Ronny Chieng chats with The Contending about his Netflix special Love to Hate It.
Most people know Ronny Chieng as the bluntly hilarious correspondent on The Daily Show, where he reacts to politics and world events with his notable droll wit. But during his Netflix stand-up special Love to Hate It, Chieng pulls back the curtain on his life with a range of stories, starting with how he and his wife attempt to freeze their embryos and ending with a touching story about his late father.
I had a great phone chat with Chieng about his stand-up special and whether any personal topic is off-limits.
The Contending: Your entrance where you show up at the theater is so cool. How did that come together?
Ronny Chieng: Well, for all my comedy specials, I try to do an homage to the classic American show business aesthetic. And so for this one, I guess the obvious reference for me was kind of like Elvis in Hawaii, because I was filming in Hawaii. We almost cut it actually, because we couldn’t figure out the music. But I’m very happy to say that my friend, Dan the Automator, he’s a very famous Asian American musician — he actually came in at the last minute and helped us create the beat for it, and that kind of saved the opening.
The Contending: Oh, I love that! Speaking of your opening, how does your wife feel about being what opens this stand-up, the story about her freezing her embryos? Or how do your ugly friends with kids feel, too? Are they mad?
Ronny Chieng: No, I haven’t heard any complaints yet. So I guess they acknowledge that it’s true! (Laughs) And I obviously asked my wife if it was okay to talk about this, and she was okay with it.
The Contending: And listening to you talk about it, you know, the injections and the fact that you’re injecting your wife, it highlights some alarming things about our healthcare system. But was it surprising to learn that they’re letting you do this?
Ronny Chieng: Yeah, I mean, I don’t think it’s an indictment on the healthcare system. I think it’s actually a good thing that we can do this in America. And that the fact that they let me inject my wife makes it more accessible, to be honest. I was just shocked that I was allowed to perform an unlicensed medical procedure on my wife and that it worked, you know. So, yeah, I don’t think of it as a bad thing.
The Contending: Yeah, that’s a good way to think about it. Your stand-up is so physical. Do you rehearse with different energy levels?
Ronny Chieng: I guess you perform a little differently in a comedy club when you’re trying out the material versus, you know, doing it in a big theater on tour. So I guess the energy levels do depend on the venue and the crowd. But I think eventually once you’re on tour, you get it. I think you get to a pretty good consistency where you’re doing the same energy level every single time. But I guess the energy level does depend on the size of the crowd. When you’re starting out doing the show, you’re doing it in very small rooms.
The Contending: Has anyone found the photo of you holding your own specimen?
Ronny Chieng: No, they haven’t. I’ve been tempted to ask, like publicly ask people to whoever that was to send me the photo. But I know no one’s sent it to me yet.
The Contending: You can make that the cover of your next poster kind of like John Mulaney did.
Ronny Chieng: Well, I tell you what, in my first special, I talk about this guy who saved me on the subway. And I joke about how I took a photo of him and I said I actually did take a photo of him. So I’ve been thinking about releasing the photo of the guy who saved my wedding on the New York subway. So I have that photo, but I don’t have the photo this guy took of me outside the NYU fertility hospital.
The Contending: That’s so funny. You talk openly about having MAGA friends during the show. Have you gotten any flack for that from being on The Daily Show?
Ronny Chieng: No, no, no. Of course not. Well, I think we all have MAGA friends at this point, right? Like more than half the country! I think we all know someone who is, you know, and also we don’t roll like that at The Daily Show. We’re not super judgy at the show. And there are people who work at the show who are probably MAGA.
The Contending: Oh, wow! I found your final story about your father incredibly moving. Is it hard to put so much of yourself in your stand-up and where do you draw a line?
Ronny Chieng: No, I’ve never found it hard to talk about anything personal or otherwise in stand-up comedy. I think that’s what makes stand-up comedy really cool. And being able to just kind of be very free and open with your thoughts. So, no, I don’t think I have any lines, and there’s no line I wouldn’t cross. The only thing that was difficult about that it took me some time to obviously get over the grief of his passing, so that was what was difficult about it. But once I started talking about it, I didn’t feel awkward about it at all.
Love to Hate It is streaming on Netflix.
