With millions of views on social media, comedian Huang He has gone viral around the world after her recent appearance on the television talent show Australia’s Got Talent.
Airing earlier in October, Huang's comedy set which poked fun at her Chinese heritage and saw a standing ovation from the live audience, has sparked positive reactions online and a seemingly new fan base.
The four-minute set has more than 8 million views on Twitter and nearly 700,000 views on YouTube.
“Hello everyone my name is He. Spelt H-E. Yes it is my name, not my pronoun,” the Sydney-based comedian says in her performance.
“People get confused all the time. The other day I was drinking a pub and this cute bloke come up to me and said, ‘Yo, what’s your name?’ And I said my name is, ‘He’. He was like 'huh?' I said 'He. H-E sir’. And he said 'nice to meet you hoe.’ I was like, ‘Excuse me I am not a hoe, that’s my cousin.’”
In her set, Huang tackled seemingly taboo topics such as the origins of COVID-19 and anti-Chinese sentiment in Australia.
“Last year I was roaming around the city and this guy just yelled at me, he was like 'yo, go back to China,’” she said.
"I was like 'sir, there's no flight.’”
She also discussed the expectations from her parents to find a husband.
“I left China about three years ago because I felt pathetic. People are really judgmental, if you're like me, over the age of 27, not dating or not married in China, you are called leftover ladies,” she said.
“I know it's brutal .... come on who doesn't love Chinese leftovers? We are yummy and cheap, that is my Tinder bio.”
Her performance drew raucous applause from the audience and also the show's judges.
Judge Kate Ritchie said: “I just loved hearing you poke fun at yourself, I really warm to that kind of comedy.”
Fellow judge Alesha Dixon said, “You are a riot. You blew the roof of this place, every joke was amazing. Female comedian smashing it on that stage, and I want more, more, more. Absolutely brilliant. I love you.”
Speaking to SBS Chinese, Huang said it felt “surreal” to have more people following her on social media and who were interested in her comedy.
”I've been doing those jokes for years - I'm so tired of them. But for a comedian, you need to establish your identity and then you can move forward. So at a gig you need to explain to people you're from China,” she said.
”And that's the stage I'm trying to get to - where I don't need to explain I'm from China.
”I just didn't know the reaction would be so intense. I'm just like 'what happened?’”
But Huang said she was trying to remain grounded despite the viral attention.
”As a comedian I still have to go out every night and try my jokes," she said.
On Twitter, Huang thanked her new fans for following her career since the show.
"My friend asked me to check my Twitter. I thought he bought me this much of followers," she tweeted.
"Thanks for loving my jokes and I tweet once in a while like an old person. Comedy is a long-game and I will be working on my bits. Hopefully one day you will see me on TV again. Loves."
Huang, who has a master's degree in public policy, recently told SBS Chinese that she pursued stand-up comedy as an alternative to her "boring" office job.
She moved to Melbourne from Chongqing in southwestern China in 2019, saying that she wanted to talk about topics that wouldn't pass censorship in China.
“It’s very strict and very sensitive for everyone and people tend not to want to hear or talk about anything controversial in public,” Huang said of performing gigs in major Chinese cities.
Ms Huang says she appreciates listening to comedy in Chinese but doesn’t have the “passion” for performing in her mother tongue.
“I tried it three times, but I was not good at it because I started comedy in English,” Huang said.
“Humour is very localised. You need to be in that environment for a long time to practice. Being a comedian there for a short amount of time doesn’t make me a good comedian in another language.”
Huang also recently toured at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August with a two-week residency for her show Crazy Broken Chinese.
