Chinese comedian He Huang found her own sense of freedom with provocative humor
He Huang found that stand-up comedy was the truest form of policy analysis, giving her a platform to "say whatever I want". The Chinese comedian explains that this freedom is precisely why her material, which challenges cultural norms, is sometimes met with fierce opposition but ultimately empowers both her and her audience. Her audition on Australia's Got Talent in 2022 earned her a standing ovation, and generated over 60 million views online, but the jokes that launched her professional career also triggered a deep cultural backlash.
"When I do comedy, I get power to express my thoughts. And also, that's what I said to myself, 'You are a valuable person,'" she told the Dam Yankee podcast, bringing up the importance of free speech and finding new perspectives. "Because my whole life, I've never been told that I can say whatever I want. I'm only told to listen." She told host Zack Newmark about the difficulty of challenging one-sided narratives and why she believes the highest form of critique is not violence or coercion, but a joke that resonates.
Huang's journey to comedy was anything but traditional. She first studied public policy analysis at a university in Beijing before moving on to Georgetown University in Washington D.C. for a master's degree. "And I started to understand, oh, actually, if you wanted to make a policy, there's always two sides," she said. "I never thought about how, in China, you always have only one voice allowed, and only one type of textbook is allowed in the public schools."
It was in nearby Arlington, Virginia, where she took a fateful comedy class at a local library. This casual program set her on a new path, stuck with her when she decided to relocate to Australia, where she continued to perform. "Yeah, after I did my first gig in a library. It was for free. It was like a training program. And then I started to play around with open mic nights and small gigs. And then I'm like, 'Okay, this is it. I'm never going to stop.'"
That continued until her career exploded with Australia’s Got Talent. Her provocative set, which humorously addressed the differences between Chinese and Western cultures, earned her a standing ovation and went instantly viral, accumulating tens of millions of views. "And then when it's going viral, it also triggered an unusual amount of backlash," she said, explaining a great deal of negative response came from people in China reacting to flat translations of her jokes on WeChat taken totally out of context.
But Huang also explained the criticism she faced primarily as being a reaction to her challenging of established cultural norms and the discomfort that arises when humor touches upon sensitive, one-sided narratives. She described her own society's philosophy, particularly toward women, as one that dictates, "You need to work on yourself. So you didn't ask the environment to change for you. You change for the environment."
This teaching emphasizes that "The problem is you," a mindset she uses her comedy to critique and reverse. She also took comfort in conversations with colleagues, who said women who find success in stand-up comedy often face baseless attacks from unknown critics posting anonymously online.
She got over it, and pressed ahead. She cemented her commitment to comedy and earned her the Best Newcomer prize at the 2023 Sydney Comedy Festival, along with a nomination at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
The comedian finds immense value in being able to be fully honest on stage, a feeling she describes as the "power" she gets from comedy. This ability to express her true self and confront cultural taboos head-on provides her with a sense of "self value" she couldn't find in her previous academic and policy-focused life.
Despite her rising profile, her career still faces logistical hurdles. She was scheduled to perform at Boom Chicago in Amsterdam and Comedy Club Haug in Rotterdam last week, but her shows were canceled at the last minute because she could not secure a visa to enter Europe on time. She joined the Dam Yankee podcast from London after wrapping up a series of U.K. performances, expressing disappointment but also a firm commitment to reschedule.
The full episode of Dam Yankee is available on all podcast platforms, and can also be seen on YouTube. He Huang posts frequent updates on Instagram and her own website.
