Banned by Beijing, this comedian is taking his act to Chinese speakers abroad
Banned by Beijing this comedian is taking – Wang Yuechi, known professionally as Chizi, has embarked on a 2026 tour that began with a bold move: performing in Taiwan. This choice, he explained, was both daring and enticing. During one of his shows, a joke about the extended leadership of President Xi Jinping drew immediate approval. A man in the audience shouted,
“This is fire,”
in Mandarin, as others echoed similar reactions with expletives.
In China, joking about Xi Jinping is often a precarious act. The leader’s nearly 15-year tenure has seen a consolidation of power, leaving few willing to openly critique him. However, Chizi’s performance at the National University of Singapore brought a different energy. The auditorium, filled with Singaporean Chinese and visitors from mainland China, became a stage for his unfiltered humor.
Chizi’s career took a turn in 2023 when he was banned from China after a series of overseas performances. The government’s sensitivity to his topics—ranging from censorship to rising nationalism—led to his restriction, though no official reason was given. Now based abroad, his name is whispered rather than celebrated in the country he once called home.
Reflecting on his ban, Chizi told the BBC,
“In China, my face is treated like a sexual organ. It’s not something that can be freely shown or circulated.”
This sentiment followed his recent experience when a fan’s social media account was suspended for sharing his photo. Despite the setback, he found renewed purpose in his art.
After a brief pause, Chizi returned to the stage in April, launching a tour across Tokyo, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore. Every show sold out, marking a fresh chapter in his journey. At 30, he has spent over a decade in stand-up comedy, but this tour felt like his first true breakthrough. “I wanted to perform for people who speak Chinese, to introduce myself, showing them how I live, or think as someone who lived in China for 30 years,” he said.
His motivation for the tour was personal and cultural. “I’ve always been drawn to the challenge,” he remarked. “If something feels risky or dangerous, I find it interesting.” Performing in Taiwan, a region Beijing claims as its own, was a deliberate choice. “No Chinese comedian had ever performed in Taiwan,” he noted. “People speak the same language and the cultures are so similar. But there are so many tensions. So why not? Even if it turns into an argument, that’s okay. We could argue face-to-face.”
His set focused on his own experiences: growing up as an “overly talkative” child who often annoyed those in authority, he discovered comedy in his late teens. His career took off when he was invited by a celebrated Chinese comedian to appear on a popular talk show, the first to feature stand-up comedy on television. Within a year, he became a regular on two hit streaming shows, amassing billions of views as “the superstar of stand-up.”
Despite his success, Chizi admitted to deliberately limiting political humor in this tour. “I wanted to focus on personal stories,” he said, while acknowledging that his previous performances in North America had pushed boundaries. There, he joked about topics off-limits in China, such as the state’s broad censorship policies, the surge of nationalism online, and the shrinking rights of ethnic minorities. He also expressed hope for peaceful lives in both Hong Kong and Taiwan, regions where Beijing’s influence is strong.
Chizi’s journey from a high-school dropout to a global comedian highlights his resilience. “I was always the chatty one, happy to make people laugh… I was like a fish in water,” he recalled. His ability to improvise and deliver sharp, witty critiques has made him a standout figure, even as he navigates the challenges of performing outside his home country.
