Ali Wong is an American actress, stand-up comedian, and writer who has become well-known for her raw, raunchy comedy style. She often jokes about her experiences as an Asian American woman, her pregnancy, and family life. But what exactly is Ali Wong’s ethnic background?
Ali Wong’s Early Life
Ali Wong was born Vivienne Margaret Ali Wong on April 19, 1982 in San Francisco, California. Her mother Tammy is a Vietnamese immigrant and her father Adolphus is Chinese American. So Ali Wong is of mixed Chinese and Vietnamese descent.
Wong grew up in Pacific Heights, San Francisco along with her older brother Ted. Her parents met while working at the same travel agency. Adolphus was a travel agent and Tammy processed visas for the agency.
During her teenage years, Wong attended San Francisco University High School. She was elected class president during her junior and senior years. She graduated in 2000 and went on to major in Asian American studies at UCLA.
Ali Wong’s Comedy Career
After graduating from college in 2005, Ali Wong got her start in stand-up comedy by competing at clubs and events in the Bay Area. She worked various part-time jobs while pursuing comedy at night.
Wong eventually moved to New York City and continued performing stand-up at clubs like Caroline’s on Broadway, Comix, and The Improv. She made appearances on shows like Best Week Ever and The Approval Matrix.
In 2011, Wong performed on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and John Oliver’s New York Stand-Up Show. The exposure from these appearances led to bigger opportunities. She opened for Dave Chappelle and David Cross on tours and made appearances on shows like Are You There, Chelsea? and Inside Amy Schumer.
Breakout Success
Wong’s big break came when she filmed her first stand-up special Baby Cobra for Netflix in 2016. The special received rave reviews for her raunchy, self-deprecating takes on topics like sex, pregnancy, and Asian culture. It was so successful that Netflix signed her for two more specials.
Her second special Hard Knock Wife premiered in 2018 and her third special Milk & Money was released in 2020. All three of Wong’s Netflix specials demonstrate her raw comedic style and ability to find humor in navigating cultural expectations as an Asian American woman.
Ali Wong’s Ethnicity in Her Comedy
Ali Wong frequently uses her mixed Chinese and Vietnamese heritage as fodder for jokes in her stand-up routines and television appearances. She pokes fun at Asian stereotypes and subverts expectations of Asian women being passive and prim.
In Baby Cobra, Wong refers to herself as strictly Vietnamese because her father is racially ambiguous while her mother is clearly Asian. She jokes that she wishes she was full Chinese because the Vietnamese had their asses kicked during the Vietnam War.
Wong also mocks the model minority myth and makes it clear that she in no way fits the stereotype of the hard-working, straight-A Asian student. She talks about barely graduating from high school and college and only getting a 4 out of a possible 7 points on the AP Calculus exam.
Jokes About Asian Culture
Ali Wong frequently mines her dual Vietnamese and Chinese background for jokes about Asian culture. She describes learning about her family’s Buddhist practices and how her Chinese grandmother would pray to the fat laughing Buddha.
Wong also pokes fun at the patriarchy and misogyny she sees in Asian culture. She talks about strict gender norms, the expectation that women serve their husbands, and the idea that women should always be submissive and obedient.
By playing with Asian stereotypes, she is able to skillfully subvert audience expectations and highlight the diversity within the Asian American experience. Even though she takes a humorous approach, her jokes shed light on important cultural issues.
How Ali Wong’s Ethnicity Shapes Her Comedy
As a mixed race Vietnamese and Chinese woman, Ali Wong occupies a complex position as both insider and outsider in her comedy. She subverts stereotypes of Asian Americans while also offering cultural critique and commentary from an insider’s perspective.
Wong’s jokes come from a place of deep understanding and lived experience as the child of immigrants. When she pokes fun at her Chinese grandmother’s traditions or explains Vietnamese history, it never feels mocking or reductive.
She fully embraces her mixed heritage and the liminal cultural space she occupies as an Asian American. Wong’s unique vantage point is what makes her comedy insightful, nuanced, and thought-provoking even when it is outrageous.
Finding Humor in Cultural Expectations
A major source of Wong’s humor is the gap between her own lived experience as an assertive, sexually liberated woman and the traditional cultural expectations placed on Asian women to be passive, virginal, and obedient.
She constantly pushes back against those stereotypes by being brash, dominant, and frank about topics like her attraction to white men and her robust sex life. The contrast between her on-stage persona and the demure “model minority” stereotype creates tension that is ripe for comedy.
Conclusion
Ali Wong’s ethnic background as Chinese and Vietnamese has profoundly shaped her worldview and is core to her identity as an edgy stand-up comedian. She uses her uniquely insightful cultural vantage point to subvert Asian stereotypes and provide social commentary on topics like gender, sex, and race.
Wong embraces her mixed heritage and occupies the complex space between cultures, refusing to be boxed into any one identity. Her willingness to make herself the subject of self-deprecating humor disarms audiences and allows them to see her humanity.
While her comedy is raw and irreverent, Wong ultimately uses it as a vehicle for dispelling myths, spreading equality, and celebrating diversity. Her relationship to her ethnicity is complex and nuanced, just like Wong herself.