Hong Kong cinema has had an abundance of funny men in its history. But when it comes to women who make us laugh, the picking is much slimmer. There is no female equivalent - in fame or stature - to Stephen Chow, nor is there any Sisters Hui(as in Michael, Samuel and Ricky). As such, the accomplishments of comediennes are usually neglected, if not down right ignored.

Funny Girls: Do Do Cheng and Cora Miao features two actresses whose comedy talent has largely been forgotten. Both are blessed with a great sense of timing, both can deliver lines with a quirky twist of Cantonese words and both are good at slapstick, with subtly expressive body language.

In the Cantonese cinema era, actresses appeared in wide varieties of films, and stars like Pak Yin, Fong Yim-fung and Pak Suet-sin had all developed a comic dimension to their persona. Cheng and Miao are descendants of that tradition, which they embellish with the natural elegance of such Western stars as Jane Fonda and Diane Keaton. Both Cheng (official English name "Carol Cheng") and Miao honed their talents on television in the 1970s, graduating to fruitful turns on the big screen in the 1980s and 90s. That their comedy careers were not allowed to blossom had much to do with Hong Kong cinema’s male bias since the 1970s, which was also why Cheng and Miao were never given a chance to put their comic talents against each other in the same film.

This programme is guest curated by Edward Lam.