Feminista Is Watching This So You Don't Have To: Ali Wong Single Lady

Photo credit: Netflix

In recent years, stand-up comedy has been on the ropes, fighting for its life against the onslaught of... accountability. Several popular comedians with huge fandoms have been called out for relying on misogyny, racism, and queerphobia in their jokes. Fans are no longer sitting idly by as comedians throw marginalized people under the bus. Gone are the days of quietly enduring the crass, cheap shots that punch down instead of challenging the status quo as some of the most brilliant comedians have done with their sets. Well, for some of us. Some fans will go to bat for their favorite people, even when they’re being gross and harmful, and they blame it on comedy going “woke” and not being as funny.

What’s wrong with being woke, though? That’s for another day.

One person who has emerged as an outstanding talent is Ali Wong, the hilarious Asian-American comedienne who will leave you in stitches every time you catch one of her performances. I’ve been a fan since her first Netflix special, 2016’s Baby Cobra and she has yet to let me down. Since then, she’s done voiceover work on two underrated adult animated shows, Big Mouth and Tuca & Bertie, and starred in the popular Netflix series Beef, for which she won two Golden Globes and two Emmys (becoming the first Asian woman to win an Emmy for Lead Actress). She has starred in, written for, and produced several television shows, including the critically acclaimed Fresh Off The Boat, and has had several comedy specials on Netflix including her latest Single Lady. Simply put, Ali Wong is THAT girl!

Single Lady is mostly about Wong getting back into the saddle again after she and her ex-husband split a couple of years ago. As a divorced single mom in her 40s, her stories and jokes resonated with me heavy. I felt like she was reading my inner thoughts and group chat texts, putting me on full blast!

I know so many other women who will relate to the dueling feelings of freedom and fear that divorced single moms in their 40s experience most days. Will anyone want me? Will anyone fuck me? The latter is clearly not a problem for Wong, who recounts funny stories about her post-divorce sex life. I won’t ruin it by revealing the punchlines because that does a disservice to Wong. Her comedic timing is her strong suit, as is her ability to deliver jokes like she’s sharing heaux tales with her bestie while downing mimosas at brunch. She doesn’t dwell too much in the build-up without tickling you on the way, so you don’t feel like you’re waiting for a zinger. 

Wong also has an edge to her, a particular city-girl-about-that-life edge that I’ve always found relatable and endearing. She never shies away from her cultural heritage (she’s Chinese and Vietnamese) and draws a lot from her experiences growing up Asian American in California. I appreciate how grounded she remains even though, as she proudly reminds us, she’s a millionaire. She is giving “Yes, I’m rich but I’ll also beat your ass if need be,” and I love that about her. Wong is the girlfriend in my head I want to call to talk about all of the ridiculous shit I see on dating apps (she’s got a great bit about them) and all of the terrible sex Xennial men are offering these days. She dips a bit into self-deprecating humor, but not too much that you forget she is a history-making Hollywood success story. And while the second half gets a bit repetitive in terms of topics, there is a powerful moment at the end that leaves every 40-something divorced single mom sighing with wistful hope. Wong reminds us that the best jokes come from being a human being with a big heart.

You’re going to want to watch this one and hey, you’re supporting a comedienne who defies so many of the stand-up comedy odds—she isn’t white, she isn’t a man, and she doesn’t rely on being a sexist, racist, and/or queerphobic piece of shit to make people laugh.