Vivek Mahbubani is standing by the small stage at Wan Chai’s Champs Bar, waiting to be introduced to the crowd. He’s wearing a suit jacket over a black T-shirt, and he’s already gone over his notes, memorised the order of his ‘bits’, and lined up his first jokes. Tonight, he’s opening for American comedian Tom Cotter, and as Jami Gong calls him to the stage, the crowd claps and cheers over their chicken wings and beers.

Mahbubani steps forward and presses the button to start the timer on his watch. After 14 minutes, it will vibrate noiselessly, signalling to him that it’s time to get one last good laugh and then get the hell off stage.

This is a routine Mahbubani has polished over the course of two years, since he first picked up a microphone to tell jokes at Gong’s then-new club on Elgin Street in Soho. It’s a routine that has helped the 27-year-old Hong Kong-born Indian twice win the title of Hong Kong’s funniest person: first, in 2007, in the Cantonese category, and then, the next year, in the English category. But being funny probably helped too.“A lot of people think all Indians look alike,” he says, eyes flicking wide as he paces the small stage. “You walk into Chungking Mansions, it’s like you’re in The Matrix – everyone in there is Agent Smith!”

The hearty laughter that ensues is typical of what is sustained throughout the set. It’s been well established that Mahbubani is an amusing chap, and he’s now reaping the benefits. Since his break-out win in 2007, he’s fronted for commercials, a TV series for RTHK, and had a Cantonese-speaking cameo in the movie All’s Well Ends Well. He’s also regularly booked by corporations, hotels, restaurants, and other groups such as Rotary, who call on him to add colour to their gatherings.

“This is way past a dream come true,” explains Mahbubani. “The reason I started stand-up comedy was nothing more that ticking something off on my life’s to-do list.”

Mahbubani says that in the past the prospect of performing at the international comedy fest would have had him shaking with nerves all day ahead of his set. These days, he needs only a couple of hours to get ‘in the zone’ before taking the stage.

This year, Mahbubani returns to the festival as a guest performer, having already claimed both the trophies up for grabs. “Just to be given that title – it’s like a milestone in your life.”

The value of a comedy fest, he reckons, is that it makes the scene more, um, serious. It’s like the comedians are students who have to face up to their examiners: “They’re not just performing; they’re performing the best they can perform.”

Indeed, the class of 2010 will have to study hard to measure up to the standard of this particular illustrious alumnus.

3rd Hong Kong International Comedy Festival 2009, TakeOut Comedy, 34 Elgin St, Central, 6220 4436, www.hkcomedyfestival.com. See Stage listings. for more details.

Read our profiles:

The rookie: Pete Grella

The leng-mui: Matina Leung

The breakout: Vivek Mahbubani