Peter Chao | |
---|---|
Born | Davin Tong May 8, 1987 Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada |
Alma mater | Vancouver Film School |
Occupation | YouTube personality |
Years active | 2009-present |
Spouse | Chelsea McGeachy (2013-present) |
Website | www |
Davin Tong, better known by his alias Peter Chao (born 1987), is a Canadian actor, [1] comedic vlogger, and YouTube personality known for his unconventional portrayals of Asian stereotypes, which alongside other politically incorrect videos have drawn mixed criticism from several sources. Born and raised in New Brunswick, Canada, Tong is the second son of "Chinese immigrants", while his character Chao was born and raised in Hong Kong. Tong is bilingual, speaking both fluent English and Cantonese.
Davin Tong [2] was born and raised in New Brunswick, Canada, the second son of "Chinese immigrants". [3] He produced an early version of Paper Trail, a minute-long short film pertaining to a neighbor caught stealing newspapers, with director Travis Grant. The film caught the Vancouver Film School's attention and it subsequently issued scholarships to them. [4] Tong graduated in 2008. [5]
Tong realised his flair for vlogging when one of his first YouTube uploads, about a Chinese restaurant run by Indians, garnered around 15,000 views. [6] Under the username pyrobooby, [7] [8] Tong adopted the guise of "Chinese Guy", [9] and later Peter Chao. Tong described the character as born and raised in Hong Kong, [10] and "a zany Chinese immigrant forced into Canada by his prostitute mother. Instead of listening to his mother to go to school, he decided to pursue comedy on YouTube." [2]
Tong's character Chao has drawn mixed reception, often being mistaken as a real person. As a result for posting racist content, the account had been previously suspended [9] for a period of fourteen days after showing a video deemed to mock African-Americans. [10] Gabriella Nomura of The Vancouver Sun has branded Chao as "a breath of politically incorrect fresh air", [2] while Kevin Tang of Amped Asia has called him "racist, sexist, vulgar, and self-deprecating" but also "one of the most funny Youtube celebrities". [7] However, viewership has been positive. The "Canton Style" music video – a parody of Korean singer-rapper Psy's "Gangnam Style" [11] – amassed 1.1 million views within three days of its uploading. [12] His videos are, as of 2011, the number one and two most watched in Canada. [13] Tong has said, in response to audience comments that his performances are "racist", that everything is "done for comedy. I'm not really racist against anybody. I take stereotypes and I make them outlandish so everybody can laugh." [6]
Chao is seen in almost every video as sporting a pair of sunglasses a habit which kindled viewer interest. [14] Tong attributes the sunglasses as contributing to Chao's "cool factor". In the videos, Chao puts on a "thick, over-the-top Cantonese" [15] and "fresh-off-the-boat" accent. [16] Chao also parodies popular songs, such as the Justin Bieber hits "As Long as You Love Me" and "Boyfriend", as well as criticizing and poking fun at other people, usually with profane language. Fans of Chao are referred to as "Chao Nation". [9] Beth Hong of The Vancouver Observer writes that Chao is an example of a "FOB" or a "Honger". Tong – speaking in character – refutes this, stating that "a FOB is a fresh-off-the-boat immigrant that come [ sic ] all the way from China to study in North America. Don't look at me, I'm not a FOB. I'm Peter Chao. FOBs can't speak a lick of English." [15]
He performed a stand-up comedy set in the 2022 Canadian series Comedy Invasion . [17]
Chao has appeared frequently in Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling beginning July 6, 2013 in Port Coquitlam, B.C. where Colt Cabana taught him a few things about wrestling. He was a part of ECCW Ballroom Brawl at the Commodore Ballroom in January 2014, the largest attendance for independent wrestling in Vancouver in the last 25 years.
Year | Title | Record label | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | "Harry" | Pyrobooby Records | Lyrics by Peter Chao, parody of Justin Bieber's "Baby". |
2011 | "Asian and I Know It" | Peter Chao | Directed by IFHT and produced by JGrammBeats, parody of LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It". |
"Mudabitch" | Peter Chao | Directed by IFHT & Van Dinh, produced by Gentleman Vibe, parody of Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend". | |
"Mudafucka" | Pyrobooby Records | Written and produced by Peter Chao. | |
"Fuck Christmas" | Gentleman's Vibe | Directed by IFHT, vocals by Gentlemen's Vibe. | |
2012 | "As Rong As You Ruv Me" | Peter Chao | Directed by Van Dinh and produced by Gentleman's Vibe, parody of Justin Bieber's "As Long as You Love Me". |
"Canton Style" | Peter Chao | Directed by Matt Dennison and produced by Justin Villarosa, parody of Psy's "Gangnam Style". | |
2013 | "Poop and Fart" | Peter Chao | Written and produced by Peter Chao, parody of will.i.am's "Scream & Shout". |
"Canton Style" | Peter Chao | Directed by Matt Dennison and produced by Justin Villarosa, parody of Psy's "Gangnam Style". | |
"Douche" | Peter Chao | Written and produced by Peter Chao, parody of Taylor Swift's "22 (Taylor Swift song)". | |
"White Man Food" | Peter Chao | Written and produced by Peter Chao. |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | Campbell's Soup [18] | SOC | North America, 2012 |
2013 | Pizza Hut [18] | Principal | North America, 2013 |
Vote 2013 PSA [18] | Principal | BC Regional, 2013 | |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | The Plastic Protocol (short film) [18] | Yu Wong | Directed by Peter Brown. |
Paper Trail [18] | Hitman | Directed by Travis Grant and Tong. | |
Therapy (short film) [18] | Man | Directed by Lisa Newell. | |
2012 | Grave Encounters 2 [18] | Himself | Directed by John Poliquin. |
2013 | The Hangover Part III [18] | Himself - Chao's son (uncredited) | Directed by Todd Phillips. |
Jackhammer [18] | Hammer's dream nemesis | Directed by Michael Hanus. | |
2014 | A Fairly Odd Summer [18] | Researcher | Directed by Savage Steve Holland. |
Year | Title | Role | Theatre/Stage |
---|---|---|---|
2011 | Parlor Live! Club [19] | Headliner | Parlor Live! Club, Bellevue, Washington |
Peter Chao and Friends [18] | Headliner | Punch Line Comedy Club, Bellingham, Washington | |
Peter Chao and Friends [20] | Headliner | Punch Line Comedy Club, San Francisco | |
2013 | I'm Not Racist [21] | Headliner | Revue Stage, Vancouver |
2014 | Peter Chao's Asian Domination Tour [22] | Headliner | National University of Singapore, Singapore |
Ching chong and ching chang chong are ethnic slurs used to mock or imitate the Chinese language, people of Chinese ancestry, or other people of East Asian descent perceived to be Chinese. The term is a derogatory imitation of Mandarin and Cantonese phonology. The phrases have sometimes accompanied assaults or physical intimidation of East Asians, as have other racial slurs or imitation Chinese.
Timothy Richard Heidecker is an American comedian, writer, director, actor, and musician. Along with Eric Wareheim, he is a member of the comedy duo Tim & Eric.
Russell Dominic Peters is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, and producer. He began performing in Toronto in 1989 and won a Gemini Award in 2008. In 2013, he was number three on Forbes' list of the world's highest-paid comedians, and became the first comedian to get a Netflix stand-up special. He also won the Peabody Award and the International Emmy Award for Best Arts Programming for producing Hip-Hop Evolution (2016). He lives in Los Angeles.
A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email. For a video to be shareable or spreadable, it must focus on the social logics and cultural practices that have enabled and popularized these new platforms.
Taran Hourie Killam is an American actor and comedian. Killam first garnered attention for his brief stint on the Fox comedy series MADtv during its seventh season between 2001 and 2002, followed by his wider success as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2010 to 2016. He has also appeared in other television series such as Wild ‘N Out, The Amanda Show, How I Met Your Mother, New Girl, and in the main cast of Single Parents. Killam is also known for his portrayal of a teen pop star in the 2004 Disney Channel Original Movie Stuck in the Suburbs. He voiced the title character on the PBS children's cartoon series Nature Cat.
Taiwanese Canadians are Canadians who carry full or partial ancestry from the East Asian country of Taiwan. There are over one hundred thousand Taiwanese who have gained citizenship or permanent residency status in Canada.
Nathan Joseph Fielder is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director, and producer. He is known for his awkward persona and involvement in works that blur reality and fiction. His accolades include an Independent Spirit Award and a WGA Award, as well as a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award. In 2023, he was featured on Time's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Rucka Rucka Ali is an Israeli-American rapper, singer, radio personality, comedian, YouTuber, and parodist. He is best known for his dark humor, political and topical song parodies on YouTube. Much of his content pokes fun at ethnic, racial, and religious stereotypes. As of February 2022, he has amassed 331 million views and 1.759 million subscribers on his music channel on YouTube. He has released eight independent studio albums, four of which have charted in the Billboard Top Comedy Albums.
Reginald Dennis Odell II is a writer, actor, comedic impersonator and look-alike of former U.S. President Barack Obama.
Park Jae-sang, known professionally as Psy, is a South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter. Known for his humorous music videos and performances, he has received numerous accolades, including an American Music Award, ten MAMA Awards, and a World Music Award.
"Gangnam Style" is a K-pop song by South Korean rapper Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, Psy 6, Part 1. The term "Gangnam Style" is a neologism that refers to the nouveau riche lifestyles associated with the Gangnam region of Seoul.
"Gangnam Style" is a single released by South Korean rapper Psy on July 15, 2012. It achieved widespread international recognition and became the most viewed YouTube video, becoming the first video to gain a billion views on December 21, 2012. "Gangnam Style"'s unprecedented worldwide popularity was acknowledged by YouTube, who called it a "massive" hit at a global level "unlike anything we've ever seen before" while Billboard noted that "Gangnam Style" was nothing short of a pop culture phenomenon. As a result, it has influenced worldwide popular culture in many aspects.
Gangnam for Freedom is a 2012 video clip produced by the British sculptor Anish Kapoor. It is a parody of the international K-pop hit single "Gangnam Style", and it was created to advocate the freedom of expression as well as to support the Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei, whose parody of "Gangnam Style" was blocked by Chinese authorities immediately after it was uploaded. The video features appearances by the staff of numerous contemporary art museums as well as human rights activists from Liberty, Index on Censorship, The Helen Bamber Foundation, and Amnesty International.
"The Fox " is an electronic dance novelty song and viral video by Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis. The top trending video of 2013 on YouTube, "The Fox" was posted on the platform on 3 September 2013, and has received over 1 billion views as of November 2023. "The Fox" peaked at the top of the Norwegian Singles Chart and was successful in the United States, where it peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks, and was, before the U.S. release of "Am I Wrong" by Nico & Vinz, the highest-ranked song by a Norwegian artist on the chart since A-ha's number-one song "Take On Me" in 1985.
A YouTube poop (YTP) is a type of video mashup or edit created by remixing/editing pre-existing media sources, often carrying subcultural significance into a new video for humorous, satirical, obscene, absurd, profane, annoying, confusing, and/or dramatic purposes. YouTube poops are traditionally uploaded to the video sharing website YouTube, hence the name.
"Gangnam Style" is the music video by South Korean rapper and singer Psy premiered on July 15, 2012, on the video-sharing website YouTube and was later made available to download digitally on October 19. It was directed by Cho Soo-hyun and was filmed in Seoul in July 2012 over the course of 48 hours. In the video, Psy "pokes fun at the style of Seoul's Gangnam District, a flashy district known for its affluence, high rents, high expectations and a focus on the high-status lifestyle". The video is currently the tenth most-viewed video and the eleventh most-liked video on YouTube, as well as the 19th most-disliked. On December 21, 2012, the music video set a record for the first video to surpass 1 billion views on the platform. It subsequently surpassed 2 billion, 3 billion and 4 billion views in June 2014, November 2017 and March 2021, respectively.
Beating a Dead Horse is the debut studio album by YouTube comedian Jarrod Alonge, self-released on May 26, 2015. The album features seven different fictitious bands created by Alonge to satirize the tropes and characteristics of alternative music genres such as metalcore, post-hardcore, pop punk, emo, progressive metal, hardcore punk and others.
Nigel Ng Kin-ju is a Malaysian comedian and YouTuber. He is best known for co-creating and portraying Uncle Roger, a character representing a middle-aged Asian uncle with an exaggerated Cantonese accent who is usually seen aggressively critiquing people's attempts at cooking Asian food.