Five Must-Watch Female AAPI Comedians - Celebrate AAPI Month with Women Who Win
By Naisha Roy
As we reach the end of Asian-American Pacific Islander month, it’s also important to support Asians in more unconventional fields, such as comedy. With comedy being a traditionally male dominated industry, it's extremely refreshing to find a female Asian comedian in the midst. The next time you’re scrolling through Netflix, try checking out one of these five AAPI Female comedians. While some are more mainstream celebrities and others are more niche stand-up comedians, the one thing all these women have in common is that they’re absolutely hilarious.
Aparna Nancherla
Aparna Nancherla is a Telugu comedian and actress, starring in shows such as Inside Amy Schumer and writing for Late Night with Seth Myers. One of the more underrated comedians on this list, she is more known for her voice roles and behind-the-scenes work. For example, Nancherla has a recurring role in Bojack Horseman, an comedy show extremely popular on Netflix for its subtle commentary on deeper issues while still maintaining the lightheartedness of an animated work. She also has a few comedy specials on Comedy Central that viewers can check out, including her appearances on The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail and Inside Amy Schumer.
Nancherla’s humor focuses a lot on her journey with mental health struggles and her everyday life working in an office and living in New York. She has a way of taking normal events and pointing out the absurdity of them, whether it’s her describing her “New York breaking points” or the awkward interactions she’s had to witness in elevators. She also manages to make poignant yet lighthearted commentaries on experiencing depression and anxiety, describing the latter as “having an edgy improv group in your brain.” A lot of her humor lends itself to relatability, because she tends to focus on universal situations like the self-esteem hit of walking past a model or the insanity of online quizzes. Her compilations on YouTube provide a great introduction to her style of comedy, and you can view those before moving onto some of her more long-form works.
2. Ali Wong
If you’ve ever scoured Netflix trying to find a new comedy special, chances are, you’ve stumbled across something by Ali Wong. Half Chinese and half Vietnamese, Wong spends a lot of time discussing her heritage and cultural experiences in her comedy shows. The first two of her specials, titled Baby Cobra (2016) and Hard Knock Wife (2018), were both shot when she was pregnant with her two children. They focus a lot around family life and motherhood, especially as she navigates each pregnancy. The third special, Don Wong (2022), focuses more on Wong’s own experiences in the comedy industry, her life as a married woman, subverting gender norms, and exploring her sexuality.
Wong has an extremely distinct manner of storytelling and acting that makes her specials stand out. Her classic thick-framed glasses and bold expressions make for extremely vivid depictions that make the punchlines of her jokes that much more impactful. Although Wong definitely recounts experiences that are unique to her growing up as an Asian-American, she also speaks on a lot of broad issues that make her shows applicable to a wide variety of audiences. Therefore, anyone interested in watching her specials is bound to find something to relate to. Additionally, Wong has co-written and starred in “Always Be My Maybe,” a Netflix original, and published her debut novel titled “Dear Girls,” which became a New York Times Bestseller. If you’re interested in exploring more of Wong’s work beyond her specials, those projects are great reccomendations.
3. Mindy Kaling
Longtime fans of The Office probably know Kaling from her iconic character of Kelly Kapoor, the customer service representative at Dunder Mifflin who has a tumultuous relationship with Ryan Howard (played by B.J. Novak). And while Kelly’s character was hilarious, relatable, and a great moment of representation in sitcoms that were mostly all-white casts at the time, Kaling has ventured beyond that role into a plethora of other comedic projects. She produced and starred in the Hulu series The Mindy Project, focusing on the story of an OB/GYN (based on Kaling’s own mother) who navigates her life in the hospital and dating while trying to juggle the absurd characters that surround her. She also created the popular Netflix series Never Have I Ever, following the life of an Indian-American teen named Devi who tries to toe the line between representing her own culture and fitting into the norms at her school.
As someone raised with Bengali roots, Kaling often incorporates her culture into her comedic projects. Whether it’s the Diwali episode of The Office or reflecting the reality of Indian-American dinner parties in Never Have I Ever, she goes out of her way to emphasize the dichotomy that comes with the pressure to both be just like your surroundings yet be proud of your origin. Those interested in Kaling’s works have a variety to pick from: they can watch some of her sitcoms, enjoy one of her many comedy specials, view YouTube clips of her making masala dosas with the Vice President, kick back with one of her many appearances on popular late-night shows, or listen to one of the many projects she’s voice acted in such as Despicable Me and A Wrinkle in Time.
4. Awkwafina
Newly becoming a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe through her role as Katy in the iconic Shang Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings, Awkwafina has quickly become one of the most iconic Asian-American celebrities and comedians. While the other women on this list are more traditional stand-up and sitcom comedians, Awkwafina uses her talents in the film industry, often voicing and portraying the comedic relief character in movies. She also has works suitable for all age groups, with films such as Raya and the Last Dragon and Jumanji being watchable by the whole family. In all of these movies, Awkwafina serves as a sigh of relief with her impeccable comedic timing often reserved for moments of heightened tension. Perhaps more impressively, a lot of the jokes in these films were improvised by Awkwafina herself, allowing her humor to shine through despite the variety in genre. Additionally, she was also the second East Asian-American woman to ever host Saturday Night Live, and her work just serves as an example of her paving the way for more Asian comedians to come.
She definitely places a huge emphasis on asian representation, and more importantly, accurate asian representation, when it comes to her works. Her character in Crazy Rich Asians, Peik Lin, is not only a confident, quirky, and hilarious woman, but one who can recognize the flaws in her community while still enjoying its beauty. Again, Awkwafina improvised many of her one-liners and made the character her own, making her perfect for the role. Even in Shang Chi, she reinforced the idea of representation by citing all of the different cultural references found in the film. In an interview, she explained how the film contained so many different “perspectives of the Asian experience,” making it a project she was extremely proud to work on. Those interested in her comedy can check out the plethora of her recent films or dig deeper to find her previous rap career, which propelled her initial rise to fame.
5. Tien Tran
Tran is one of the lesser-known comedians on this list, but she is definitely criminally underrated. Best known for the Hulu reboot How I Met Your Father where she plays Ellen, an adoptive sister to one of the main characters. The original How I Met Your Mother was criticized for the lack of diversity in the show despite its hilarious jokes and plotlines, and this spin-off is an attempt to rectify that. Not only does Tran represent her Asian-American community in the show, she also represents the LGBTQ community by playing an openly lesbian character. Despite this, she loves how the show doesn’t try to capitalize on or tokenize these parts of Ellen’s personality; they just make up who she is, and it is never used as a means of teaching a lesson. In addition to the sitcom, Tran also starred in the 2021 film Candyman and the shows South Side and Work in Progress.
Tran also has several stand-up comedy stints under her belt. She often uses her Asian heritage as a baseline for storytelling to lead up to her jokes. A great example of this is her iconic “Hank Tina” nickname, a name that a substitute teacher decided was close enough to her Asian name to refer to her as. Tran tends to use scenarios and situations that are relatable to immigrants as a whole, but specifically Asians, in a lot of her material, and it makes it a great watch for anyone looking for that content. People looking for her stand-up content can look for the 2017 Comedy Central Comics to Watch Chicago Showcase, where she performed, or find snippets on YouTube. Overall, she’s a great comedian to watch out for, because with the increasing projects she’s received in the past two years, it’s clear her humor and career are both on an upwards trajectory.
Thank you Naisha for sharing these lovely comedians with us!
About Naisha: Naisha Roy is a senior at South Forsyth high school and the Copy Editor oher school newspaper, the BirdFeed. As the Copy Editor, she hopes to help every member on staff find their unique voice and transform into journalists. In August, she will attend New York University as a Journalism major. She also interns for the NRI Pulse, an online newspaper where she hopes to gain experience for her dream job as a journalist for the New York Times. She loves acrylic painting, trying to master different cuisines, and stationery. Her current obsessions include Queer Eye and Indo-Chinese food.