3So a Chinese Guy Walks Into a Bar.docVIP

So a Chinese Guy Walks Into a Bar, and Says Hes Irish—Get It? It Might Depend on Where You Live; Comedian Stumps the Crowd in China By Carolyn Cui /article/ APRIL 11, 2010 Mike Rozman/TBS Joe Wongs comedy has landed him spots on U.S. TV, such as this one with Ellen DeGeneres, but hes not getting laughs back home in China. No comedian wants to bomb in front of a big crowd. But Joe Wong, a chemist turned comic, is having a tough time with an audience of 1.3 billion. When the 40-year-old Mr. Wong played the Late Show With David Letterman last year, people cracked up when he walked out and said, Hi, everybody….So, Im Irish. That appearance launched him on a tour of clubs around the U.S. Yet in China, where Mr. Wong grew up, people were puzzled from the start. How come the first sentence, Im Irish, can make Americans laugh? one viewer asked in the comments on a subtitled video circulating in China. Because everybody in America is from Ireland, someone theorized. It has nothing to do with that, said a third. Its because being Irish itself is hilarious. China Central Television, the biggest TV network in the country, deemed his success in the U.S. curious enough that it dedicated a special program to him in December. The peg: Hes the Chinese scientist who makes Americans laugh. While CCTV declared that Mr. Wongs success proves humor has no boundaries, it concluded the program without showing any of his jokes. Mr. Wongs first live gig in Beijing, in late 2008, was not successful, he says. In America, he says, its funny to poke fun at yourself. But in China, theres no humor in misfortune. The audience struggled to grasp the punch lines, and Mr. Wong recalls looking out on the blank faces of a polite but serious crowd. That was an unfunny routine, says Ding Guangquan, a Chinese comedian, who invited Mr. Wong to perform there. One of the jokes he told at Beijings Haidian Theater, Mr. Wong says, was about parking: Im not good at sports, but I love parallel parking. Because un