Earlier this month after a preview screening of his directorial debut, I met Peng Chia-chia (澎恰恰) for an interview at a burger joint. “What do you think of the film?” the director asked nervously, sounding like a novice performer waiting anxiously for a review.
But don’t mistake him for a rookie. With an illustrious show business career that spans more than 25 years, Peng, whose real name is Peng Chang-tsan (彭樟燦), long ago joined the ranks of comedy bigwigs such as Hu Gua (胡瓜) and Chu Ko Liang (豬哥亮), and is known as Taiwan’s favorite grassroots comedian. He also writes songs, stars in movies and television dramas, and leads a celebrity baseball team that plays for charities.
Now 56 years old, the veteran has earned a new title as “the oldest novice film director” (最老的新導演) with Leaving Gracefully (帶一片風景走), a family drama in which a husband goes on a walk across Taiwan with his sick wife, who afterwards dies from spinocerebellar ataxia, a genetic degenerative disease.
Photo: Taipei Times
“I am categorized as a funnyman. I can’t change that image,” the entertainer said. “But I’m a romantic. I feel I need to show my sensitive side through creative works.”
Peng wanted to pursue a singing career when he quit his job at a post office in Chiayi and moved to Taipei in 1984. But because of his “funny face,” Peng was forced to take a different path and began hosting comedy shows. The entertainer’s breakthrough came quickly when he joined the Twin Bang (連環泡) as a performer and host.
Running from 1986 to 1994, the iconic television show was composed of satirical comic skits, and was a nursing ground for top-notch talents including Hsu Hsiao-shun (許效舜), Tai Chih-yuan (邰智源) and Kuo Tsu-chien (郭子乾).
Photo courtesy of Good Kids Entertainment
In 1999, Peng’s career reached another comic climax with Iron Lion Delicate Jade (鐵獅玉玲瓏), an immensely popular variety show he created and starred in with Hsu, his long-term performing partner and close friend. The versatile artist also directed and starred in the television drama Uncle Wu-Lai and Aunt Thirteen (鳥來伯與十 三姨), which tells an epic story of five generations of several traditional Taiwanese families. The much-loved drama series lasted 10 years after its premiere in 1999.
Peng, however, does not see himself as a natural-born funnyman.
“I am not a comedian. I just look funny,” he said. “Life is all about acting. Especially entertainers, there’s no time to be who they really are. Look at Hsu Hsiao-shun. He has to be a monster and a lunatic before people will say, ‘Oh yes, that’s Hsu Hsiao-shun alright.’”
In 2005, Peng suffered a terrible blow when news broke that he was being blackmailed over a video of him lying naked on a bed, masturbating. The entertainer reportedly sunk into serious depression, but re-emerged on the scene a year later.
When looking back at his entertainment career, Peng said it is “painful” to work in show business. “If I could start all over again, I would choose to be a public servant, retire at 60 and lead a pastoral life,” he said, showing me a photograph of bucolic farmland on his cellphone. “This is my favorite picture. Every time I paint, I paint this.”
Peng has been working in film since he starred in Wang Tung’s (王童) Hill of No Return (無言的山丘) in 1992. The hermit at heart finally decided to live his filmmaking dream when the Taiwan Spinocerebellar Ataxia Association (中華小腦萎縮症病友協會) approached him in the hopes of using the star’s influence to raise public awareness of the disease. Peng made Leaving Gracefully, which is based on the true story of Huang Chih-yung (黃智勇) and Tsai Hsiu-ming (蔡秀明), who died from the disease in 2009.
To Peng, the film marks the most important and challenging career switch he has made. “It’s scary to do this at my age. It’s a gamble that I cannot lose. If I fail to make the transition, I’ll probably retreat to television soap operas,” the first-time director said, grading his feature debut “passable.”
Eased by a warm reception from the audience, the star disclosed that his next film project will be a large-scale comedy, and said he hoped that a couple of years from now he can quit working as a comedian altogether and concentrate on his creative undertakings.
“It would be nice if I could die in the director’s chair,” Peng said.
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