Why was Uncle Roger banned from China?
UNCLE Roger is a comedian, vlogger and online content creator.
The funnyman has become the latest comedian to be disciplined by the Chinese government after making jokes at their expense.
Who is Uncle Roger?
Nigel Ng Kin-ju is best known for his comedic persona Uncle Roger.
Nigel was born on March 15, 1991, and is a Malaysian stand-up comedian and internet celebrity based in London.
He started doing comedy while at university in the US.
He continued to perform while holding down a full-time job as a data scientist.
He made his TV debut in 2018 on Comedy Central’s Stand Up Central.
And in 2019 he quit his job and went full-time into comedy.
Nigel hosts the comedy podcast Rice To Meet You with UK-based Swedish comedian Evelyn Mok.
In 2021, he appeared on series 19 of BBC Two’s Mock The Week.
Uncle has a pronounced Cantonese-like accent and is based on a stereotypical middle-aged Asian man who reviews Asian cookery
Nigel told LadBible: “Uncle Roger is a reflection of the middle-aged Asian men.
“They’re a bit sassy, they’re a bit know-it-all, but ultimately they’re kind people.
“And they’re very, just stuck in their ways.”
The comedian further developed the character in TikTok and Instagram sketches, before moving on to YouTube.
In July 2020, Nigel’s Uncle Roger persona attracted attention for his YouTube reaction to Hersha Patel’s BBC Food video on cooking egg-fried rice.
After the video went viral, Ng and Patel appeared on BBC together.
Where is Uncle Roger from?
Nigel describes Uncle Roger as a “celebration of Asianness”.
He added that the character “never puts his own race down”.
He has elements of East-Asian culture, including traits from China, Hong-King and Taiwan.
Why was Uncle Roger banned from China?
The comedian posted a clip from an upcoming comedy special where he pokes fun at Chinese surveillance.
The clip also shows the comedian mocking Beijing’s claims of sovereignty over Taiwan.
He was performing as his stage persona Uncle Roger and joked that he was “about to get cancelled“.
As predicted, he was cancelled by the Chinese government as they banned his social media pages.
A message on his Weibo account, where he has more than 400,000 followers, reads: “The user has been banned from posting as he has violated relevant laws and regulations.”
This comes after a series of comedians were banned from sharing their content after making jokes at China’s expense.
Is Uncle Roger married?
Uncle Roger often pokes fun at his ex-wife Auntie Helen,
She is a fictional character, but she might have some real life inspiration.
Uncle Roger told fellow YouTuber Shu that he was divorced in a vlog posted in April 2020.