Q&A: Ali Wong
Ali Wong has a dirty mouth. From seeking anal on Craigslist
to being dominated “Fifty Shades of Grey” style in bed, the L.A.-based comedian
has covered a wide range of raunch in her stand-up act.
Born in San
Francisco and of Vietnamese and Chinese descent, Wong
earned her Bachelor’s degree in Asian American Studies at UCLA. Though she
worked as a temp and a receptionist briefly, she’s managed to make stand-up her
full-time job for the past decade. Wong has performed on “The Tonight Show with
Jay Leno,” “Chelsea Lately,” Dave Attell’s “Comedy Underground,” and “Late
Night with Seth Meyers,” among many other television programs. Wong is also a
writer for ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat.”
Newly married, 33-year-old Wong may be taming down her act
in the future—but hopefully not before her upcoming run at Acme in Minneapolis .
Q: How did you know that stand-up comedy was what you
were meant to do?
A: I was in theater group that Randall Park had
founded. I liked that improv and sketch comedy were collaborative, but you
really depended on other people and a stage to perform. With stand-up comedy, I
liked that you had no one else to blame and depend on.
Q: You also do a lot of comedy onscreen. Do you
prefer that to stand-up?
A: Stand-up will always be my favorite and the most
important thing that I do. I view everything else as free money.
Q: How is your sense of humor different in your 30s
than it was in your 20s?
A: Before I used to talk about a lot more about what
it was like to have sex dating, and now I’m beginning to want to talk about
what it’s like to have sex when you’re married. The jokes before were about how
giving blow-jobs was such a chore and now that you’re married you don’t give a
full-on blow-job anymore because you’re married. It’s over. You don’t need to
do that anymore! We’re trying to get pregnant and we don’t really have sex for
pleasure. It’s extremely clinical.
Q: You’ve often joked about how “trapping a man” is
an alternative to having a career and that it gives women the opportunity to
relax and hang out at Whole Foods in the middle of the day. Do you really
believe marriage is like that?
A: I’ve fantasized about it. A lot of women do
stand-up as a gateway into acting but I love stand-up and to be a good stand-up,
you have to go on the road a lot. It means going to places in America where
they’ve never seen a Vietnamese person in their life. Sometimes you’re
performing Tuesday through Sunday. And it’s scary! After late shows, you have
to walk back to the hotel by yourself. It’s not that glamorous.
So I look at those women who get to do hobbies, watch TV, do
yoga, and I’m like, “Damn! That would be nice!” It would take the pressure off
if I didn’t have to do stand-up to survive. Ultimately, I’ll probably never
stop doing stand-up, but I do fantasize about being a trophy wife—though I joke
that I’m more of a commemorative plaque.
Q: Has being sexually explicit in your comedy had any
negative consequences?
A: I once dated this guy who wrote me this really
crass e-mail after I broke up with him. He said he didn’t want to be friends
because it made his dick hurt because he wanted to sleep with me. I refused to
talk to him afterwards and he was so, “Oh, but I thought from your onstage
persona that you were open to anything.” And I was like, “I’m still a woman.
You can’t talk to me like that.” That was the only time I felt like someone
misinterpreted my onstage persona. You can’t just be crass without being witty.
Angry crass is horrible.
Otherwise, it probably has prevented me from being on
late-night TV more because it’s hard for me to come up with five clean minutes.
But it’s beginning to change. I’m moving in a different direction now that I’m
married and trying to have kids.
Q: Do you feel that male comedians have more leeway
in terms of what they can talk about in their acts?
A: When you are a female and a minority in comedy,
people see both of those things and think you use those things as a crutch. I
would never do an accent of my mom, because my mom doesn’t have an accent. But
people will automatically be like, “You’re such a Margaret Cho.” They just
assume. That’s challenging sometimes.
Q: What would you be if you weren’t a stand-up comic?
A: A trophy wife who’s also a Zumba instructor.
Originally published on Vita.mn in April 2015.
Originally published on Vita.mn in April 2015.
