Comedian Nigel Ng’s Chinese social media accounts have been suspended, amid what seems to be a crackdown by Beijing on comics.
Last Tuesday, Ng tweeted a promo clip for his upcoming show which poked fun at China’s authoritarian government.
He was performing as his stage persona Uncle Roger and joked that he was “about to get cancelled”.
Ng’s Weibo and Bilibili accounts – China’s Twitter and YouTube – were frozen at the weekend.
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.”
Ng on Monday reposted the video on Twitter, this time with the caption: “For some reason this clip got a ton of views this past weekend. I wonder why.”.
In the video, Uncle Roger spoke to someone in the audience who said he was from Guangzhou, China, to which he replied: “Good country, good country. We have to say that now.”
He then joked about being monitored by Beijing via his smartphone: “They [are] all listening. All our phones tap into it. Long live President Xi. Long live President Xi.”
But this is not Ng’s first brush with China’s strict media environment.
In January 2021, he collaborated with Mike Chen, a YouTuber who is a known critic of Beijing on Twitter, to produce a video where they critiqued a dumpling recipe.
The 32-year-old comedian later removed the clip and posted an apology on Weibo. He said he “wasn’t aware of his political thoughts and his past incorrect remarks about China”.
Ng shot to fame three years ago after posting a YouTube video where he made fun of BBC host Hersha Patel for her egg fried rice recipe, where she washed and drained cooked rice in a colander.
He’s the latest target in what appears to be a crackdown by Beijing on comedians.
Last week, Chinese comedian Li Haoshi was arrested after he made a joke comparing his dogs to a military slogan.
The company that hired him was also fined a hefty 14.7m yuan ($2.1m; £1.7m), a disproportionately large sum, and has sparked fears stand-up comedy could be wiped out in the country.
Li has apologised for his comments, but could still face up to three years in prison.
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