My Review of "Phil Wang: Philly Philly Wang Wang"

Phil Wang: Philly Philly Wang Wang is a new stand-up comedy special released exclusively on Netflix in 2021. I haven't ever heard of this guy before but the title of his comedy special got my attention real fast. It's a pretty clever way of gaining an audience's attention while still holding true to Phil Wang's brand of humor.

The special starts off as most comedy specials. A fancy intro with a crowd applauding the entrance to the comedian. I wasn't sure what kind of humor he was about to bring because here in North America he isn't yet a household name. Phil even jokes that he's got a sold out crowd albeit in a reduced capacity. Still it felt like there were a ton of people there because there were levels to this stadium. It just goes to show how much bigger he is in the UK.

He starts off with some jokes obviously directed at the pandemic. It's the big topic of conversation and I doubt any comedic standup set is going to be without it for the next few years. The topic is twisted because he goes into his own personal connection with what's going on during the pandemic.

I liked how he was able to break apart some of the changes that have happened over the past few years. There's a very intelligent concept of how our fears have changed from tangible threats to non-tangible threats. That's very true as our world is evolving more into a global village.

Unbeknownst to me Phil Wang is a mix of English and Chinese. I really liked how he flips the perpetual stereotypes we think of when we talk about being mixed or of being a minority. There are some thoughtful reflection as to who is actually the minority and who isn't.

He then flips the switch and goes deeper into his thoughts of Asians in general. In his set he's able to simplify our preconceived notion of the types of Asians there are. Much of the comedy in this portion of the show makes us laugh at ourselves because we all definitely have biases and prejudices in our heads. Phil is able to expose our thoughts without even stating the obvious.

We then go into some of the changes with the differences methods of contraception between men and women. There are some thoughtful pieces talking about duties of each of the gender roles. I do agree we do hold each gender at different levels in a variety of aspects.

In general, I agreed a lot with a lot of what Phil was saying in his stand up special. It kind of felt more like a reality check at certain moments of the show. A lot of the comedy isn't that outrageous to me because it holds very true and I see a lot of the things he talks about. He has a dry sense of humor and is able to deliver each punchline pretty well. There a bit of a bomb in one spot of the show but it's not very evident to everyone.

There is a lot of self deprecating humor and a lot of the jokes can be a bit dry. That's not to say they're bad though. You just have to be into that sort of stuff and I fortunately am. He never goes into something outrageously weird or off brand. The humor is consistent and feels very much authentic.

Overall, I enjoyed this special a lot. I didn't have any laugh out loud moments but there was a nice chuckle throughout the show. I think a lot of people will be able to enjoy his show because it's not very offensive and he delivers his lines very well. He also has some interesting subject matter to go over as well. I have to give this stand-up special a 7 out of 10. I will definitely suggest this to some of my friends.