Lawrence’s website has moved and can now be found at www.lawrenceleung.com. This website will still here for the time being but is not being updated so head on over to the new site for info on upcoming  live shows and Lawrence’s new tv show.

Sorry I haven’t written on this site for a while. I’ve been extremely busy for the last 9 months writing and filming a TV series around Sydney, Melbourne and Los Angeles. It’s been a blast, with a lot of laughs, unpredictable events, a wonderful team, passion and  - as the project title suggests – genuine fun ‘n’ adventure. Finally, it’s finished! 

This documentary/comedy/adventure series is directed by Craig Melville and Nathan Earl and goes to air early this year on ABC1 in Australia. 

I can’t wait for you to see it!  

It’s called “Lawrence Leung’s Choose Your Own Adventure” and is about all the things I wanted to do as a kid but never got around to because I grew up. What happens if  I finally gave them a shot?

Six adventures. Six weeks. Starring my actual mum and dad (playing themselves)! Coming soon…

Curious Folk:  Official TV series website online shortly. In the meantime, join the show’s Facebook group where I can keep you updated on news and videos: Friends of Lawrence’s Adventures

Media Folk: Contact ABC Publicity,  Brookes.Dylan@abc.net.au

“A show with real heart, an uplifting message and hilarious lines that come thick and fast.” Chortle, UK 2007

Lawrence Leung Learns To Breakdance is popping and locking across Australia in 2008:

W.A

Albany February 13th and 14th – Albany Town Hall. 8:00pm

Bookings: 9844 2222

Perth International Arts Festival February 15th and 16th, 8:30pm – Beck’

s Music Box, The Esplanade, Perth

9484 1133 Country callers (Australia only): 1800 193 300

S.A

Adelaide Fringe Tuesday 19 February – Sun 2 March (not 22 February), Previews 19-21, 8pm. The Garden of Unearthly Delights, Rundle Park.

1300 374 643 or adelaidefringe.com.au

N.S.W

Sydney Opera House April 15-26 (Tuesdays-Saturdays, not 16th), The Studio at the Sydney Opera House, 9:30pm.

9250 7777 

Lawrence makes an appearance in the video for Banjo and Violin by the Audreys. It’s on the video page.

My mammoth quest to be cool – “Lawrence Leung Learns To Breakdance” – has finally completed its very long season at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. It was a fantastic festival this year – the most fun I’ve had since doing the “Somewhat Secret Secret Society Show” a couple of years back with my best friend Andrew McClelland.
It was 24 shows (including two shows on the final friday) with not much sleep, a lot of late night noodles at the China Bar with Courteney Hocking and Andrew McClelland and hours spent on couches at the Trades Hall downstairs bar. (God bless you, Trades hall)

This is a photo of me with the Barry Award (It’s not mine, it’s Kitson).

Some of my favourite memories include:

- “Mark Watson’s 24 hour show” where I left flirty voicemail and conducted a sing-a-long (written by Casey Bennetto) with the audience down-the-line to Lord Mayor John So’s personal mobile phone.
- singing “Bizarre Love Triangle” with the glamorous 80s cover band “80s Enuff” dressed in a Miami Vice white suit and solving the Rubik’s Cube at the same time.
- winning the Audience Choice Award for my short film Howard Flu.
- being invited to perform at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh this August.
- visiting Alex Wuppertaler’s Bakery in Bayswater with UK comic delight Josie Long. It was a holy wheat-free pilgrimmage.
- hanging out with the wonderful staff and performers at Trades Hall
- Doing a late show in Tripod’s massive venue (New Council Chambers, Trades Hall). I felt like a rock star.
- The Best Show I saw was Justin Hamilton’s “Three Colours Hammo” (Part 3). Simply magnificent, inspiring and bar-raising.
- winning the 2007 The Age Critics Award for Best Australian Show of the Festival which means a cute glass trophy and a giant novelty-sized cheque, hooray!
- my brother Dennis’ surprise visit to my show.

Thanks to all of you who came to the show and made it a joy to perform.

It’s the only vote I want John Howard to win.

My short film HOWARD FLU won the People’s Choice Award at the 2007 Comedy Channel Short Film Festival.

Votes were collected at free screeinging around Australia and the announcement made at the Awards Night at Federation Square on 27th April. The winner of the competition was “The Lecture”, an animation by Clint Cure. The Judges were the Clayton & Shane Jacobson (of “Kenny” fame), Colin Lane (from Lano and Woodley) and Adam Elliot (Harvey Krumpet) and Sean Riley of the Comedy Channel.

Good news. My short film has been accepted as a finalist in the Comedy Channel Short Film Festival! Hooray.

This is a short film festival that is exclusively for new comedy films. The selected finalists will be screened around Australia throughout march/april and climaxes with a free screening and awards night at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

Please come see the film and vote for it for the Audience Favorite award if you like it.
All screenings are free!

FREE Award Screening, Melbourne
Venue: BMW Edge, Federation Square
Date: Friday, April 27
Time: 7.30pm

FREE Competition Screenings

Venue: Palace 1, 274 Rundle Street, Adelaide
Dates: 22 – 24 March
Times: Thu & Fri 6:00pm & Saturday 3.00pm

Venue: Federation Square Screen, Melbourne
Dates: 6, 13 & 20 April
Times: 8:00pm

Venue: Chauvel Cinema, Paddington Town Hall, Oxford Street, Sydney
Dates: 13 – 15 April
Times: Fri 7:00pm, Sat & Sun 4:00pm

Venue: RMIT Capitol Theatre, 113 Swanston Street, Melbourne
Dates: 9, 16 & 23 April
Times: 7:00pm

Cheers guys.

I make another unconvincing cameo in the new music video for “Banjo & Violin” the new single for ARIA-award winning band The Audreys. They are acclaimed for their traditional folk/country/roots sound, but many lads and ladies admire them for Taasha Coates’ smooth vocals and feline stage presence. Check out their music at www.theaudreys.com.au.

If you’re wonderin’ why the hell I’m dressed like a Flinder Street station punk in a country/folk song you’ll just have to wait until the clip appears on Rage (ABC-TV) soon. I’m keen to find out myself.

By the way, the weedy guy next to me (Tom Gaffney) tries to beat me up in the video. No way is he going to win. Look at him.

I’ve spent the first two weeks of 07 being productive by writing and directing a short film for Tropfest, the so-called largest short film competition in the world. After 8hours of props building, 2 days of shooting and five days of editing (damn “iMovie”, my kingdom for Final Cut Pro), finally I got the film in. And 45min before the deadline! Phew…

This year, the symbol filmmakers had to include in their submissions was a Sneeze. So I directed and made a little satirical comedy about a man who suffers from a very conservative case of the flu. Everytime he sneezes he transforms into a Muppet of Australian Prime Minister John Howard. It’s called HOWARD FLU.

It stars Craig Barfoot, Andrew McClelland and Kylene Cook. Puppetry and the voice of John Howard were performed by Shan Jayaweera.

It was very interesting to hit the streets with the puppet for our vox pop scenes with the general public. We discovered that people had no trouble giving a puppet a piece of their mind. People really have a lot to say to the Prime Minister on a range of different issues. It’s a shame that Tropfest only allows a max of 7min. There was so much gold, not enough time.

The film will be available on our Video page soon.

NEWS FLASH!

I’m performing a limited encore season of “The Marvellous Misadventures of Puzzle Boy” at the Melbourne Fringe. It’s for three shows only (Fridays Sept 29, Oct 6, Oct 13) at the Fringe Festival Hub- Czech House.

Since it’s only for three shows it’s probably best to book early to avoid missing a seat and having a messy argument in the car on the way home.

> Ticket Bookings and Fringe details

Also stick around after my show for my best friend’s comic tour de force, ”Andrew McClelland’s Mixtape C-90 Edition”. It’s the 90 min extended version of his joyous Comedy Festival show.

> Reviews and more about PuzzleBoy