RONNY CHIENG: LOVING HIS JOB- COMEDIC DESTRUCTION OF AMERICA

INTERVIEW BY PETAR PETROV

The prospect of interviewing Ronny Chieng can seem somewhat intimidating not just for fandom reasons, but also because of his sarcastic, short-fused stand-up persona, evidently simmering with annoyance by the stupidity, transcending different people, societies, and walks of life.

And even though he says himself that what you see and hear on the stand-up stage is indeed what you largely get in real life, perhaps it is the comedically amplified, worked-up version of a man who is down-to-earth, insightful, pleasant, and most of all, genuinely in love with what he does, which is always infectiously positive, especially when the line of work happens to be comedy.

We sat down with Ronny Chieng to talk about his Netflix comedy special, “Asian Comedian Destroys America!” which just came out on December 17, the key to successfully making fun of people in their home country, the difference between the comedy scenes he has been a part of, performing comedy as a whole in the delicate climate of woke culture, and more.

What has your year been like with your Netflix special coming out? Do you adhere to a particular cycle like other comedians, do you drill your material for one year, two years before the special? What is the overall process like?

I come from the Australian way, where we do 1 hour every year, but for this special, I took just over 2 years to do it. I wanted to take my time with it, to really learn how to do comedy in America again, and I really wanted to get it right. John Oliver told me it took him 2 years to re-learn how to do comedy in America, and he was spot on.

So what is the main difference between Australia and America in terms of stand-up comedy?

It’s not so much that there is difference between them, it’s more that if you want to joke about people in their home country, whether it’s Australians in Australia, Americans in America, or British people in the U.K., you really have to understand their point of view to make fun of it. So it just takes time to learn that nuanced point of view, so you can make authentic jokes, and not just shallow observations.

On that note, do you think people are more inclined to listen to a foreigner’s perspective, because it’s more unique? And perhaps sober as you have a point of reference, you can be a bit like an unbiased judge or an onlooker?

I think it really depends. A lot of times no, because they’re like “What the Hell do you know about it?” In my earlier point, if you want to make fun of anyone in their home country – in this case Americans in America, you really have to understand where they’re coming from and not just make surface-level accusations because they’ll smell the bullshit, because they’re like “you don’t know where we’re coming from,” and it doesn’t resonate. But if you take the time to really understand their point of view, and make fun of it, they respond a lot better to it, because they believe you truly understand them.

Is that why you moved to New York, to really dive into that world and be able to make more authentic comedy?

Yeah, if you’re a stand-up comedian, New York is the dream place to move to, and for me, America is at the forefront of cutting-edge, contemporary storytelling, they have the biggest budgets, the biggest platforms, so yeah, that’s why I wanted to move here.

A lot of comedians talk about the differences between the New York and the L.A. comedy scenes. Have you noticed any differences between the two?

There’re definitely differences. I think New York is like its own country in a way. Everything here moves a little faster. I think people do comedy in New York because they love doing comedy. I think in L.A., a lot of people do comedy to go to something else, to maybe become actors or something else. There’s also more shows in New York to do, in L.A. there’s not as many shows you can do.

You actually mention in your special you do 5-6 shows per day. Is that a slight exaggeration for comedic purposes, or do you actually do that many?

Yeah, I don’t do that many if I’m busy with something else, but when I’m free in New York, I do that. When I was creating the special, that’s what I did.

How do you manage to keep your edge, your concentration for that long, for 5-6 shows? Is it hard, or is it actually helpful to sharpen your mind and your material?

Yeah, it’s helpful to get the set tight and to get better. I write a lot on stage, so it helps me extend the jokes, find other punchlines, find a punchline. Also, I love it, so there’s no concentration problems at all.

You mention your sarcastic tone of voice in your special, and we were just talking about authenticity. How much of it is your tone in everyday life and how much of it is exaggerated?

I think my comedy is pretty close to actual perspective on things and how I behave. I think it’s pretty close.

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"I think comedy is an art form, and you don’t always get it right, because it’s not science, you have to feel it out. With stand-up comedy, you have to try it out, on stage. I think good comedy comes from being edgy and trying to push that line."

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You’re also known for some acting roles. Can you talk a little bit about the intersections of the two art forms, what are the commonalities, and what makes them ultimately very different?

They’re both performing art forms, but I think with stand-up comedy, you’re trying to express yourself as authentically as possible, your own point of view, and with acting, you’re trying to express a character’s point of view.

Business-wise, they kind of help each other, the acting roles bring people to come and watch your comedy, and doing comedy helps people cast you in their movies because they see the kind of energy you can bring to the table, so from a business point of view, they kind of feed into each other.

Would you be interested in scripting your own movie, and writing a role specifically for you?

Yeah, absolutely. I wrote my own sit-com as well, which is basically about me in university.

And would you be interested in other genres of movies? We saw recently Todd Phillips, a renowned comedy director, completely switching it up with the Joker.

Yeah, absolutely. I’d love to do different types of movies. I recently did this sci-fi movie with Salma Hayek and Owen Wilson, it’s coming out on Amazon soon. I guess it’s still kind of comedic, but it’s way more serious, and then I just did another project that was extremely serious, so I like to do different things.

And did you enjoy the process, trying out new things?

Yeah, yeah, I loved it, it was very creative in a different way.

And how is the creative process of writing jokes for the Daily Show different from writing jokes for your stand-up?

Yeah, they are different as art forms, so one is more satirical writing for TV and the other is writing for your act. But they also overlap, comedy premises should be funny either way, but the way you express them is very different, I would say.

I think the Daily Show has a very specific tone, it’s satirical, informative, we have visual aid, and in stand-up comedy, you don’t have any props or video, you’re writing it alone over long periods of time, so there are a lot of differences.

Is stand-up comedy more stressful then, because you’re on your own, and it’s only your material, your brand, basically?

Yeah, maybe a little bit, yeah.

And do you ever learn to enjoy that stress, to thrive in it, or is it just something you have to deal with?

It’s just something you have to deal with, but it’s also something you can enjoy. It’s part of the joy and the challenge of it. I think it’s one of the hardest things you can try to do, you know, make a room-full of people who are expecting to laugh laugh, it’s extremely difficult, so yeah, a bit of both.

I just wanted to circle back a little bit to Todd Phillips. He had mentioned he wanted to move away from comedy because of woke culture, in which people find everything offensive and it’s harder to make them laugh. What is your experience with that?

I think as a professional stand-up comedian, I see that as a challenge, as a puzzle to solve. As a professional comic, I don’t like the idea that there’s anything you can’t joke about. If someone tells me I can’t joke about something, I see that as a challenge. That doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll do a joke about that topic, but that’s just how my brain works, I’ll try to think of a way to make it funny. I might not perform the joke publicly, but I’ll think about it, because that’s just how my brain works.

I think comedy is an art form, and you don’t always get it right, because it’s not science, you have to feel it out. With stand-up comedy, you have to try it out, on stage. I think good comedy comes from being edgy and trying to push that line. And you don’t always get it right, sometimes you cross the line and go too far. And it also depends on context, with some audiences and shows it’s appropriate to cross the line, with some shows it’s not. It’s an art form, you have to feel it out.

But as a professional comic, I see that as a challenge, to make anything funny.

Some people believe Joker is a dangerous movie, that it can start a riot and push certain people over the edge. Then, Trump suggested video games are to blame for mass shootings. And then there are people saying stand-up comedy is to blame for instilling certain ideas in people’s mind. What do you think about that, do you think an art form can actually plant a seed that’s not already there, or merely bring something out on the surface, something that’s already there, just waiting to be unlocked?

Man, that’s the million-dollar question. I don’t know. What’s obvious to me is that comedy can make you think about things, I think good comedy should make you think about things.

You actually ended your special with something that wasn’t so much a joke as a nice takeaway, a message, be it humorous, which is something I personally really enjoyed.

Thank you.

To find out what that takeaway is, as well as to laugh up until it comes, watch Ronny Chieng’s Netflix special “Asian Comedian Destroys America!”

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Ronny Chieng: Asian Comedian Destroys America! premieres globally on Netflix Dec 17.