by Eliza Brenan (age 11)

Anh’s shows

Anh has hosted and co-hosted a lot of shows, including co-hosting Footy Legends with his brother. He also hosted Anh’s Brush with Fame from 2016 to 2021. He was a runner-up in the Grand Finale of Dancing with the Stars. Anh has appeared on Top Gear Australia too. Part of being the guest for that week was going on a “hot lap” in the hero vehicle. His cousins wanted him to do it because they were sick of the stereotype that Asians can’t drive. When he got in the car, he realised it was a manual. Anh had never driven a manual before. The producer had to show him how to use it. His was one of the slower laps.

St Aloysius

When Anh’s father and mother were looking for a high school, they talked to Anh’s uncle, Huy, who was at the time studying to be a Jesuit priest. They were talking together about the options, and he suggested St Aloysius and how it was a good character-builder. They loved the mottos: Men for Others and Born for Greater Things. The only problem was it was really expensive. They achieved half-scholarships.

The History Class

Anh Do had a racist history teacher. For a project relating to the Gold Rush, the teacher had the students draw up posters – with bonus points for racism! This made Anh feel awkward. Should he just sit there and be a model of Asian people? He decided that the best way to solve the problem of the racist history teacher was to build a relationship between them based on trust and mutual respect.

Basketball

In high school, there was a competition to see if anyone could win over 30 points in a basketball game. The prize was a new pair of shoes. Anh needed those shoes (his were falling apart at the seams). Anh came close, at 24 points. Unfortunately, he didn’t win the shoes.

Personal

When they were teenagers, Anh and his brother, Khoa, started breeding Siamese fighting fish. It started when their dad took them to a pet shop and remarked that the “bulkier” fighting fish are more aggressive. They decided to test that theory out, so they got some of the “bulkier” fish. When they lifted the plastic separation between the fish, virtually nothing happened. So, they called it a night and went to bed. When they woke up in the morning, the fish were doing some sort of breeding dance where they would swirl to the bottom of the tank and back up. Then they had babies, so Anh made a small business out of them.

One night, all the homemade tanks burst because Anh hadn’t used enough silicone sealant on the glass. There was water everywhere, and it was crackling at the power board, so Anh flicked it off and got a small electric shock. Luckily, it was nothing serious. If you were wondering, none of the fish died that night.

Anh, Khoa, and Tram were planning to go to the shop, but Anh was getting impatient with them taking so long. So, he left for the shop himself. He was turning the corner when a bus came up behind, and the bus driver didn’t see his car and rammed into Anh. Anh was sitting in a wreckage of car, relieved that his siblings weren’t in the back. His mother came yelling out of the house, wanting to know if her boy was okay. Once she could see and could hear that Anh was safe, she went over to the distraught bus driver to comfort him. Thanks to car insurance, Anh was able to buy a new car and a computer, which he shared with his siblings.

When Anh Do was engaged to Suzie, she encouraged him to reconnect with his father in Melbourne. Anh contacted his dad and arranged to visit. When he arrived, he found out that his dad had a new partner and a young son who had been given the same name as Anh. Meet the second Anh Do. After repeated visits, Anh found that he had a second half-brother.

On a sadder note, Anh’s father, Tam, had a brain tumour. When Anh came down with his newborn son, Xavier, his father came running, calling out that he was clear of his brain tumour. They were both overjoyed.

Dave Grant, who was a comedian, was a mentor and friend to Anh. Dave often said that the harder gigs are better for your skills. This proved valuable advice. At one of his comedies, Anh faced a racist crowd. They were racist towards him because they had fought in the Vietnamese War and had leftover problems regarding their old enemies. While Anh was cracking jokes, a man from the audience was miming finger-guns (with sound effects). Anh decided to improvise: “I’m sure you’ve killed a lot of guys who look like me.” The man replied: “Fourteen.” Later that night, Anh was chatting with a group over a drink. They talked about sappers, who detonated landmines in the Vietnamese War. Anh remarked that one of his uncles had done that job. He and his friends realised that Jimmy Barnes had a song dedicated to the sappers in Khe Sanh, with whom Anh’s uncle had served.

Law School

Anh Do’s desire to become a lawyer stemmed from a horrible landlord coming to collect late rent. His desire was based less on wanting to be a lawyer than it was to do with the pay: Anh wanted to lift his family out of poverty. He and his family would usually hide when the landlord came. Eventually, the landlord suspected they were hiding and would look through the windows.

Five years later, he entered a law course at university. Here Anh met a blonde-haired beauty; her name was Suzie. They became good friends, and he eventually screwed up enough courage to ask her out. She gently refused, and the two continued to be friends. After a while, art became more important than the degree. Despite the fact that law wasn’t really what he wanted to do, it did have the added benefit of introducing Anh to his future wife, Suzanne.

Anh’s Various Careers:

Art Career

Writing Career

Anh has written many books, from The Happiest Refugee to Robot Time (which came out in July of this year). He has written 63 books in total. Anh Do’s The Happiest Refugee has been adapted into a play, and he and his wife, Suzanne, have also made it into a picture book called The Little Refugee. The Happiest Refugee has won The Book of the Year twice, as well as Bookseller’s Choice. Anh Do was taught how to write by Michael Visontay, the journalist. He was also encouraged to write by Marty Wilson. When Anh Do started writing, it was because he wanted to express himself in a more meaningful way than he could doing comedy, and so he could reach a wider audience with his stories.

Stand-up Comedy Career

Anh Do is well known for his stand-up comedy, which he got into when he was studying art at TAFE. Do became a comedian after he and a friend watched a comedy performance, and Anh fell in love with it. He was encouraged when his friend said that Anh was probably funnier than the comedian. He ended up booking a slot to practise.

Re-education Camp, Vietnam

Two of Anh’s uncles, Uncle Thanh and Huy, were in a re-education camp for three years during the war. While they were there, they did a lot of back-breaking work, like trekking through the jungle for weeks on end, and hard labour. Due to this, his Uncle Thanh picked up malaria.

According to The Happiest Refugee, Thanh was cured by the doctor, removing his organs, cleansing them, putting them back in, then stitching him up.

Anh’s father, Tam, requested a favour of his friend (who had a relative in the Viet Cong). He asked, “Vu, when your uncle goes up north next week, could you take a uniform and some paperwork?” Later, Anh’s father stormed through the Communist re-education camp. He demanded to the commanding officer, “These two men need to come with me.” The men were Anh’s uncles, Huy and Thanh. They were freed.