SARS Jintao

SARS Jintao, the newest sensation on the international comedy circuit, started out working small clubs and restaurants in rural China. "It was just one-nighters at podunk farmers' bars ... but you know this business. One night, a Hong Kong stock broker comes in with a prostitute, hears you do a few jokes about reality television, next thing you know you're global. I killed him, but thanks, dirty faceless stranger."

Since then, the sky has been the limit. SARS has used his in-your-face style to talk about anything: "People think I'm all good at math because I'm a Chinese virus. It's all, 'figure out the tip, SARS, help me with my taxes.' I got news for you, people, I'm from rural China. The only thing I learned at school was how to make fireworks. And don't be making those racist assumptions anyway. I'm not going up to AIDS and asking it to run a barefoot marathon. Geez."

Still, SARS has kept his modesty. "These jokes write themselves," says SARS. "For example, the other day I'm on the subway, and all these people get on wearing surgical masks. So what do surgeons wear on their commute? Construction helmets? Man, if I have to hang around people in surgical masks, there better be someone in a nurse costume nearby ready to shave me."

So what's next? The Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal. Then a few weeks off to relax, with some charity work thrown in: "I'm going to infect and kill every prop comic on the planet." But then it's back on the road. "The best thing about being a Chinese virus comic: people think they're done with you, and then an hour later they're hungry for more."

SARS Jintao can be found on every surface at every restaurant and in every public transit vehicle. So try not to breathe.

Upcoming Shows

SARS Jintao appears in Toronto all this month, and then this summer in the "new faces" showcase at Montreal's Just for Laughs Comedy Festival.

November 25-26 he headlines at Chairman Hu's Ha-Ha Hole in Guangdong.

READING ROOM: On occasion we get humor pieces from comedians -- you can find them all archived in our Reading Room.