Beijing Comedy Icon Donnie Fan Talks Global Tour

By Yinmai O'Connor, April 23, 2025

There are few things more nerve-racking than performing in front of a live audience, and that’s even when you are reciting something as basic as a time-tested monologue by Shakespeare.

Imagine doing a stand-up comedy routine that you wrote yourself in front of an audience with people from around the world – being exceptionally funny in one culture is hard enough.

Donnie Fan – cofounder of the Comedy Citadel – has not only managed to entertain expats and locals in China, but has become so successful that he is about to embark on an international tour through the USA, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.

Fan and Kuwabara. Image by Yinmai O'Connor/That's

We first met Fan clutching his baby meerkat, Kuwabara, at a restaurant opening in Beijing (let's not get into how he came to raise his own Timon).

A few ‘Fan fans’ approached saying they recognized his voice from podcast clips and asked if he was Donnie Fan – we had heard of his name, but didn’t realize he had such a following that random locals could recognize his fairly standard American accent.

Fan is half-Chinese, but he is one those rare hapas whose father is the Asian one – his odd upbringing led to his sharp humor that has resulted in him being featured on Joe Wong’s ‘Comedy Without Borders’ podcast and garnering a significant online following.

Fan and Wong

The Comedy Citadel – Beijing’s only full-time English language comedy club – has also hosted some of the biggest stand up shows in Beijing, including Dawn Wong’s first stint in the capital.

With his popular comedy crew gearing up for a global television event featuring acts from England, China, France, and the US this weekend, we caught up with Fan to chat about what it’s like to be a mixed-race comedian in China, and what we can expect from the upcoming televised show.

Dawn Wong's Comedy Citadel show

How did you get into comedy?
I was working in China as a screenwriter and director, and even though all I wanted to do was very serious film work based around trauma – in my regular life, many people thought I was just a ‘funny dude.’

Then, in 2019, I was offered a chance as a comedy writer on a TV show – which I was just terrible at it.

After about four episodes, I left the show, and the pandemic happened. After that, I made it my goal to learn how to be funny – yes, it is a skill you can practice.

Once open mics started getting going again, I was trying stuff out, and I kind of hit the right note right away. It felt like the most natural thing I’ve ever done.

In your opinion, how has the comedy scene in China evolved over the last decade?
In the mid 2010s, there was definitely a local comedy scene, but most of what happened in the bigger cities seemed to run through the main comedy clubs in places such as Shanghai.

The local scene had some fun talent, but it didn't seem to be a road towards professionalism.

I think since the 2020s, there's been a stronger affinity towards local comedy that has improved a lot, and people see a real path in comedy in Beijing – both in Chinese and English.

How did your mixed heritage influence your sense of humor growing up?
Being mixed-race has always led to me feeling like I’m on the outskirts of every conversation and every group.

The good thing is that, as a youth, I was able to have my foot dipped in every social circle and could kind of act as a humor chameleon.

Are your shows more geared to expats or would locals and international audiences also understand the humor?
I think [Comedy Citadel’s] shows have tried to reach the largest group possible. A lot of times people think comedy geared towards expats is comedy for Americans, but the truth is most of our audience is international, non-native speakers.

Doing jokes about current celebrities or pop singers doesn't really do much for us. We try to do more jokes about mixed culture and personal experiences, so that it doesn't really matter where you're from – you'll be able to relate to and understand the jokes.

Do you ever feel pressure to represent your mixed background or play into stereotypes?
I don't think there's much pressure because I live independently from my family, and I don't try to make race a big part of my identity.

I think I tried to more when I was younger. I'm happy to be mixed, and I'm happy to write jokes about that, but as for playing into stereotypes, I don't think I do too much of that.

Have you ever had a joke completely bomb because it didn’t translate culturally?
There's a difference between a joke not working and a joke bombing. I think if a joke doesn't work, it's silent for a moment, but if it bombs, the room can get really uncomfortable for a while.

In comedy, we are kind of taught to ride the line of what's considered appropriate. I tried to do a joke that was a little racially motivated about me trying to be self-righteous and accused a friend of being a little racist, but then in the end, I realize that some of my assumptions actually reflected really poorly on me.

I thought the joke itself was a bit relatable, but after doing it, the room kind of got silent with people thinking "Wait is he serious?"

I finished the show on a strong note, but a group of guys came up to me after and said "Look... we thought you were awesome, but why did you do that joke?"

I’d say that joke worked 90% of the time, but for whatever reason it didn't work that day, and it was just a small part of a larger joke, so I made the decision to retire the joke.

Comedy is not supposed to hurt people, and if I have a joke that has the chance of hurting someone, then I think I should probably just come up with a better joke.

I'm happy to say it's helped me grow.

Have you run into censorship or political sensitivity issues, and how do you navigate that?
To be successful in entertainment – no matter where you are in the world – there are going to be things you need to adjust and adapt to.

We aren't trying to rock the boat, so for the comics we feature in our shows, we just try to maintain the laws of whichever country we perform in.

Nico TooMuch – the other co-owner of the Comedy Citadel

Any advice for someone trying to break into China’s comedy scene?
You must put yourself out there and be willing to join the grind – be at every open mic, seek advice from friends, join workshops, start workshops, and put yourself around people who are doing the same thing.

People used to compliment me by saying "Yeah… he hustles." I kind of find this a bit annoying – although, I know it's considered a nice thing.

Hustling is one thing; another thing is looking at your own material and being honest with yourself. Can this be better? Can I improve? Can I change this beat or this word and improve the jokes?

What can we expect from the upcoming ‘Where Are You From’ show?
We have eight comics from around the world. It's amazing. We are so lucky to have the opportunity to film this show.

You can expect different styles, different jokes. different backgrounds and different expectations. We are all there to make you laugh.