned-up Dad.

Yeo's delivery is soft and relaxed, and he has more than enough material to fill the hour. The jokes sidle toward the predictable though; a misunderstanding that the teenage Yeo had with his mother about a condom leaves the structure of his material too visible. For someone who disappointed his parents through education, it'd be interesting to see Yeo play his debut a little less textbook. Nonetheless, there is much to enjoy here.


Jinx Yeo, A+ Underachiever, Laughing Horse @ Southside Social, until 28 Aug, 11.15pm, Free