Summary
Ronny Chieng: Asian Comedian Destroys America is a great observation of American culture from a well-loved immigrant who provides a funny, hyper analysis of the country.
Ronny Chieng: Asian Comedian Destroys America arrives on Netflix on December 17, 2019.
Ronny Chieng’s analysis of America is extremely hyper but his vocalized truth is the core of his punchlines. He waltzes on stage and immediately targets those who do not support vaccinations, how bringing back the measles is somehow cool now, and how the internet is making people dumber. There’s no holding back in this Netflix Special, and the audience laps it up.
His brand is that he is an outsider looking in and Ronny Chieng: Asian Comedian Destroys America demonstrates how absurd a successful country can look like on the outside. Ronny delivers this stand-up at the most opportune time with America more divided than ever due to broken politics. His main opening gag is how much “stuff” America has and in abundance. His jokes lead to Amazon Prime, how it transforms to Prime Now, and then makes a sly dig of Prime Before; the whole point is that America has become so privileged that the people want things before they even know they want them.
But it’s Ronny’s energy that ultimately wins over the audience; he talks at quick-rate, landing punchline after punchline, deepening his analysis on his coy cultural findings. For an immigrant, he completely embraces the differences between East and West America; East is intense and West is extremely relaxed. His jokes peak when he suggests an Asian President would be the best government as “we don’t care about black and white people, we can be objective and ensure things work”.
Ronny Chieng: Asian Comedian Destroys America is not the best-delivered stand-up of the year but it certainly understands the cultural/political landscape. Ronny’s observation is enlightening and hilarious at the same time, and we’d be lucky to have more Netflix Specials of his on the platform. Ronny Chieng: Asian Comedian Destroys America is a must-watch.
