Comedian and writer Ali Wong is quickly becoming a cultural icon.
And, as noted byE!
News, two of Netflix’s most popular comedy specials,Baby CobraandHard Knock Wife,are Wong’s.
Wong is a rapidly rising star in the comedy world.
Just who is this daring comedian who has taken the world ofentertainmentby storm?
Here is the untold truth of Ali Wong.
She fell in love with the craft after getting involved with a theater group, which she loved.
“Then I got a scholarship to study in Vietnam,” she toldHealth.
When I returned, I was determined to have a career in comedy."
There were all these cute hipster men.
I would just go out with these guys and then talk about them onstage the next day."
She went on, “I would talk about their erectile dysfunction and stuff like that.
“Maybe people were half-laughing, half-cringing at my jokes.
But if you’re successful, people should be too busy laughing to cringe.”
Wong said that she’s tired of being defined by her race and her gender.
Wong initially planned to pursue a career in a very different field: academia.
“It’s interesting,” she toldThe Cut.
“I was an Asian-American studies major in college.
She eventually abandoned the idea of becoming a professor.
Wong has still managed to put her education to good use in her act, though.
I do whatever is first and foremost funny and interesting,” she said.
“Sometimes that happens to concern Asian-American identity, but not a lot of it.
But it is something I will always be interested in.”
Her no-holds-barred brand of comedy is often quite personal.
Wong is careful, however, not to say anything that might damage her marriage.
“I’ll let my husband veto stuff,” she toldHealth.
“It’s not so much about subject choice; it’s about word choice.
So no topic is off-limits it just depends on if I can make it funny.
“My marriage is much more valuable than a great joke.”
She added, “Especially when some of these moms look so hot.
J.Lo had twins; she’s 50 now, what the f***?!
It’s like, ‘B****, spill the beans!
Tell us the secret or let us know it’s not possible without resources.'”
Wong said that her girlfriends help her stay grounded.
“You get the picture.
They work their a**es off.
So I want to be honest about how I am able to do everything I do.”
She brings her husband and their kids along for the ride.
Having her family with her can be hectic, but it seems that Wong enjoys it.
“Leaving our Airbnb this morning, it was a whole rush.
She literally bought 100.
She had called beforehand to ask if they were going to have enough for her.
Our whole minivan smelled like wonderful grease and pork.
So, yeah, there’s a lot happening.”
“When I met my husband, he was a vegan,” she toldHealth.
“Because I liked him so much and wanted to trap him, I learned to cook vegan.
It forced me to become really inventive with my cooking.
“We specifically like the hoof.
Ali Wong was very close to her family growing up
Family is very important to Ali Wong.
She toldNPRthat her mother was a Vietnamese immigrant, while her father was the son of a Chinese immigrant.
“We would always they would take me constantly to the Asian American Film Festival.
Every time there was a new Wong Kar-wai film, they would take me to see it.
In an interview withTime, Wong discussed the impact her parents had on her own parenting style.
“I came from this really atypical Asian-American family,” she said.
“My parents were not focused on academics.
If I got a bad grade, they weren’t that upset.”
She noted, “In terms of sex, my parents were always really open.
So I’ll probably do the same thing.”
“He never gets to clap back at me.
… he’s obviously a very important contributor to everything that I have now.”
“When we were choosing names, my husband and I had a huge list.
… it got down to three names.
Mari was one of the three we could agree on.
She is a Mari.”
Wong added that Kondo’s book completely changed her life, especially when it comes to footwear.
They ruined my evening.
I’ve learned now to value my experience more than how I look.”
“I live in Los Angeles where everyone is in some kind of therapy,” Wong toldTime.
“You know how online dating used to be all taboo and shameful?
Now tons of people have met online.
And now I feel like everyone’s in therapy.
You never know what’s going on in other people’s relationships.”
For Wong, though, very few things are off limits.
Wong wasn’t only unafraid to discuss her miscarriage, but she also worked it into a comedy routine.
She explained, “I remember I worried what my in-laws would think, which is so crazy.
I thought they’d think their son had married a terrible person.
So being able to joke about it was such a relief.”
The film also pushed back against Asian American stereotypes, such as the trope of the overbearing Asian parent.
The male lead’s father is instead a laid-back character.
“You haven’t seen that kind of Asian dad before,” Wong toldGlamour.
“My dad was born in the United States.
He didn’t have any accent, he was very progressive, and he journaled.
He’s really into self-reflection.
She went on, “This is nottheAsian American rom-com.
This isanAsian American rom com.
That’sanAsian American guy I haven’t seen before.
And that’s very exciting to me.”
“I have to wear things that are comfortable and not too formfitting,” she toldThe Cut.
Wong said that she initially had a difficult time deciding how to dress while doing her stand-up routine.
“Then I… realized that as long as I was funny, it didn’t really matter.
For Ali Wong, however, becoming famous was just a result of pursuing her passion.
In an interview withRolling Stone, Wong said that she doesn’t really enjoy fame.
“You know howBruce Leesaid there would always be men trying to fight him all the time?”
“There’s this thing where people, men especially, give a shot to prove they’re super-funny.
Like someone’s cousin at a wedding who just starts to behave hella extra.
That energy is a little strange.
They don’t give a f***.”
