[Music]
[Applause]
thank you I’d like to begin with a
famous quote that I think we all know
behind every iconic Asian Australian
newsreader is a straight white man
desperately grabbing ahold of her
coattails and claiming credit for all
her success good afternoon my name is
Chris Leben and I am that straight white
man now if you’re not sure who that
iconic newsreader is it’s of course this
woman
SBS newsreader and Gold Logie Loser miss
Li Lin Chen come on I read I ran a
campaign it’s my fault too and I’m one
of the creative minds behind her comedy
character also called Li Lin Chen that
you might have seen on SBS’s youth news
and current affairs program the feed in
sketches such as this you know people
often come up to me and ask oh my god
Lily and then I made stuff for
the right to speak to me biting satire
there you can hear the influences
Shakespeare Chaucer they’re all there
and basically I’m here today to teach
you how to solve one of the greatest
questions of our time how exactly do you
turn a respected newsreader into a
comedy star some of the brightest
thinkers in history have pondered this
question from Aristotle to Socrates to
other philosophers who didn’t come up on
the first page of my Google results and
while the answer may have eluded them I
think I figured it out when turning a
news reader into a comedy a character
the major rule is you must defy
expectations
now you’re probably sitting there
thinking Chris the mere act of turning a
news reader into a comedian is in itself
defying expectations and put simply yes
but put more complexly
maybe not you see it is true that we
don’t often see our newsreaders cracking
jokes or moving away from their more
serious personas unless of course
they’re caught off guard that was
torched by the Taliban during the fight
the Afghan army did manage to get a grip
on this situation but the Taliban
managed to strike in the very heart of
this city leaving many here wondering
what will be hip next to that story a
footnote to that clip Leland has not
given me permission to air this today
and she is gonna kept me in so much
by the way that handsome is Dan rivers
and he’s a ITV correspondent in the UK
and according to Twitter he is
unfortunately for Lille in very much
married but as Leland constantly likes
to remind me a ring don’t mean a thing
so Dan if you are watching she’s coming
for you now whilst we’re gonna be trying
to defy expectations we also need to
follow one of the most basic rules of
comedy the best comedy comes from truth
basically you take your subject in our
case Leland chin and you find some real
life traits about her and exaggerate
them for a comedic purpose when I was
tasked with this and I just joined the
feed
I found this quite difficult because
like the rest of Australia I didn’t
watch SBS
seriously look at their writings I quit
in November I can’t get in trouble
anymore so because I didn’t I didn’t
really even know who Leland Qin was so I
went around and asked her colleagues for
stories about her a little bit of
tidbits of information that I could use
to write this character and they told me
that she was a fashionista an avid lover
of beer and that she regularly went to
backpacker hotels to pick up
international hotties as she depleted
Australia’s supply now that last bit
sounds like a joke but I didn’t write
that someone actually told me that and I
hope it’s real so suddenly
Leland turned from a newsreader into an
alcoholic I was drunk for most of the
80s fashion obsessed you’re getting
close to the truth we keep pulling into
thread knots on this outfit you don’t
it’s vintage Yamamoto violent come on
you gonna fight me to death or talk me
to death
less gabbing and more stabbing sexual
monster six packs you just want
so once we release this character first
on TV and then later on the internet
things started to take off people
responded to it they liked it but why
was the writing particularly good I’ve
read way too many internet comments to
believe that but I do know that we were
doing one thing that wasn’t really being
seen on Australian TV we were featuring
an older Asian woman in a position of
power and unfortunately that wasn’t that
common no one wants to hear a straight
white guy talk about screen diversity
which is awkward because our next topic
is screen diversity and I understand
being the last talker at this TEDx event
and being a strike straight white man
talking about diversity I am a huge part
of the problem I am so sorry but
diversity is important Australia is a
very diverse country 32 percent of our
population come from a non Anglo
background we have an increasingly older
population and I don’t know if you know
this but 51% of our population are women
I was as surprised as you are
I don’t know patriarchy but basically Li
Lin ticks all those boxes but we never
bring attention to it those facts that
she is asian older and a woman doesn’t
really come into the character we never
make stereotypical or offensive jokes
about any of those topics what is
important though is that Leland’s
character is always high status whilst
those around her a low status and inept
sometimes to the detriment of my own
self-esteem
it’s not important and why what matters
now is I’ve been working in TV for about
eight years now and I’ve been on quite a
bit I’ve only been recognized once and
it was at a urinal when a dude turned to
me and went that nerd
I really regret writing that but it
isn’t just with Leland’s race gender and
age that we’re defying expectations
we’re also defying expectations when it
comes to demographics now
Leland’s character brought together
demographics that are very rarely seen
Gen Xers Baby Boomers and Millennials
all together let’s put it this way right
the news is an old person’s game raise
your hand if you watch news on TV okay
so you watch news on TV what’s your name
Maya okay and how old are you Maya
sixteen okay and what news program do
you watch on TV Maya you’re a liar
Millennials consume all their news
through the internet through Wi-Fi
enabled fidgets spinners 60 percent of
Australians aged between 18 and 24
consume all their news online through
Facebook and Twitter websites like that
and 64 percent of Australians aged 25 to
34 do the exact same thing so you
thought I was being an asshole with that
fidget spin align I was but I have the
facts to back it up and the thing with
the with the new school of comedy as
well is the old people don’t really
watch it but when we were providing them
with a character from a personality that
they’ve seen on their TV for 28 years
the older generations Millennials and
Gen Xers would soon into the feed and
they’d see Leland’s character and then
they’d stick around and then they’d see
the stories and reports and
documentaries that the feed made from
our perspective from the millennial
perspective they would see the stories
that mattered to us
marriage equality wealth disparity that
type of thing and it may not have
changed their minds but it was getting
them involved in a side of the
conversation that they wouldn’t normally
see on mainstream media and conversely
the same thing happened with the news
Millennials would watch these sketches
mainly online and then tune in to watch
Lee Lynn read the news admittedly it was
to see what outfit she’d be wearing but
let’s face it they’re awesome
and the thing is that’s really important
in today’s world of fake news 40 percent
of Australians don’t trust the
mainstream media anymore we’re switching
off and instead we’re turning to
comedians to inform us we’re turning to
people like Seth Meyers Samantha bee and
an Australia Charlie Pickering and Shawn
Micallef now these comedians have
agendas that they’re pushing but we
oh that they’re being open and honest
about it and that’s one of the reasons
why Li Lin works because it’s combining
those two things it’s combining the
comedy and the news now
Leland’s character is never political or
topical but you watch those sketches you
share a laugh with her and it humanizes
it humanizes her news broadcasts then
the news broadcast feeds into the comedy
because it’s so absurd that a respected
newsreader would be doing these stupid
little sketches and you know that’s kind
of why that character worked so well
what on earth are you talking about the
little man god Leland I mean miss chin
what are you doing here I don’t need you
saving this TEDx talk this TEDx talk
does not need saving these guys are
liking it they’re not liking it do my
intro no Leland I don’t need you to come
out right now do my intro
I met Leland four years ago and she made
me memorize this introduction in case
she ever wanted to interrupt a speech of
mine in the four years we’ve known her
she’s interrupted every speech so ladies
and gentlemen please rise no seriously
I’m gonna need you to get the up
everybody rise if you are not on your
feet when Leland comes out we will all
pay all right ladies and gentlemen
please welcome to the stage Leland the
fashionista of house chin first and last
of her name the queen of Australia do
dig my groovy strikes you guys can sit
now
Leigh Lynch in TEDx youth Sydney TEDx
youth Sydney Leyland Jin
thank you and hello teddies could you
hmm
put a photo of me up on the screen again
please yeah sure and preferably a sexy
one Oh perfect the sex robots look
Leland um look I really appreciate you
coming out but I’m I don’t really know
what you’re doing here well there’s a
very good reason I’m here okay
you’ve been bleating on about teaching
these impressionable children how to
turn a newsreader
into a comedy star yes which by the way
I don’t think is a particularly useful
or lucrative skill look at you
you still live with your parents that is
not true but so far you’ve just talked
about representation and demographics
yeah those things were important to know
and boring and what’s more those are
just things directors like you say all
the time to make yourself sound like you
know what you’re doing
we obviously don’t we both know that
look at you you dressed like an extra
from The Lost Boys Leland that is a
terrible reference these guys are
Millennials they have not seen that
movie be that as it may it’s still si si
kb u RN sick bang okay cool
and you are completely missing the point
okay I’m saying yes sex race age a
sexual appetite to rival Hugh Hefner’s
that’s not why people connected with my
character why do they they connected
because of me it was me it is me all of
me no one else matters okay that’s not
really cool Leland excuse me
look you come here and you ruin my TEDx
talk you make it all about you I was
just about to get to the end I was gonna
get my big finale out where I brought
everything to it together explained this
talk you mean you’re really proud of the
beach where you say the best way to turn
the news reader into a comedy star is to
give the audience something they weren’t
expecting yep or would otherwise not
expect to see or hear that’s your big
bat that doesn’t seem like my wording
but I get that you’re stuck on the
script that’s fine yes and that’s your
big revelation but let me tell you
regrettably in today’s society that is
anyone who is a minority a parts of the
LGBTQI community over 50 years of age or
a woman in a lead role that is either
derogatory stereotypical or in
questionable taste yep at a loss for
words what what she said that um that’s
the the end of my TED talk
she finished it
my name is is Chris Leben and you guys
have been great and I’ve been Leland
chin and you’ve been most welcome come
back here little man
sorry sorry Lillian I forgot
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
thank you I’d like to begin with a
famous quote that I think we all know
behind every iconic Asian Australian
newsreader is a straight white man
desperately grabbing ahold of her
coattails and claiming credit for all
her success good afternoon my name is
Chris Leben and I am that straight white
man now if you’re not sure who that
iconic newsreader is it’s of course this
woman
SBS newsreader and Gold Logie Loser miss
Li Lin Chen come on I read I ran a
campaign it’s my fault too and I’m one
of the creative minds behind her comedy
character also called Li Lin Chen that
you might have seen on SBS’s youth news
and current affairs program the feed in
sketches such as this you know people
often come up to me and ask oh my god
Lily and then I made stuff for
the right to speak to me biting satire
there you can hear the influences
Shakespeare Chaucer they’re all there
and basically I’m here today to teach
you how to solve one of the greatest
questions of our time how exactly do you
turn a respected newsreader into a
comedy star some of the brightest
thinkers in history have pondered this
question from Aristotle to Socrates to
other philosophers who didn’t come up on
the first page of my Google results and
while the answer may have eluded them I
think I figured it out when turning a
news reader into a comedy a character
the major rule is you must defy
expectations
now you’re probably sitting there
thinking Chris the mere act of turning a
news reader into a comedian is in itself
defying expectations and put simply yes
but put more complexly
maybe not you see it is true that we
don’t often see our newsreaders cracking
jokes or moving away from their more
serious personas unless of course
they’re caught off guard that was
torched by the Taliban during the fight
the Afghan army did manage to get a grip
on this situation but the Taliban
managed to strike in the very heart of
this city leaving many here wondering
what will be hip next to that story a
footnote to that clip Leland has not
given me permission to air this today
and she is gonna kept me in so much
by the way that handsome is Dan rivers
and he’s a ITV correspondent in the UK
and according to Twitter he is
unfortunately for Lille in very much
married but as Leland constantly likes
to remind me a ring don’t mean a thing
so Dan if you are watching she’s coming
for you now whilst we’re gonna be trying
to defy expectations we also need to
follow one of the most basic rules of
comedy the best comedy comes from truth
basically you take your subject in our
case Leland chin and you find some real
life traits about her and exaggerate
them for a comedic purpose when I was
tasked with this and I just joined the
feed
I found this quite difficult because
like the rest of Australia I didn’t
watch SBS
seriously look at their writings I quit
in November I can’t get in trouble
anymore so because I didn’t I didn’t
really even know who Leland Qin was so I
went around and asked her colleagues for
stories about her a little bit of
tidbits of information that I could use
to write this character and they told me
that she was a fashionista an avid lover
of beer and that she regularly went to
backpacker hotels to pick up
international hotties as she depleted
Australia’s supply now that last bit
sounds like a joke but I didn’t write
that someone actually told me that and I
hope it’s real so suddenly
Leland turned from a newsreader into an
alcoholic I was drunk for most of the
80s fashion obsessed you’re getting
close to the truth we keep pulling into
thread knots on this outfit you don’t
it’s vintage Yamamoto violent come on
you gonna fight me to death or talk me
to death
less gabbing and more stabbing sexual
monster six packs you just want
so once we release this character first
on TV and then later on the internet
things started to take off people
responded to it they liked it but why
was the writing particularly good I’ve
read way too many internet comments to
believe that but I do know that we were
doing one thing that wasn’t really being
seen on Australian TV we were featuring
an older Asian woman in a position of
power and unfortunately that wasn’t that
common no one wants to hear a straight
white guy talk about screen diversity
which is awkward because our next topic
is screen diversity and I understand
being the last talker at this TEDx event
and being a strike straight white man
talking about diversity I am a huge part
of the problem I am so sorry but
diversity is important Australia is a
very diverse country 32 percent of our
population come from a non Anglo
background we have an increasingly older
population and I don’t know if you know
this but 51% of our population are women
I was as surprised as you are
I don’t know patriarchy but basically Li
Lin ticks all those boxes but we never
bring attention to it those facts that
she is asian older and a woman doesn’t
really come into the character we never
make stereotypical or offensive jokes
about any of those topics what is
important though is that Leland’s
character is always high status whilst
those around her a low status and inept
sometimes to the detriment of my own
self-esteem
it’s not important and why what matters
now is I’ve been working in TV for about
eight years now and I’ve been on quite a
bit I’ve only been recognized once and
it was at a urinal when a dude turned to
me and went that nerd
I really regret writing that but it
isn’t just with Leland’s race gender and
age that we’re defying expectations
we’re also defying expectations when it
comes to demographics now
Leland’s character brought together
demographics that are very rarely seen
Gen Xers Baby Boomers and Millennials
all together let’s put it this way right
the news is an old person’s game raise
your hand if you watch news on TV okay
so you watch news on TV what’s your name
Maya okay and how old are you Maya
sixteen okay and what news program do
you watch on TV Maya you’re a liar
Millennials consume all their news
through the internet through Wi-Fi
enabled fidgets spinners 60 percent of
Australians aged between 18 and 24
consume all their news online through
Facebook and Twitter websites like that
and 64 percent of Australians aged 25 to
34 do the exact same thing so you
thought I was being an asshole with that
fidget spin align I was but I have the
facts to back it up and the thing with
the with the new school of comedy as
well is the old people don’t really
watch it but when we were providing them
with a character from a personality that
they’ve seen on their TV for 28 years
the older generations Millennials and
Gen Xers would soon into the feed and
they’d see Leland’s character and then
they’d stick around and then they’d see
the stories and reports and
documentaries that the feed made from
our perspective from the millennial
perspective they would see the stories
that mattered to us
marriage equality wealth disparity that
type of thing and it may not have
changed their minds but it was getting
them involved in a side of the
conversation that they wouldn’t normally
see on mainstream media and conversely
the same thing happened with the news
Millennials would watch these sketches
mainly online and then tune in to watch
Lee Lynn read the news admittedly it was
to see what outfit she’d be wearing but
let’s face it they’re awesome
and the thing is that’s really important
in today’s world of fake news 40 percent
of Australians don’t trust the
mainstream media anymore we’re switching
off and instead we’re turning to
comedians to inform us we’re turning to
people like Seth Meyers Samantha bee and
an Australia Charlie Pickering and Shawn
Micallef now these comedians have
agendas that they’re pushing but we
oh that they’re being open and honest
about it and that’s one of the reasons
why Li Lin works because it’s combining
those two things it’s combining the
comedy and the news now
Leland’s character is never political or
topical but you watch those sketches you
share a laugh with her and it humanizes
it humanizes her news broadcasts then
the news broadcast feeds into the comedy
because it’s so absurd that a respected
newsreader would be doing these stupid
little sketches and you know that’s kind
of why that character worked so well
what on earth are you talking about the
little man god Leland I mean miss chin
what are you doing here I don’t need you
saving this TEDx talk this TEDx talk
does not need saving these guys are
liking it they’re not liking it do my
intro no Leland I don’t need you to come
out right now do my intro
I met Leland four years ago and she made
me memorize this introduction in case
she ever wanted to interrupt a speech of
mine in the four years we’ve known her
she’s interrupted every speech so ladies
and gentlemen please rise no seriously
I’m gonna need you to get the up
everybody rise if you are not on your
feet when Leland comes out we will all
pay all right ladies and gentlemen
please welcome to the stage Leland the
fashionista of house chin first and last
of her name the queen of Australia do
dig my groovy strikes you guys can sit
now
Leigh Lynch in TEDx youth Sydney TEDx
youth Sydney Leyland Jin
thank you and hello teddies could you
hmm
put a photo of me up on the screen again
please yeah sure and preferably a sexy
one Oh perfect the sex robots look
Leland um look I really appreciate you
coming out but I’m I don’t really know
what you’re doing here well there’s a
very good reason I’m here okay
you’ve been bleating on about teaching
these impressionable children how to
turn a newsreader
into a comedy star yes which by the way
I don’t think is a particularly useful
or lucrative skill look at you
you still live with your parents that is
not true but so far you’ve just talked
about representation and demographics
yeah those things were important to know
and boring and what’s more those are
just things directors like you say all
the time to make yourself sound like you
know what you’re doing
we obviously don’t we both know that
look at you you dressed like an extra
from The Lost Boys Leland that is a
terrible reference these guys are
Millennials they have not seen that
movie be that as it may it’s still si si
kb u RN sick bang okay cool
and you are completely missing the point
okay I’m saying yes sex race age a
sexual appetite to rival Hugh Hefner’s
that’s not why people connected with my
character why do they they connected
because of me it was me it is me all of
me no one else matters okay that’s not
really cool Leland excuse me
look you come here and you ruin my TEDx
talk you make it all about you I was
just about to get to the end I was gonna
get my big finale out where I brought
everything to it together explained this
talk you mean you’re really proud of the
beach where you say the best way to turn
the news reader into a comedy star is to
give the audience something they weren’t
expecting yep or would otherwise not
expect to see or hear that’s your big
bat that doesn’t seem like my wording
but I get that you’re stuck on the
script that’s fine yes and that’s your
big revelation but let me tell you
regrettably in today’s society that is
anyone who is a minority a parts of the
LGBTQI community over 50 years of age or
a woman in a lead role that is either
derogatory stereotypical or in
questionable taste yep at a loss for
words what what she said that um that’s
the the end of my TED talk
she finished it
my name is is Chris Leben and you guys
have been great and I’ve been Leland
chin and you’ve been most welcome come
back here little man
sorry sorry Lillian I forgot
[Applause]
[Music]
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