Dayo Wong Tze-wah (born 5 September 1960) is a Hong Kong actor and standup comedian. Known as a pioneer of stand-up comedy in Hong Kong, he is known for his stadium shows integrating political satire and social commentary.[1][2] He has performed at the Hong Kong Coliseum, including 26 sold-out shows at his farewell stand-up performance.[3]
Dayo Wong | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 黃子華 | |||
 Dayo Wong in 2003 | |||
| Born | 5 September 1960 | ||
| Education |
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| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1984–present | ||
| Awards | TVB Anniversary Awards –
| ||
| Chinese name | |||
| Traditional Chinese | 黃子華 | ||
| Simplified Chinese | 黄子华 | ||
| |||
| Musical career | |||
| Genres | Observational comedy | ||
| Labels | EMI | ||
Biography
Wong gained a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Alberta in Canada.
He began his career in the entertainment industry in Hong Kong in 1984, but he is best known for his works in live stand-up comedy which he started performing regularly since 1990. Since then he has starred in TV dramas and films and has recorded several albums.
Television
Dayo had his TVB TV series debut in 1999, acting as "Lai Sam" in "Justice Sung 2".[4] A year later, he reached a milestone as a lazy law firm assistant in War of the Genders,[5] winning the "My Favourite Television Character Award" in 2002. He won two awards in 2004: the My Favourite On-Screen Partners (with Ada Choi in "Catch the Uncatchable") and again, the My Favourite Television Character Award (also in "Catch the Uncatchable").
He was nominated for the TV King Award in 2007 and 2009. He was finally crowned as TV King with "Bounty Lady" in 2013.[6] To Dayo, the award was an accumulative result of his TVB dramas. In that year, Julian Cheung started as the clear favourite of the audience due to his popularity in "Triumph in the Skies 2".[7] Though Chilam ended up winning the Most Popular Male Character, he sounded disappointed in his acceptance speech (the price is widely recognised as a consolation prize to The Best Actor Award). Chilam did not stay behind the ceremony for the TVB official interview. He explained that he was not informed to stay behind for any interview. The discord rumours between Chilam and Dayo begin to spread out widely. However, the rumour was shot down when Chilam surprised Dayo by his sudden appearance at a meal gathering of the Bounty Lady.[8]
Stand-up
Besides the TVB drama career, Dayo is also well known to be a stand-up comedian. He introduced stand-up comedy to Hong Kong and is well known for including a lot of political and philosophical content in his sets. "Hong Kong's housing issue is absolutely ridiculous. I have discussed this in my stand-up shows too. Hong Kong residents need to have 13 to 14 times their current annual salary to finally be qualified for home ownership."[9] said the comedian. He has performed in Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, and the United States.[10]
Film
In comparison with his stand-up comedy and TV dramas, his movies are not as successful. When asked the reasons behind, he explained that his ultimate goal is to look for something new in his movies. His visions make his work good to watch, but it is not good enough to attract people to pay for a cinema ticket. Additionally, he hates doing promotion for his work.[11]However, this situation has changed recently with his last four movies namely, Agent Mr Chan (2018), The Grand Grandmaster (2020), Table for Six (2022) and A Guilty Conscience (2023) helping to break him out of the box-office poison moniker. Table for Six in particular, has become the most successful comedy release in Hong Kong and the second highest-grossing Chinese film in Hong Kong.
Filmography
Stand-up comedy, Free Man Show, Stage
| Year | Name | Remark |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 娛樂圈血肉史 | - |
| 1991 | 色情家庭 | - |
| 1992 | 跟住去邊度 | - |
| 1994 | 末世財神 | - |
| 1995 | 棟篤笑雙打之玩無可玩 | Cheung Tat-ming |
| 1997 | 秋前算帳 | - |
| 殺出廚房 | ||
| 1998 | Free Men Show (鬚根Show) | Cheung Tat-ming, Francis Ng |
| 1999 | 拾下拾下拾年棟篤笑 | |
| 2000 | Free Men Show 2 (鬚根Show 2) | Cheung Tat-ming, Francis Ng |
| 男親女愛舞台劇 | ||
| March 2003 | 冇炭用 | - |
| October 2006 | 兒童不宜 | - |
| December 2007 | 越大鑊越快樂 | - |
| September 2008 | 男磨坊 | |
| August to September 2009 | 嘩眾取寵 | - |
| November 2010 | 娛樂圈血肉史 II | - |
| June to July 2011 | 咁愛咁做 | |
| February 2012 | 野豬 | |
| October 2012 | 洗燥 | |
| October 2014 | 唔黐線唔正常 | |
| July to August 2016 | 前度 | Fala Chen |
| June 2018 | 金盆啷口 |
Films
| Year | English title |
|---|---|
| 1992 | The Magic Touch |
| 1993 | Two of a Kind Pink Bomb No. 1 3rd Ave Even Mountains Meet |
| 1994 | I've Got You, Babe!!! Mr. Sardine Long and Winding Road Oh! My Three Guys From Zero to Hero New Tenant Born innocent |
| 1995 | Once in a Life Time Wind Beneath the Wings The Meaning of Life Spider Woman Thunderbolt Only Fools Fall in Love The Dan That Doesn't Exist |
| 1996 | Satan Returns Top Banana Club 13 July All of a Sudden Love and Sex Among the Ruins Big Bullet |
| 1997 | 24 Hrs Ghost Story Walk In Legend of the Wolf Those Were the Days Tamagotchi Love, Amoeba Style 97 Aces Go Places The Wedding Days My Dad is a Jerk |
| 1998 | F*** /Off |
| 2000 | What Is A Good Teacher Don't Look Back or You'll Be Sorry Titanic (dub) |
| 2001 | The Emperor's New Groove (dub) Let's Sing Along |
| 2002 | Fighting to Survive Scooby Doo (dub) |
| 2004 | Leave Me Alone |
| 2005 | Teacher in University |
| 2006 | Lethal Ninja Over the Hedge (dub) Nothing is Impossible |
| 2007 | Zhui Bu House of Mahjong |
| 2014 | Golden Chicken 3 |
| Temporary Family | |
| 2015 | Secret Treasure[12][13][14] |
| 2016 | Zootopia (dub) |
| 2017 | Earth: One Amazing Day (dub) |
| 2018 | Agent Mr Chan |
| 2020 | The Grand Grandmaster |
| 2022 | Table for Six |
| 2023 | A Guilty Conscience |
TV series
| Year | Title | Role | Network | TVB Anniversary Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Justice Sung II 狀王宋世傑II | Lai Sam | TVB | |
| 2000 | War of Genders 男親女愛 | Yu Lok-ting | TVB | My Favourite Television Character |
| 2001 | Unusual Citizen 非常公民 | Puyi | Mainland Chinese production | |
| 2004 | To Catch the Uncatchable 棟篤神探 | Mok Jok-dung | TVB | My Favourite On-Screen Partners (Dramas) My Favourite Television Character |
| 2005 | Hail The Judge 新九品芝麻官 | Song Shijie | China Mainland | |
| The Great Adventure 大冒險家 | Pak Wut | ATV | ||
| 2006 | Loving Insurance 情愛保險 | Tang Tianshou | Mainland Chinese production | |
| 2007 | Men Don't Cry 奸人堅 | Ho Kei-kin | TVB | Best Actor Nomination (Top 20) My Favourite Male Character Nomination (Top 5) |
| 2009 | You're Hired 絕代商驕 | Mak Tai-song | TVB | Best Actor Nomination (Top 5) My Favourite Male Character Nomination (Top 5) |
| 2013 | Bounty Lady My盛Lady | Heung Kwong-nam | TVB | Best Actor |
Discography
Album
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 鬚根Sound |
| 1999 | 關老三 |
| 2000 | 我有小小強 |
| 2001 | Experience |
| 2005 | 哈痞（痞：音鄙，happy） |
Other albums
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| November 1999 | 華納99最好精選 |
| December 1999 | 華納千禧世紀好精選 |
| October 2000 | 華納天碟2000 |
| September 2001 | 關不掉的聲音— 前途萬里行 |
| October 2001 | 華納23周年紀念精選（華納群星） |
| September 2003 | 1:99電影行動（原裝導演加長版） |
| September 2004 | 愛唱主題曲 Theme Songs（香港群星）— 衰邊個 |
Not included in the albums
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 2006 | 知彼不知己 |
| 2007 | 奸人堅 |
| 2009 | 冇問題 |
| 2013 | My盛Lady |