Profile | Who is Dayo Wong, stand-up comedian and Hong Kong box office king? His rocky road to fame
The star of The Last Dance has had a tumultuous rise to the top, with a string of failed films but a stellar stand-up career under his belt
If you have been in Hong Kong in the past few months, then chances are you may have seen – or at least heard of – a little movie called The Last Dance.
It may surprise some that The Last Dance has grossed over HK$143 million (US$18.4 million) at the box office to become the all-time top-grossing domestic film in Hong Kong cinema history. More remarkably, despite featuring Wong in a leading role, he has barely a single joke to tell.
Then again, contradiction is something of a running theme in Wong’s career. His sharp, witty observational comedy may have cemented his status as Hong Kong’s godfather of stand-up, but he was known as box office poison for well over a decade thanks to his involvement in big-screen flops.
Wong, born in 1960, was brought up in a single-parent family with his younger sister. He has openly said in interviews that his childhood was not a happy one.
