Nigel Ng review – primetime culture-clash comedy

Soho theatre, LondonThe Malaysian standup is strongest when he delivers adroit gags about Asian versus British stereotypes, from dogs to food allergiesAsians do this and Brits do that. That’s the territory of Malaysian comic Nigel Ng’s maiden hour, which made waves on the Edinburgh fringe in 2019. You can see why: Ng’s smooth and confident crosscultural comedy easily sustains for an hour and has primetime written all over it. It is also overfamiliar and not very adventurous – but Ng’s audience will likely be chuckling too much to mind that.The formula is established early, as our host itemises some quirk of British behaviour, then imagines an east Asian parallel. (“Can you imagine if we did that?!”) Ng, who has lived in the US, brings an American style to his standup: he is slick, smiling and unstinting on gags, which address spicy Asian food, drinkable European tap water and the alarming spectacle of white women on prosecco. Stereotypes are held close, as he discusses the British obsession with weather and imagines himself a “tiger parent” coaching his stripper daughter – queasily enough. Continue reading…
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