Joe Wong Brings Chinese Comedy Made in the USA
Traditional Chinese comedy is famous for the satirical exchange between two comedians while the Americans are more comfortable with a solo stand-up comedy. Local Chinese comedian Joe Wong attempts to combine the two forms of art – doing a stand-up comedy, in Chinese.
Being born and raised in Jilin, China, Wong speaks in his native tongue, Mandarin, during his show, Chinese Comedy Made in the USA, which will be held at ImprovBoston, Cambridge on Tuesday, August 21 at 7:30 p.m.
“Now the population of Chinese in the U.S. is growing and I would like to perform in Chinese too,” said Wong. “I also would like to see more Chinese come to enjoy comedy performances.”
Wong is not worried about performing in Chinese in front of his audience.
“I have performed in Chinese at Harvard, MIT, Northeastern University and Tufts among student audiences. This one will be the first Chinese show open to the general public,” said Wong. “I will talk about my 18 years living in USA as an immigrant.”
Wong came to further study chemistry at Rice University in Texas in 1994 after graduating from Jilin University and Chinese Academy of Sciences. He moved to Boston in 2001 and began to perform his comedy in English.
Wong is no stranger to mainstream media and, of course, the social media as well.
He headlined the Radio and TV Correspondents’ Dinner where he roasted Vice President Joe Biden. He has also made multiple appearances on the David Letterman and Ellen Degeneres shows. He claims to be a dedicated social networker, Facebook status commentator, a verbose twitterer, and an avid spam email reader.
Frequently making fun of himself in his standup routines, Wong insisted that his life has been very boring except two surprises in 2010: going to the Great American Comedy Festival and winning the competition, and becoming the Boston Comedian of the Year.
“When Joe Wong asked about performing at ImprovBoston of course I said yes. When Joe asked if he could do his show entirely in Chinese I was thrilled,” said Zach Ward, Improv Boston managing director. “As a non-profit Comedy Theater our mission is to make high-quality comedy accessible to the entire community and to encourage audiences to laugh, think and feel in new ways.’Chinese Comedy Made in the USA!’ serves that mission perfectly.”
Tickets cost $18 and $14 for students with a valid student ID. Tickets are available online at www.improvboston.com. ImprovBoston is located at 40 Prospect Street.
This post is also available in: Chinese
