Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure
Lawrence Leung's Choose Your Own Adventure is a six-part Australian television comedy series, starring and primarily written by Melbourne comedian Lawrence Leung and produced by Chaser Broadcasting. The series was filmed over nine weeks from May 2008 in Sydney, Melbourne and Los Angeles, it depicts Leung setting out to achieve the dreams he had as a ten-year-old boy living in the 1980s. It premiered at 9:30 pm on 25 March 2009 on ABC1.
Episodes
In this episode, true love is hard to find in the modern world - especially when Lawrence hasn't seen Angela since they were in 3rd grade. Twenty years later, Lawrence decides it's time to track down his childhood love and tell her how he feels. Lawrence hasn't been too successful with girls since then either. He slept in a bunk bed until well into his late twenties. Even if he finds Angela, what would he say to her to impress her? In an effort to make a big impression Lawrence thinks a serenade will do the trick, so he enlists the musical assistance of one of his 80s idols, popstar Tiffany (I Think We're Alone Now), to help him write a romantic ballad for Angela. Armed with love advice, an old love letter in one hand and a guitar in the other, will Lawrence find Angela and finally reveal to her his feelings...20 years after he last saw her?
This week, Lawrence's quest is to be a rock star. When he was a child he was kicked out of his school band. He was a musical maverick, but now is his chance to make it happen. In setting about creating an image, Lawrence first learns some rock moves from You Am I rock god Tim Rogers, like the windmill, and making love to the audience. Next he gets himself some outfits and a photo portfolio (shot by his dad in a crummy back alley). Street cred. And no Mr Leung, once again, Lawrence is not on drugs, he's just trying to look like Pete Doherty. Lawrence crashes the MTV Awards in a DeLorean (the time-travelling car from Back to The Future). The Veronicas, Juliette Lewis, The Thorpedo, 50 Cent... and Lawrence. He's one of them! 50 Cent's bodyguard doesn't quite see it that way though. After his attempts to recruit famous musicians fail, Lawrence decides to outsource, and recruits a backing band from Mumbai via MySpace. He settles on the name The Sweatshop Boys and they start recording. Via Skype. It's new technology for the new rock order. The kids will understand it. As his song develops Lawrence gets feedback on the tune and the lyrics from Dicko (Australian Idol), American agent Terry Anzaldo, and his childhood musical hero - INXS's Kirk Pengilly. He asks Kirk to do a sax solo to make his song complete. With his song complete, Lawrence is ready to perform his new single LIVE on MTV's The Lair. Will his dreams of rock stardom be fulfilled?
Lawrence is tormented by memories of his childhood bully. His quest this week is to deal with the bully and finally put the trauma behind him. It's time Lawrence learnt to be a real man. Inspired by the triumph of Daniel from The Karate Kid, Lawrence seeks his own mystical martial arts teacher. Daniel Y. Miyagi from New South Wales's idyllic south coast. Wax on. Wax off. Australian Rock 'n Roll Wrestling legend The Ox takes Lawrence under his wing and teaches him some moves and some all important verbal taunts, down at the gym. Lawrence comes up with his own wrestling character - the Cubinator. He will puzzle and confound his opponent. With the confidence he finds from the physical and verbal confrontation of his wrestling bout, is Lawrence ready to face up to his childhood bully?
Lawrence always wanted to set a world record. At something, anything. What world record can he set? As a child he was a classic nerd and wasn't very good at sport. But he was pretty good at the Rubik's Cube. Lawrence throws down the gauntlet. Midnight Friday. There's a new cube king in town. Fight Cube. In a dimly lit, sweaty basement below Caltech, nerdy speedcubers gather to challenge Lawrence. Despite having trained with Australia's fastest cuber, Jasmine Lee, Lawrence is ultimately humiliated at the subterranean Fight Cube by a US champion speedcuber Adam Zamora. Lawrence realises he needs to combine his skills with danger and potential death to come up with something unique. 6,000 feet above the ground and ready to jump, with nothing but a parachute and a Rubik's Cube between death or glory, Lawrence wonders if perhaps he hasn't taken his pursuit of a world record just a little too far. Can he set a world record for the quickest solve of a Rubik's Cube while skydiving?
Lawrence always wanted to be cool. Lawrence registers for a big breakdancing crew battle in Federation Square, using fake credentials and a fake crew, Shabba Law Law are coming at ya! Despite his parents' misgivings, Lawrence heads to Los Angeles, the home of cool, his hero Shabba Doo, and the best breakdancers in the world. There he immerses himself in the hip-hop world, and with the assistance of his new friend and breakdance teacher, B-Boy Drew Looner, he starts to learn some moves.
Lawrence's parents always wanted him to be a doctor. He comes from a family of high achievers. Despite not being a doctor, he's happy. He is a stand -up comedian who has travelled the world, entertained people and had a good time. Maybe it's time to see what it's like though, to be the person his parents always wanted him to be. Lawrence tracks down his Google nemesis - a Google nemesis is someone who appears in competition with you when you do a google search of your own name - Dr Lawrence Leung, a famous haematologist from Stanford University near San Francisco. The two Lawrence Leungs have been battling for the top Google ranking for a decade.
