Jimmy O Yang returns to Asia with a standup show and abalone dreams

Tatler Asia

14-05-2025

'I just want you to know that this show is going to have 100 per cent tariff,' Yang quips at the start of his set. 'Because I am made in China.' It's a bold opener that quickly shifts into a sharp riff on the very real consequences of US President Donald Trump's trade war. With his signature delivery, Yang casually name-checks Temu, BYD, Gucci and Tesla into the same punchline, mining economic policies for comedy gold. How his dad became a big star in China
Jimmy O Yang often jokes that he comes from 'an acting family'—a claim rooted in irony. His father, Richard Yang, only entered showbiz after Jimmy did—just to prove his son wrong about how hard it was to make it in the industry. The way Jimmy tells it, the elder Yang started attending auditions because he couldn't believe that it could be that hard. The unexpected result: Richard not only started getting bookings, he also became a minor celebrity in China.
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One of Yang's most beloved routines involves his pitch-perfect impersonation of a no-nonsense Chinese uncle in a restaurant kitchen. As featured in his special Guess How Much? , the bit lands with both Asian and Western audiences—particularly anyone who knows the type: the man wielding a smoking hot wok with his bare hands while casually puffing on a cigarette. Jian-Yang's best moments on 'Silicon Valley'
On Silicon Valley , Jimmy O Yang plays Jian-Yang—a hilariously deadpan app developer from China living in Erlich Bachman's startup incubator. Seemingly quiet and limited by his limited English skills, Jian-Yang is in fact a shrewd opportunist, regularly getting away with schemes ranging from rent evasion to running a fake reviews farm with child labour. It's a masterclass in understated chaos. Bonus: Jimmy O Yang's quarantine mukbang
Yang has a surprisingly delightful side hustle as a food vlogger, sharing videos of himself experimenting with recipes or simply indulging in takeout from his kitchen. The project began during the pandemic, when quarantine boredom met a Doordash habit—and an accidental mukbang career was born. 'I don't even know the rules of mukbang,' he admits in one clip, mid-slurp from a Vietnamese order. 'I understand it's usually a very skinny person eating a ton of food.'
What keeps viewers coming back isn't just the deadpan delivery—it's Yang's genuine joy, his valiant attempts at pronouncing unfamiliar dishes, and the unfiltered love he brings to every bite. More recently, he's taken his camera on the road, capturing wide-eyed first visits to Hong Kong and China. In one video, he fulfils a lifelong dream: eating a single abalone with the triumphant energy of someone finally levelling up in life. You can't help but root for him.
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