BAZAAR Power List 2023: Irene Ang

This year, we celebrate Singapore’s comedy queens and funny girls who have captured our hearts, tickled our ribs and got us thinking and reflecting on ourselves and society at large. Whether it’s through stand-up, sketches, or film, these funny girls have the courage, flair and smarts to not only succeed in the world of comedy, but to also thrive in it. Meet Irene Ang, a 55-year-old host, actor and entrepreneur.

Have you always needed to have a lot of things going on?

I think I function best when I have multiple things to do. But as I grow older, I find that I need to cut down – but I still cannot do just one thing. When my career as an actress was on the rise or was at its peak, the business side of me kicked in. I believe that what goes up must come down. So when things come down,  what’s your safety net? Because of my family background, I’ve learned to always have a backup plan since I was young. I learned that I must always be reliant or dependent on myself. 

But then you see, one can only plan – what life brings you is different. Eventually I became more of a host because I really enjoy it, whether it’s TV, dinners, hybrid events, Facebook live, Instagram live and now TikTok. I actually enjoy live events and hosting very much, so I do less and less stand-up comedy because comedy is a lot of prep work and it’s very scary. It’s one of my biggest fears. 

Once I did a show in Genting and it was amazing, with an audience of 5,000 for an insurance company. Returning to Singapore the next day, I did the same exact set for an award ceremony and it flopped. People said ‘Oh, she’s not funny.’ So I didn’t understand. It’s very hard to control. Just one person saying ‘it’s not funny’ affects a comedian. In Malaysia, I had the exact same set, but the audience was different. So I find stand-up very unpredictable. But in comparison, when I host, I can weave comedy into my hosting. Whether it's somebody I bring on stage to disturb, or I go down and interact with people, I find that I have a longer time with my audience. Performing stand-up, you have to prepare a lot and every set has to be different. It has to be new material.

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What’s the most fulfilling thing about hosting?

That you can actually make a huge difference. You and the mic are all the difference in whether the event will be just okay or amazing. Since I’ve been hosting longer than I’ve been acting (I’ve been hosting for 30 years), hosting comes more easily. I can use Singlish or be more serious and corporate, depending on the occasion. I enjoy hosting and being funny, spreading my comedy over the entire three-hour event or dinner because then I feel like I really contributed. I’m not just there to read lines or introduce the VIP. I’m there to make a difference in the event, so I see that as a critical role.

In what mode do you feel most powerful?

When I can truly solve my business problems or when I can make a room full of very serious people laugh. I remember a gig I did and the audience was all teachers. The organising committee had a meeting with me beforehand, telling me and my manager to not get offended if they don't laugh as they’re very serious people and don’t have a sense of humour. In the end, I had the most amazing audience, because once you can hit their spots, you can connect with them straight away. I started by sharing that I tried to teach Sunday schools once and I got fired in three Sundays. I told them how hard it is, and they could connect with me, and they loved it. If my audience is the army, I might bring in Ah Boys to Men. Thus, I always ask my manager who my audience is, because it’s so important as a host or a comedian to know your audience. If your audience is atas (Singlish for high-class), then maybe they won’t understand certain jokes.

What's the biggest misconception people have about what you do?

That I’m paid a lot. One of the reasons why I have so many businesses is because being an actress or a comedian in Singapore doesn’t pay the bills, nor give you the CPF to buy a HDB, and worst of all, you can't really  take the bus and MRT. Of course you can take the MRT, but when you are carrying a lot of things, you don’t really want to be seen in public. For instance, today, I had to bring my luggage with all my change of clothes, my shoes, my scarves. You can’t be lugging that up and down the train especially for work. Thus, you have to be able to travel around, have a roof over your head, etc. There’s a story about how a lawyer won a case in half an hour and his rich client questioned his fee of $100,000, which was his hourly rate. The lawyer responded that either you can hire a lousy lawyer to go to court 10 times and cost you $1 million, or you can hire me to win this case for you in half an hour. It's a similar situation for us performers. What I do today is an accumulation of my experience over the last 30 years. You can hire a younger, cheaper host but they may not be able to connect with the audience the way that the older veterans can.

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This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Photographed by Wee Khim
Creative direction and styling by Windy Aulia 
Producers: Cindy Ow, Navin Pillay 
Makeup and Hair: Chris Siow using Make Up For Ever And Revlon Professional
Stylist’s assistants: Naysa Pradhan, Zoe Tauro