Jokes or stereotypes? When ‘made in China’ comedy is no laughing matter
- As geopolitical tensions soar, Chinese comics in the diaspora face balancing act between humour and humiliation
- Self-deprecating ethnic jokes that cross cultural red lines reinforce ‘racist stereotypes’, critics say
By the time Chinese-born comedian Huang He delivered her one-liner about the pandemic during an appearance as a contestant on Australia’s Got Talent in October, she had already drawn plenty of giggles with her disarming sincerity.
“I’m really sorry for the Covid, but I didn’t do it. I was here the whole time,” she quipped as the judges and the live studio audience burst into laughter. The moment, now preserved on YouTube, has since been viewed more than 4 million times.
During a stand-up routine at a popular comedy club at Sydney’s Chippo Hotel in 2020, Chinese-Australian policy analyst and comedian Vicky Xu Xiuzhong teased out laughs by deploying stereotypes to compare herself to a Huawei phone.
“We have a lot in common – we’re both cheap, easy to break, and a threat to national security.”
In doing so, the ethnically infused, self-deprecating genre has shone the spotlight on a new crop of Asian comics who are earning fame and success in the West.
But not everyone is laughing.