Ali Wong: Baby Cobra

Much more than men, women are expected to be congenial and orderly in all circumstances, to yield to the adjective “tender”, which is commonly associated with their gender. Most contemporary stand-up comediennes turn this supposition on its head. A case in point is Ali Wong, who through her performances draws attention to the reverse side of nice things and adds a dark undertone to outwardly innocent activities. For example, when she talks about how she likes to make a snack for her husband every day and then concludes with a conspiratorial remark that she does it so that he becomes dependent on her and never leaves her. The praise of a woman’s life in the household is based on a description of how at home you needn’t stress out about taking care of a major need in shared restrooms with thin, flimsy paper and nearby colleagues trying to dampen their bodily sounds. In describing bodily functions, Wong, like Amy Schumer, examines the issue down to the smallest detail with clinical matter-of-factness. Although she does not talk about human sexuality in a more scandalous manner than her male counterparts, many critics who consider such openness in the area of sexuality unacceptable for women have a problem with such comedy delivered by women. Whether Wong is talking about sex during pregnancy, her racially incorrect dream that she will one day be wealthy enough to buy fruit sliced by white people, or sexually transmitted diseases (she describes HPV as a monster that hides in a man’s body, but only goes “boo!” in a woman’s body), she does not do so in an attempt to shock. She is merely pointing out the simple yet for many not obvious fact that women, just like men, are beings with quite ordinary human needs. 85% (22/03/2018)