Sheng Wang (born January 9, 1980, in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

) is a

Taiwanese American Taiwanese Americans (traditional Chinese, Chinese: 臺灣裔美國人; pinyin: ''Táiwān yì měiguó rén''; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ''Tâi-Bí-jîn'') are Americans of Taiwanese people, Taiwanese ancestry, including American-born descendants of migrant ...

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

and was a

staff writer In journalism, a staff writer byline indicates that the author of the article is an employee of the periodical, as opposed to being an independent freelance writer. In Britain, staff writers may work in the office instead of traveling to cover a ...

for ABC sitcom series ''

Fresh Off the Boat ''Fresh Off the Boat'' is an American television sitcom created by Nahnatchka Khan and produced by 20th Century Fox Television for ABC. It is loosely inspired by the life of chef and food personality Eddie Huang and his 2013 autobiography ...

'' from 2015 to 2018. He grew up in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Early life and education

Wang was born in Taipei and grew up in Houston, where he graduated from Bellaire High School. He earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

in Business at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

from 1998 to 2002. After graduating, Wang began practicing stand-up in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

and New York City.

Career

Wang was a featured performer in 2007 at Montreal Comedy Festival. On January 28, 2011, ''

Comedy Central Presents ''Comedy Central Presents'' is an American stand-up comedy television series created for Comedy Central. It is the network's main half-hour program which highlights either one or a series of stand-up comedians each episode. In 2011, the series ...

'' aired his first thirty-minute special broadcast on national television. In January 2011, he won top honors at

NBC Universal NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and doing business as NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and headquartered at 30 ...

's Seventh Annual "Stand Up for Diversity" comedy search, including a one-year talent holding deal with that studio. Wang also appeared on Comedy Central's ''

John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show ''John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show'' is a stand-up comedy television series that aired on Comedy Central in the United States. Hosted by British-American comedian John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British and Am ...

'' in 2012. Wang also appeared on ''

Comedians of Comedy ''The Comedians of Comedy'' is a stand-up comedy tour featuring comedians Patton Oswalt, Zach Galifianakis, Brian Posehn and Maria Bamford that was documented in a 2005 film and 2005 Comedy Central television series of the same name, both direct ...

'', American Eagle's ''Campus Comedy Challenge'' and

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

's ''

Live at Gotham ''Live at Gotham'' is an American stand-up comedy television show airing on Comedy Central. The show features up and coming stand-up comedians performing live at the Gotham Comedy Club in New York City New York, often called New York Cit ...

''. He competed in the 2015 season of ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' is an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, and again in 2014 and 2015. Each season a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls was picked as ...

,'' earning a spot in the top 10 contestants. Wang released an album titled ''Cornucopias Are Actually Horrible Containers'' in 2015. From 2015 to 2018 he worked on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

sit-com

as a staff writer, story editor, and executive story editor. He appeared as "Hank" in two episodes. In 2019, Wang appeared on the HBO Special ''

2 Dope Queens ''2 Dope Queens'' was a podcast hosted by Jessica Williams and Phoebe Robinson that aired between April 4, 2016, and November 14, 2018. For the first seven days following the podcast's launch, it was number one on the iTunes podcast charts. I ...

''. He also performed at Clusterfest 2019 opening for headliner

John Mulaney John Edmund Mulaney (born August 26, 1982) is an American Stand up comedian, stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Mulaney first rose to prominence for his work as a writer for the NBC sketch comedy ...

. In September 2022 he released his first Netflix special ''Sweet & Juicy''. It was the first comedy special directed by

Ali Wong Alexandra Dawn Wong (born April 19, 1982) is an American comedian and actress. She is best known for her Netflix stand-up specials ''Baby Cobra'' (2016), ''Hard Knock Wife'' (2018), ''Don Wong'' (2022), and ''Single Lady'' (2024). The last of t ...

. It was released to wide praise: ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' noted that Wang "has a droll and relaxed delivery, which makes the focus and inventiveness of his material land even better." Sheng Wang lives in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He cites

Maria Bamford Maria Bamford (born September 3, 1970) is an American actress and stand-up comedian. Her work often uses self-deprecating and dark topics, including her dysfunctional family, depression, anxiety, suicide and mental illness. Her first comedy alb ...

Dave Attell David Attell (born January 18, 1965) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer best known as the host of Comedy Central's '' Insomniac with Dave Attell.'' Early life Attell was born in the New York City borough of Queens to a Jewish fa ...

, and Robert Hawkins as influences, and his work has often drawn comparisons to the stand-up of

Mitch Hedberg Mitchell Lee Hedberg (February 24, 1968 – March 23, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humor and deadpan delivery. His comedy typically featured short, sometimes one-line jokes mixed with absurd elements and non s ...

References

External links

Sheng Wang
on

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

Sheng Wang
on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Sheng 1980 births Comedians from California Chinese emigrants to the United States American comedians of Chinese descent American people of Chinese descent Haas School of Business alumni Comedians from Taipei American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors American stand-up comedians American television writers Living people Comedians from Houston