Nghĩa has applied the skills from his History degree into an unexpected field – comedy. After performing in Edinburgh and living in Ireland, Nghĩa returned to his home Vietnam, where he is currently thriving in sports marketing and uses his love for rugby to support disadvantaged youths through community projects.

Name: Mai Phước Trọng Nghĩa

Degree course: MA History

Year of graduation: 2018

At the moment

What is your current role, and how did you get there?

I currently work as Development and Marketing Assistant at Vietnam Physio Sport. The aspect that I enjoy the most about the role is the different tasks I get to do. We’re a small but expanding operation so I have to cover a lot of grounds, in terms of administration and marketing so it’s never dull. I have just started the role recently so I look forward to what comes next.

I came back home to Vietnam after spending five years living abroad, Ireland in particular and I was looking for a flexible role that also allows me to develop professional skills, while also permits me to use all the experience I have gained over these last few years. I moved back because I felt I have done enough living abroad and wanted to be closer to family, as well as to take advantage of the exciting developments that are happening in Vietnam at the moment. It’s been fun coming back. I missed the food, the weather, friends and family. There’s a greater sense of dynamism here.

I’m in comedy as well but I’m taking a short break. At the same time, I hope to start performing more regularly next year, including around the region.

What inspired your interest in this field?

It was a good fit because I have always been interested in sports, particularly rugby and I have previously participated in sports-related grassroot projects. For me, sport means a lot to me. It’s a way to express myself in a controlled environment, to make connections with like-minded people. I’m currently in a social project called Rugby Cùng Nhau (Rugby Together in Vietnamese), where we use rugby as a tool to uplift young people from disadvantaged areas in Vietnam.

My current role involves using social media and other marketing tools to raise brand awareness. This was something I had to master when I had to promote my personal brand as a stand-up comedian and the comedy shows that I used to run. I had to do a lot of networking to reach out to potential patrons. Thus, I was able to transfer these skills into my current role.

Career journey

What were some key milestones in your career journey?

Before venturing into sport and marketing, I was in comedy! I got interested in comedy, particularly stand-up comedy, and when I moved to Edinburgh – during Welcome Week – I signed up to the Comedy Society, and I began performing. And I got hooked. In my last year, I did the Edinburgh Fringe, performing for the whole month.

A lot of my comedy is observational, based on things that happen to me. I’ve always loved watching British comedy, like Blackadder, so I’ve always tried to combine history and comedy as much as possible. I think there’s a lot of overlap between the two.

In 2018, after I graduated, I moved back to Vietnam and performed there as well. In 2019, I moved to Dublin to do my Masters and I embraced the local comedy scene there as well. Eventually, when things opened back up again after Covid, I started running my own shows, being part of the local comedy club as well as both a performer and a producer. Back in Dublin, I ran two shows, a weekly new material night called Crash & Burn Comedy and a monthly international comedy showcase called Comedian Without Borders which featured comedians from all corners of the globe.

One of the milestones was I had the opportunity to perform at the prestigious Paddy Power Comedy Festival at the Iveagh Garden in Dublin, Ireland back in the summer of 2023. I felt a sense of accomplishment, knowing that I was given the opportunity to showcase myself on a big stage and rubbed shoulders with some household names, names that I had previously only watched on television a few years ago.

How did your time at the University shape your professional path?

Doing a degree like History allows me to venture in different fields and domains. In particular, the skills I gained like analysis, critical thinking, as well as my participation in various extracurricular activities help me to stand out in job applications.

My degree helped me become a better critical thinker, as both history and comedy involve a fair bit of critical analysis. It became especially clear in my role as a performer and producer. There’s a lot of administration and organization involved in running a comedy show – promoting it and dealing with people regularly – and I think studying history helps me understand human behaviour, how to work within a team, and build interpersonal relationships. There’s also writing involved in producing shows, which my degree helped improve.

While I was studying, I also gained a lot of soft skills. I got involved in a variety of societies and played for the rugby team, and I was part of the Model UN Society, and all of them involved collaboration and teamwork to achieve common goals. They all helped me become a more confident speaker and articulate my points well. These skills overlap with real-world roles and have been beneficial.

Can you share a standout achievement or moment you’re proud of?

One standout achievement would be achieving a Distinction in my postgraduate studies in International History at Trinity College, Dublin, particularly in the midst of a global pandemic back in 2020. The biggest challenge that I faced during the pandemic was completing my thesis.

Alumni wisdom

What do you wish you had known at the start of your career?

That nothing is permanent and everything you do in life is always the next step to something grander.

What advice would you give to students or alumni looking to enter your field?

Be willing to learn and adapt. Being adaptable means you’re able to blend into different environments without losing the sense of self. Moreover, you’re able to rise to the challenges and think of solutions on your feet. At the same time, this doesn’t mean you have to do it alone because human beings are inter-dependent on each other. In one sense, you have to be like a fish swimming in water. Being willing to learn is equally important because we never stop learning and that usually complements adaptability. The more you learn, the more adaptable you become.

One example would be when I started a new job after having completed my Master’s. The job was in Tech and this was a completely new domain for me as my background was only in the Humanities with limited use of technology. However, I was able to keep an open mind and focused on learning all the fundamental requirements of the job. At the same time, I was able to use soft skills I acquired from my studies like critical thinking and analytical skills to adapt myself into the new environment.

Being a comedian means you have to constantly adapt to different audiences and be quick on your feet, especially when dealing with more unruly elements. At the same time, having a sense of humour goes a long way in life.

Are there any books, podcasts, or resources that have influenced you?

Ho Chi Minh: A Life by William Duiker. It’s a biography of Ho Chi Minh, the communist revolutionary and founder of modern Vietnam written by an American historian for an English-speaking international audience. Ho Chi Minh’s life, especially his travels abroad, has always fascinated me, especially as someone who lived and studied abroad. He acquired all the knowledge from his journey and applied it to change not only his own destiny but also that of his compatriots – I find that inspiring. I enjoy William Duiker’s work because of the depth and breadth of his research, as well his real-world experiences working in Vietnam during the American War in the 1960s and 1970s.

I would say several comedians have influenced me. One of the first comedians I watched was Eddie Murphy through two of his comedy specials from the 1980s. As I delve deeper into the world of comedy, I discovered more comedians with different styles. As mentioned before, I was a fan of shows like Blackadder, which presented history through a humourous lens as well as the work of the comedian Al Murray aka the Pub Landord.

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