Archives for June 2023

Top Image: YouTube screengrab / Jocelyn Chia Comedy

The joke is now on Singapore-born comedian Jocelyn Chia. If there were any jokes to begin with. 

The comedian has come under fire for poking fun at Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which vanished in the Indian Ocean with 227 passengers and 12 crew aboard in 2014. Reproducing her particular joke here would be in poor taste.

Jocelyn, a naturalised American citizen, thought she was paying homage to her Singaporean heritage by stoking the rivalry between Singapore and Malaysia. Instead, she was simply insulting Malaysians in the audience under the guise of comedy. 

Except for the fact that no comedy was found.  

The joke only roused uncomfortable laughter from audience members praying for an end to her spiel about a tragedy. TikTok has since removed the video of the offensive joke.  

Of course, fearless and edgy comedian Jocelyn, who describes her comedy as “impatient, brash, and fast-paced”, has kept surprisingly silent about the backlash. 

The performer is whisper-quiet on the apology front. Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan has taken matters into his own hands, condemning and apologising for her statements.

It’s odd for a Foreign Minister of one country to apologise on behalf of the actions of a private citizen of another. And yet, Minister Balakrishnan’s apology made sense, given that Jocelyn implied Singaporeans would have loved the joke. 

“This joke kills in Singapore,” she says with a smirk. Perhaps the only thing that gets killed in Singapore is the vibe.  

You are forgiven for mistaking Jocelyn for a fledgling stand-up comedian learning how to toe the line between being funny and offensive. Unfortunately, Jocelyn’s website reports that Jocelyn was ranked as one of Singapore’s “best stand-up comedians”. 

When we clicked on the link to that particular listicle, we were redirected to another page. The article with the ranking could not be found. Do what you will with that information.

Curiosities were piqued when we found out that she was labelled a shining star in the local stand-up comedy scene; an impressive achievement for someone trying to make it as an American comic. Plus, it’s not easy being a regular at Comedy Cellar in Manhattan, a revered stage where Chris Rock, Jon Stewart and Aziz Ansari got their start. Let’s study her brand of comedy. 

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Dominating Men in Bed 

Rating: 4/10 

A woman talking about her day as some kind of torture is an overused trope. If you see the punchline coming from miles away, is it really a punchline?

Why Liberals Can’t Fight 

Rating: 1/10 

The joke is that she’d prefer people who were present at the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol to fight wars for the country, picking on the political divide between liberals and conservatives. As far as political satire goes, it’s alright at best.

The joke gets overshadowed by five unbearable seconds of shouting “MURICA” into the mic. I was more concerned that she had a lot of phlegm that night.  

Yes, a Joke About Abortion

Rating: 1/10 

She should really have aborted this joke. 

Audience Member Comes Too Soon

Rating: 6/10  

This probably didn’t happen to her. Nevertheless, we’ll give credit where it’s due. The set-up and payoff about her mother-in-law criticising her fellation abilities was the funniest joke we’ve seen from her so far. Still, more misses than hits. 

‘I want a Bad Asian Boy‘

Rating: 4/10 

I chuckled in the first half of the video, even though my judgement had already been clouded by what I knew about her. When she inhibited the spirit animal of, what I can only assume to be a thirsty spinster, the character came off forced and unnatural.  

Chuckles turned into cringe when she went far too long about her longing for “bad Asian boys”. 

I don’t know much about “bad Asian boys”, but I suppose they’re probably turned away by badly delivered jokes. No matter how much you put yourself out there.

On Malaysia 

Rating: 0/10 

Tirades about Malaysians and Malaysia by Singaporeans (and vice versa) are tired bits as it is. Comedy can generally be offensive, but she seemed like she was projecting deep-seated, unresolved issues with Malaysia onto the audience, who must have committed so grave a sin in their past life that they found themselves in her audience as retribution.

In an interview with Her World that aged terribly, Jocelyn claims while interning as a journalist at companies like Straits Times and 8days, her first op-ed was about “How political correctness clamped down on free speech”. How apt.

People, and even Jocelyn herself, might ask why jokes about 9/11 seem more socially acceptable than ones about MH370. 

But it’s really about intent. Sascha Cohen, in an article for The Atlantic, writes that jokes about tragedies rarely make fun of the event. They’re more about how people respond to the tragedy. It’s a mechanism to wrestle a sense of normalcy from abnormal situations. 

Jocelyn, on the other hand, misses the point. By making fun of the event itself, she seizes a low-hanging fruit and punches down for the sake of punching down. Contrary to what Jocelyn might believe, being a comedian doesn’t give you the licence to disguise offensive statements as comedy. 

Comics want the freedom to say whatever they like as long as it’s funny. But when the laughs aren’t found, they’re just being cringe. 

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TREBLE-winner Jack Grealish got so smashed on a three-day celebration bender he had to be held up by party-loving teammate Kyle Walker.

The Man City pair were heading to Ibiza airport where wrecked Grealish, 27, was offered a wheelchair.

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Jack Grealish got so smashed he had to be held up by party-loving teammate Kyle Walker[/caption]

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Back in Manchester with Bernardo Silva at 4pm on Sunday[/caption]

The squad spent 12 hours on the island after Saturday’s Istanbul booze-up.

Tonight they held their victory bus parade in Manchester.

The £100million winger downed bubbly at the open-top bus parade in Manchester.

The non-stop celebrations began with a monster booze-up in Istanbul after City won the Champions League on Saturday.

The heroes briefly returned to Manchester before most flew off again at 8.30pm on Sunday on a Titan Airways Airbus A321.

In scenes right out of the Hangover movies, they landed at 11.59pm and headed to megaclub Pacha until sunrise.

Jack shared much of his celebrations on his socials.

Yesterday it looked like the partying had caught up with him when he emerged from the team hotel at 10am.

He hid bleary eyes under shades and a hoodie while supported by Kyle Walker, whose own boozy antics have included exposing himself in a bar.

An onlooker said: “Jack’s teammates were holding him up and managed to get him to the bus. When they got to the airport, staff saw he was struggling to walk and brought a wheelchair. They offered him the chair as transport to the plane.

“But he managed to walk up the steps himself. All his mates seemed to be finding it pretty funny. I think Jack will once he’s had some sleep.”

City’s England stars John Stones, Phil Foden, Walker and Kalvin Phillips also flew to the island.

Others on the trip included Erling Haaland, Nathan Ake, Rúben Dias, Rodri, Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva and Manuel Akanji.

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Jack changes kit for the Ibiza all-nighter, pictured on Monday at 12.30am[/caption]

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Grealish in full-on party mode with England pal Phil Foden on Monday at 1.30am[/caption]

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Jack and the team on a tram before their bus parade at 6.50pm on Monday[/caption]

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The star is pictured drenched in bubbly and shouting for joy at 7pm on Monday[/caption]

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Grealish pours more bubbly booze down his throat[/caption]

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Sup for cup Jack on the team bus[/caption]

Club captain Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin de Bruyne and Stefan Ortega stayed in Manchester and took their Wags for a celebratory meal at Tattu restaurant.

The Ibiza group were bussed to the 415-room Ushuaia Hotel after midnight.

They dined at Tatel, where a green salad costs £25, before departing for Pacha at 2.30am.

Swaying Jack was seen in pale-blue designer shirt and £3,000 Gucci leather trousers.

Players partied until 6.30am then returned to their hotel.

They arrived in Manchester at 1pm yesterday, ahead of the 6.30pm open-top bus parade.

Rejuvenated Jack was among players seen on a tram.

The threat of storms delayed the start before fans celebrated winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.