As part of what appears to be Beijing’s assault on comedy. Comedian Nigel Ng’s social media accounts in China have been suspended. Ng mocked China’s dictatorial leadership in a marketing video for his forthcoming event that he posted last Tuesday. He made the joke that he was “about to get canceled” while playing Uncle Roger, his on-stage persona.
The weekend saw the freezing of Ng’s Weibo and Bilibili accounts—China’s equivalents of Twitter and YouTube.
The Weibo page owned by Ng in question has garnered a remarkable number of followers, surpassing the 400,000 mark. However, a statement on the account reveals that the user has been prohibited from posting due to a violation of pertinent laws and regulations.
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Ng recently shared a revised video on Twitter on Monday. Alongside the accompanying statement: “Over the weekend, this footage garnered a significant amount of views – an occurrence that piques my interest. I’m curious to know the reason behind its sudden popularity.”
The Malaysian comedian living in London has been contacted by the BBC to provide a statement. Nigel Ng (Uncle Roger) did not finish his tweet.
In the video, Uncle Roger responded to a viewer who identified himself as being from Guangzhou, China, by saying, “Good nation, good country.
Then he made light of the fact that Beijing was keeping an eye on him via his smartphone: “They’re all listening.” Our phones all connect to it. President Xi, long live. President Xi is still alive.
Comedian Ng has been in this landscape Before!
However, this is not Ng’s first experience dealing with China’s stringent media landscape.
He created a video in January 2021 when he and YouTuber Mike Chen, who is well-known for criticizing Beijing on Twitter, dissected a dumpling recipe.
The 32-year-old comedian eventually took down the video and apologized on Weibo. “I wasn’t aware of his political thoughts and his past inaccurate remarks about China,” he claimed.
In a YouTube video he posted three years ago, Ng poked fun at BBC broadcaster Hersha Patel’s egg-fried rice dish. In which she rinsed and drained cooked rice in a colander. This gave Ng instant celebrity.
He represents the latest in what seems to be Beijing’s campaign against comedians. After making a joke last week in which he compared his dogs to a military slogan, Chinese comedian Li Haoshi was detained.
The corporation that hired him was additionally penalized a staggering amount of 14.7 million yuan ($2.1 million; £1.7 million), which has sparked apprehension that stand-up comedy could be eliminated in the nation due to the seemingly excessive fine.
Although Li has expressed remorse for his remarks. The potential punishment still carries a maximum sentence of three years behind bars.
