Chantal Lim’s ancient dialect is dying! What – and who – will keep it alive? 

Chantal Lim’s new solo show Ancient Dying Chinese Dialect poses just this question, and through it, explores her connection to family, language, culture and identity.

With honesty and a healthy dose of comedy rooted in storytelling, the show, which is currently playing at the Toronto Fringe, offers an uplifting journey of language and love. Its humble goal?  Celebrating where we come from and embracing who we are.

Lim found her way into comedy in an unlikely, yet ultimately natural way. A longtime fan of improv comedy, she had never thought about doing it herself. “I went to business school and worked in consulting, so the world of comedy felt very distant,” she admits. But one fateful day in 2019, her friend Suzy suggested they try a Second City drop-in class. They spent three hours in a small carpeted room with 15 strangers with diverse backgrounds, careers, and personalities. And it was incredible:  “We made silly sound effects, clapped at each other, rolled on the floor, and laughed the purest belly laughs I had experienced in a long time.”

That initial taste sparked a passion. Lim signed up for a beginner improv class at her first opportunity, which was in March 2020. With the pandemic descending, she experienced just one class in that “beautiful carpeted room at the old Second City building” before everything shut down and moved to Zoom for the next 18 months. Even so, all through lockdown, she looked forward to her weekly 3-hour improv class, which provided a moment of levity and excitement that she sorely needed: “Around six months in, I found myself taking classes with the same six people over and over, and we started a troupe called Low Bar Comedy, so we could keep laughing together!” 

The continued classes eventually turned into shows and festivals . . . and more troupes. And she branched out into other types of comedy, like sketch and clown and storytelling. “And now three years in,” she smiles broadly, “I find myself happily immersed in this world that I love.” And that world has led her to a solo show of her own – something she had dreamed of doing since she first caught the performing bug: “I’m very excited and proud that that time is here with Ancient Dying Chinese Dialect.”  

Ancient Dying Chinese Dialect features true personal stories about growing up Filipina-Chinese in Toronto, and explores how a lifelong fascination with languages led Lim back to her ancestral roots. An Official Selection in the 2023 Toronto International Storytelling Festival, the show marks Lim’s solo show debut and is directed by Canadian Comedy Award Winner Ken Hall. Accompanying the stories are live music performances by Vonne Aguda and Kavya Rajith, featuring classic OPM (Original Pinoy Music) ballads, with lyrics translated from Tagalog into English. The show runs July 5 – 15, 2023 at Factory Theatre Studio as part of the Toronto Fringe. 

SesayArts caught up with Lim to chat about the concept and development of  Ancient Dying Chinese Dialect – and why audiences will find a joyful sense of connection in the show.

SesayArts: What would you like readers to know about you and why you decided to pursue a career in comedy?

Chantal Lim: Hi SesayArts Magazine! Thank you for being my first ever comedy interview! This is a big treat for me, so I’d like readers to know I’m delighted that you are here sharing this experience. I don’t know who you are, and yet I feel we are having a beautiful bonding moment.

As for getting into comedy, I didn’t so much decide to pursue it as fall backwards into it – which leads into question two…

SesayArts: Tell us about your show Ancient Dying Chinese Dialect. Where did the idea for it come from, and what was the developmental process like?

Chantal Lim: Ancient Dying Chinese Dialect is a storytelling show about language and love. I’ve been developing it for a year, and it looks very different now than what I originally thought it would be! 

I initially pitched it to my friend and director Ken Hall as a comedy show structured as a language class, where I teach my family’s dialect called Hokkien Chinese. He asked me a lot of questions, starting with why I wanted to teach Hokkien. I told him about how its amazing 2000-year history, how I don’t know anyone outside my family who speaks it, and how that has shaped how I think about my relationship to my parents, my culture, and sense of belonging. Ken listened to everything in his ever-kind and patient way, and finally said “it sounds like this is a storytelling show.” And so began my journey into the wonderful world of storytelling. 

Ken Hall has been a magnificent guiding light through all of this. Since getting into the Fringe lottery in December, we’ve been developing the show segment by segment and come up with four stories that weave together to form the show. Each of the four stories went through evolutions of figuring out what I wanted to say, writing it, and testing out the material by performing as much as I could. A highlight for me was performing at the Toronto International Storytelling Festival in May and learning more about the amazing community of storytellers in the city.

A big part of the process has also been learning how to produce a show. I’m very lucky to have a talented team of artists and friends creating lighting design and live music to make the show the very best version of itself. Every step has been a process of learning something completely new, and I’ve loved it all. 

Sesayarts: What do you hope will especially resonate with audiences at the Fringe, and what do you hope they will be talking about after seeing your show?

Chantal Lim: I hope Ancient Dying Chinese Dialect is a show that makes people feel genuine connection – to strangers, to their loved ones, and themselves. That has been the biggest gift that making the show has given me, and it’s the biggest gift I want to share. I hope after seeing it, people can talk about feeling seen, and being inspired to go out into the world a little more open-hearted.

SesayArts: With so many shows to see at the Toronto Fringe, let’s help people to choose yours. What is your ‘elevator pitch’ for Ancient Dying Chinese Dialect? 

Chantal Lim: Thank you for the fun options! I’d like to end on a gentle elevator pitch. My journey in comedy has always been motivated by connecting with people through performance. In every show, I try my best to share that same feeling I got in the first Second City drop-in with Suzy – pure joy that a room of people get to experience together. Ancient Dying Chinese Dialect is about celebrating where we come from and embracing who we are. 

If you’re reading this, I would love to see you at the show, and to share in some joy with you.

© Arpita Ghosal, Sesayarts Magazine, 2023