Having not too long ago opened to a crowd of 6,000 people for her self-professed inspiration Ronnie Chieng, Jenny Tian is one of the few comedians for whom the Fringe is arguably something of a downgrade. Given the energy Tian commands onstage however, you wouldn’t think it. A quick survey of the crowd shows that she is way more well-known for her content creation in TikTok especially than her stand-up, but she feels equally in her element with both. ‘Chinese Australian’ is a sublime, slick, and perfectly paced comedy show that feels tailor-made for the modern age of social media. 

Although she started out as a comedian, it was on social media and TikTok especially that Tian found fame. This online presence and awareness are ingeniously embedded into the show’s format and presentation as well as its content, to regularly hilarious effect. But Tian is not a one-trick pony. Social media is instead just the main filling in a pie containing snippets about her career, identity, and mental wellbeing. For Tian, as for so many others, the internet has become inseparable from her way of life. The way that she uses this to extract laugh after laugh from the crowd is bordering on inspired. 

Tian’s sharp observations are delivered with an approachable and lively demeanour as she pokes fun at the often harsh and always slightly strange world of which she is part. Her timing and callbacks feel spot-on, and the crowd are won over effortlessly. The recurring gags and callbacks work wonders, as do several visual and digital jokes built into the show that further highlight the internet’s capacity for distortion. Chopping and changing between the different elements could risk feeling like a clumsy process, but Tian makes it look all too easy. 

An achingly funny, warm, and excitable hour of comedy, ‘Chinese Australian’ feels like a show built perfectly for the time we live in now and for the comedian bringing it to life. It feels incredibly apt that, in the second year of TikTok and the Edinburgh Fringe’s partnership, one of the platform’s funniest and most distinctive voices has delivered such a stunning debut at the 2024 festival.

‘Chinese Australian‘ has finished its run