By Daniel Paiz

Paramount Theater welcomed comedy veteran Ronny Chieng to the Mile High City with two packed shows in Denver Friday night. The longtime The Daily Show correspondent and Marvel newcomer delivered jokes across a wide spectrum of topics, ranging from the difficulties of stabbing your wife to how self-improvement can go very wrong for men in the United States. The set flew by, and the jokes led to back-to-back-to-back laughs (Denver seems to bring in three-time MVPs these days).

DJ Tony Trimm set the stage for the night, rocking jams from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, comprised largely of Hip-Hop jams. An interesting animation of Chieng and Denver Nuggets legend Dikembe Mutombo stared down at the crowd during the DJ set. After some solid tunes, the opener for the night started things off.

The Opener

Andrea Jin was the opener, and she had a fairly dry sense of humor. Perhaps it was due to our first encounter with the comic from China who is very comfortable in the United States and doesn’t plan to leave. Her best joke was drawing inspiration from Sleeping Beauty and not Mulan.

She slept through the entire movie, had a castle, was rich. She’s a feminist icon for women in China.

4.5.2024 performance

After a fairly quick 15-minute set, the stage was primed and ready for the evening’s headliner.

Headliner Hits The Stage

Ronny Chieng was ready to go from his introduction, thanking everyone there by stating what most in attendance already knew.

Thank you for making me a crossover artist, thanks to all the White people that came.

The real MVPs are the White people who didn’t come with their Asian partners…

which I can see is none of you!”

4.5.2024 Denver performance

That last bit earned a big laugh from the audience, as it appeared fairly accurate prior to the show starting when looking around the lobby. There was some more thanking to do, in spite of the lack of help from a well-known social media site. Several other groups got shoutouts as well.

Latinos (crowd cheers) …

Native Americans (smaller cheer) …

Black people (biggest cheer of the three) …

Thank you for coming. But…why are you here, who told you about this? According to Meta, there was no amount of money I could pay to reach your communities. Those groups who have sent your scouts, when you go back, tell your communities the Asian guy was okay.”

4.5.2024 Denver performance

Harvesting Eggs

Planning a family is never an easy thing, and apparently right now, Chieng and his wife are working on fertility preservation, also known as egg harvesting. This involves injecting medications and afterwards those eggs are retrieved. Chieng thought it interesting the process of administering those medications to his wife.

Do you have experience with needles? No? Great, we’re going to send you some in the mail. No medical training whatsoever. The doctors encouraged advised to do this at home. We’re also going to send you drugs in the mail, in brown unmarked boxes. You then have to cook those medications at home, I have a meth lab in my house now.

Then, I have to stab my wife for two weeks, but I can’t bear to see my wife in pain, I love her so much. So I’m stabbing, not sure it’s the right place *motions stabbing blindly*.

Just walk into the needle, meet me halfway.

4.5.2024 Denver performance

Everything’s A Scam

Chieng also made a good point about men in 2024, at least men in the United States. There’s a certain age (and it’s different for everyone) where a guy is fairly introspective, and they look to improve themselves. Somehow that goes from learning some new kettlebell lifting techniques to storming the Capitol. Some of those who buy into “Make America Great Again” are some of Ronny’s friends. There’s something that those friends and Chieng’s mom have in common.

Hawaiian MAGA are some of the most welcoming people out there, they give twice as much as they receive. Always wanting you to touch their guns though, I don’t know where that guns been and where it’s going.

I went to Hawaii and my mom got off the plane, and when you arrive, they gift you a lei around your neck. My mom threw it on the ground and said, “I’m not paying for that!” I pick up the lei, put it on, tell her “Mom you don’t have to pay for that, you’re embarrassing me in front of the Hawaiians!”

4.5.2024 Denver performance

Chieng cracked numerous jokes about his mom, and they were top notch. Chieng ended the show briefly talking about his dad, and how his dad didn’t really seem to get what Ronny does. The ending of the show won’t be revealed here, but there’s a funny yet poignant point Chieng makes about their relationship. A standing ovation meets Chieng as he thanks Denver for coming and walks offstage.