Jesse Appell: The American Chinese Comedian You Need to Know

Initially in China as an exchange student turned Fulbright Scholar, Jesse Appell has performed stand up all over China. He has had multiple television appearances nationally and founded Laugh Beijing for bridging Western and Chinese culture through comedy. I highly recommend checking out his stand-up if you’d like to brush up on some Putonghua, looking to learn about Chinese Crosstalk comedy, and in general want to laugh out loud. Overall, he’s a really interesting guy to get a window into a specific part of Chinese and Internet culture as his amazing grip on the language and his prolific work already provides for numerous hours to keep you occupied and laughing. Below are a few excerpts of his stand up.

1 American Jesse Appell performs standup comedy in Chinese! 老外说中文脱口秀！
2 Standup on Post-80s Talkshow in China
3 Standup: I want to be a Mistress
4 Great LOL of China

I also had the awesome opportunity to speak with Jesse and learn more about his experience of becoming an American comedian in China. His series, “The Great LOL of China,” speak to those experiences and are definitely worth checking out:
5 Recently, he did a charity in Boston...

Recently, he returned to his hometown of Boston, but he is still active in the Chinese comedy sphere. He made headlines a couple of months ago for a charity fundraiser show he held in his hometown where he raised money for medical supplies for Wuhan.
6 Viral TikTok Segment in China During Quarantine

Part of that show went viral when he showed a reel of Chinese TikTok videos of how people in the Mainland had been dealing with the lockdown in humorous and creative ways. In fact, Appell himself has quite the following on Chinese TikTok, with over 2 million fans, half of which he said came from when his charity show went viral.
7 Talking On BBC About Coronavirus

As the US continues to grow worse in terms of the virus and China seems to be improving, Jesse’s voice could be an interesting one to follow as not only has he provided his own take on his Youtube channel, hosting a sort-of at home talk show, but also making international television appearances like the BBC.