Phil Wang loves a cork in his balls. Like a ritornello in a piece of Baroque music, Wang returns to this line throughout the show, an idea introduced in a bit about contraception he uses to jump to musings on sex, gender equality and personal morality. Philly Philly Wang Wang, though less focussed than his previous show Kinabalu, is still a finely constructed piece of stand-up.
Wang is not afraid to be vulgar or controversial, which may be made easier with his ironic exaggerated delivery. He often refers to himself in the third person, calling himself ‘Wang’ or ‘Old Wang’ or ‘Wangnam Style’. He tackles proven territory for stand-up, such as race, relationships, and getting older, but Wang’s unique perspective keep the jokes fresh. In fact, despite his artificial demeanour and by his own omission not being a good person, he is still warm and likeable enough for the audience to follow him down through some more controversial ideas, even if it is a little difficult to know how seriously you are supposed to take him.
He masterfully walks the line between edgy and offensive when discussing topics such as what accents it’s acceptable to do. He repudiates the idea that comedians have to be moral arbiters who always punch down, but despite challenging this notion that is deeply held by a lot of people, never seems to alienate anyone who might disagree. His strongest material is his reflections on his mixed-race heritage. Some of the biggest laughs come from his reflections on his half-English, half-Chinese heritage (“I’m not a minority, I’m both majorities”, he says) especially his portrayal of the Chinese as being too busy for global dominations to care about white people being racist towards them.
Sometimes the more serious, didactic parts of the show are undercut by the artifice of his persona, but this is a minor niggle. I still liked this show as much as Phil Wang likes a cork in his balls.
