This week, we’re highlighting 25 talented writers and performers for Vulture’s annual list “The Comedians You Should and Will Know.†Our goal is to introduce a wider audience to the talent that has the comedy community and industry buzzing. (You can read more about our methodology at the link above.) We asked the comedians on the list to answer a series of questions about their work, performing, goals for the future, and more. Next up is Andrea Jin.
Tell us a story from your childhood you think explains why you ended up becoming a comedian.
When I emigrated from Shanghai to Vancouver, Canada, at the age of 10, I really wanted to learn English as fast as possible so I could communicate with my friends properly. I’ve always gravitated toward comedy, so I watched everything comedy related. I watched stand-ups, sitcoms, comedy movies, and even late-night talk shows. I loved Conan O’Brien, Stephen Colbert, and Louis C.K. For some reason, these older white men really spoke to me as a young Chinese girl.
From there, I would always make my friends laugh to a point where I’d pee my pants. I peed my pants so much as a kid. No one else would pee their pants laughing at my jokes, but I’d laugh so hard at my own jokes when I was with my friends that I would pee my own pants. I knew I was very funny from then on with the sheer volume of pairs of pants I went through making myself laugh. And now I do stand-up for a living with material that I find hilarious. I stopped peeing my pants at one point, so I needed another gauge for if I’m funny or not, so I use audiences now.
What unscripted or reality series do you think you’d excel at? What archetype do you think you’d be?
I would be great at travel food series. I would love to be a Gordon Ramsay type, but unlike him, I’m not qualified to be judging food or restaurants whatsoever. But it doesn’t stop me from having that same confidence and high level of standards Gordon has. I would love the food and be super-grateful for their hospitality, but I would be very critical of everything when it’s just me and the cameras because I’m a piece of shit. It would be really relatable because no one else has any business judging any restaurant anyway other than Gordon Ramsay. I would be a voice for the people. I would love to travel to different countries and do this to the best chefs and restaurants in the world. I guess the archetype would be Asshole Critic With Unearned Confidence.
What’s your proudest achievement of your comedy career so far?
My proudest achievement would probably be winning a Juno Award for Comedy Album of the Year at the 2021 Juno Awards in Toronto. But I also want to tie it with my first late-night-TV set on The Late Late Show With James Corden. Those were both very big moments for me. I’m also very proud of my shortform stand-up clips receiving a lot of love from people all over the world.
All of those things got me here today, so I can’t just pick one — I’m sorry! Each one represents the highest form of acceptance in countries that mean a lot to me: the Junos because I’m Canadian, late-night TV because I now live in L.A., and my clips receiving love from the world because I love the internet and receiving attention. All very big moments for me!
What have you learned about your own joke-writing process that you didn’t know when you started?
I learned that I write onstage quite a bit. I write down joke premises in my normal day-to-day life and then I just take that premise with a very loose joke I thought of attached to it and I riff on that original idea. It sounds like a daunting way to write a new joke, but a lot of comics do it, and I learned to make it work like this.
When I first started, I wrote offstage a lot, which I think is still very important and I need to do more of. But when I write onstage under the pressure to make the audience laugh as soon as possible, it squeezes out the best parts of the idea, and I really love doing it that way. It’s a lot of fun, and it forces me to get onstage as much as humanly possible so I can write and develop new jokes as quickly as I can.
Tell us everything about your worst show ever. (This can involve venue, audience, other comedians on the lineup — anything!)
The worst show I’ve ever done was probably my first open mic ever. It wasn’t my first show, thankfully. My first shows were booked lineup shows; I was very lucky. I decided to hit an open mic with the first five minutes of material I’ve ever written that I had been doing on all these booked shows. It was a story about me shitting my pants in kindergarten. The open mic was filled with other comedians; there were very minimal audience members, and I think most of them had seen me do this story already. So I did my story at this open mic, which was really stupid — I should’ve just written and performed new jokes, but I was such a baby comic that I did this rehearsed story once again.
It was the hardest bomb I’ve ever experienced. I still can remember how dead silent it was throughout the entire five minutes. I didn’t pivot or deviate from the story and finished it all the way through to zero laughter or sounds. It was the worst. It was so traumatizing I haven’t done that joke ever since!
Let’s say we live in a “Kings of Catchphrase Comedy†alternate dimension where every single comedian is required to have a hit catchphrase. What’s yours and why?
I think mine would be “What the fuck?? The fuck, dude.†As stupid and simple as that is, I do it in this accent that makes me sound like a white Italian guy, and I say it a lot in between my jokes.
Nominate one comedian you don’t know personally you think is overdue for wider recognition and why you’re a fan of their work.
I love the comedian that did the soccer-goal reenactment that went viral. I know that clip was extremely viewed by everybody, but I think he deserves even more recognition. It was so sick.
When it comes to your comedy opinions — about material, performing, audience, trends you want to kill/revive, the industry, etc. — what hill will you die on?
I really believe that all stand-ups should try their best to give a nice and sincere intro to whoever they’re bringing up. I’ve been seeing this get missed sometimes and people even making fun of, or rudely introducing, the next comedian, and it definitely irks me!
If you had to come onstage to just one song for the rest of your life, what song would it be and why?
I would pick “Paint the Town Red†by Doja Cat or maybe “Princess Diana†by Ice Spice. This song-selection question made me five days late to submitting this entire questionnaire. I cannot pick one song, and I had no walk-out song before this, so it was really difficult. And you know what? I won’t commit to these songs for the rest of my life, actually. This may change tomorrow. This is why I don’t have tattoos. I have commitment issues.
What is the best comedy advice, and then the worst comedy advice, you’ve ever received, either when you were starting out or more recently?
The best comedy advice I’ve ever received was to put in as many hours doing sets as humanly possible and to basically live on the stage. I’ve always believed in this, but it’s really great to hear it from all the veterans and people who came before me that I love and respect.
The worst comedy advice actually is related to stage time also. I don’t believe that all stage time is equal. I’ve been told to say “yes†to every show, and that will do more harm than good, especially the more years you do it. I’d rather have dinner with friends who I love than do a show with two people in the audience. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, so it’s vital to preserve your mental health and energy so that the comedy keeps pumping out and the good times keep rolling!
More From This Series
- 2023’s Comedians You Should Know Reflect on a Big Year
- Zach Zucker Dares to Say Comedy Is About Being Funny
- Sophie Zucker Is Sick of the Irony
- We Promise Zach Zimmerman Was Invited