Ken Cheng

Written by: Si Hawkins
Published: Friday 25th January 2019

Funny things, jokes. Sometimes you'll slave over one that never ends up working, while a throwaway line brings the house down. No wonder most amateur stand-ups give up fairly early on - it's like trying to tame spiders.

Thankfully Ken Cheng has it sorted though (the jokes, not the spiders): he won Dave's Funniest Joke award at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe, for a gag he coined about, er coins, and is now all over our best stages and devices. Mind you, as he reveals in the Q&A below, winning that contest can really confuse the newcomers.

Still, an audience is an audience, and Cheng is heading out on a UK tour this weekend, until the last day of May. But what with?

"My show is called Best Dad Ever and it's named that because I found a Toblerone with the words 'Best Dad Ever' written on it, the twist being that I found it in my own Dad's room... without spoiling any more the show is about my family and my upbringing."

And very enjoyable it is too. Cheng has also been waxing lyrical over the wireless in recent months - and now the wifi.

"I just had my BBC Radio 4 stand-up series Chinese Comedian go out in October, as well as a documentary called Game Over, Humans, which is about the historic matches where computers beat humans in various games. So think the famous 1997 chess match between world champion Garry Kasparov and IBM Deep Blue."

Hey, when aren't we thinking about it? Meanwhile Ken is bringing his A-game to TV too.

"I am also the co-host of the upcoming E4 series The Hangover Games, which is a game show where, essentially, the contestants are hungover. As someone who doesn't drink, it was certainly an interesting experience."

As were these shows, and a first-gig first-gag that may just have changed his life.

First gig?

I remember it very well. It was a Cambridge student gig many, many years ago. Starting off in the Cambridge Uni stand-up scene was a massive privilege; you get to play to 100+ audience members in your very first gig and they're all young, drunk and fans of comedy.

On the lineup was a mix of first-timers and established students; the other notable performer was Phil Wang, who had been going for about a year and was practicing his set which eventually won him the Chortle Student Award. It made me think having two Chinese acts on a lineup was completely standard, alas it was not the case.

I was so nervous before going on. In the first minute of my set I probably missed out about one every five words - I just had no control of my mouth. But I had a really strong opening gag and things were easy after I got that off. Good times.

Favourite show, ever?

Probably doing the Utrecht Comedy Festival in the Netherlands. It was very satisfying to do well to non-English native speakers, but also it was just an incredibly well run festival. The audience all paid upfront to have access to all the comedians for the evening which meant they would take a punt on anyone, so you had full rooms of hundreds.

Worst gig?

I once did a gig where the audience were there to see Kunt and the Gang and they were definitely not my audience. For one thing they were all men. Not a single woman in the audience of 40 or so.

The weirdest live experience?

A gig at a ball, in a room which was not set up for comedy: there was no designated place for the comedian to perform or the audience to be and it was essentially a room between the two main dance floors, and there was someone serving gin at the other end.

Oh, the kicker is you had to perform next to a giant framed photo of a student, and beneath it said "in the loving memory of [name forgotten], 2000-2018".

Surprisingly, not that bad a gig though.

Who's the most disagreeable person you've come across in the business?

I used to end on this joke with a very long build-up that eventually lead to the punchline "I got calzoned". It usually went ok but one time I came off stage and another comedian on the bill just went to me "that's a f**king dumb joke". Not in a light-hearted way, he sounded really angry.

I was really shocked and didn't really react, and he then repeated "so f**king dumb" in an equally hostile manner. It was weird and he's gone on to be quite successful but I'll always remember that.

Is there one routine/gag you loved, that audiences inexplicably didn't?

Hard to say. As soon as a gag fails I disown it like a child failing in their exams. It's more likely there are ones I thought I loved but I deep down knew wouldn't work.

What are the ups and downs of winning the Funniest Gag award - do you get punters expecting an hour of puns?

I did in the last five days of that Fringe. Those shows sold out but they were really, really weird audiences - completely different to what I had been building up over the run. I only had four one-liners at the start of the show so they didn't know what they were watching for the rest of it.

The most memorable review, heckle or post-gig reaction?

I've been heckled by babies twice this year and I think it's my new thing. I'm going to reinvent myself as the act who takes down babies and kicks them out of my gig. If you bring a baby to a comedy show you agree to take on these risks. Next year I'm going to have a filled bathtub on stage so I can literally throw out the baby with the bathwater.

How do you feel about where your career is at, right now?

I feel extremely lucky to have all the things I've got. It's such a crazy career to choose that I am just happy with any sort of progress. I've learned not to have expectations in this business, or targets, so everything feels like it's been a bonus. I'm incredibly grateful.

Ken Cheng is on tour with Best Dad Ever from January to May 2019, including two nights at the Soho Theatre in London on 16th and 17th April. For full details see kencheng.co.uk

You can listen to Ken's BBC Radio 4 shows on BBC Sounds now: Ken Cheng: Chinese Comedian and Game Over, Humans