By Nick Pilgrim
Jenny Tian is a self-made star on the rise.
In many ways the thirty-year-old reminds me of Carol Burnett, the legendary comic and actress who kick-started her career on sheer grit and willpower alone. Back in the day, Burnett used every resource available to make a name for herself. From staging revues with her roommates to working innumerable hospitality jobs under the sun in Hollywood and New York City just to survive, it takes a special kind of person to make it in this industry.
Tian’s trajectory is similar in that she resources social media platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, X and TikTok to spread her funny and unique take on Asian Australian culture. Similarly finding herself in The Big Apple (thanks to a special creatives visa), the comic reflects on numerous topics in her sixty-minute set.
In a show jam-packed packed with light and shade, Tian has that special knack for holding court with her stories and for some solid crowd work before, during and after the show, too. (It should be noted that Burnett was famous for ‘bumping up the lights’ before every episode of her decade-long television variety series, engaging with audience members who were actively encouraged to ask her anything they wanted.)
Tian covers a multitude of subjects, including:
- The quest to find a good-looking boyfriend
- Idolizing the NYC lifestyle
- Why Donald Trump would make a great drag queen
- How Manhattan pizza restaurants are the true walk of fame
- Being Asian Australian in the United States
- That Americans know nothing about us
- Phrases unique to Australian culture
- Dating potential using the Citizen’s App
- The benefits of artificial intelligence breaking up with someone
- Interpreting Asian emotions from face value alone
- Taking on a radio gig that was more challenging than she thought
- How dentists know our dating secrets
- Why massages aren’t as relaxing as they should be
- What is your special superpower
The list goes on.
Similar in tone to Tania Lacy’s: Everything’s Coming Up Roses (which I reviewed for the MICF in 2023), Tian is unafraid to venture into darker territory as well. Recapping a short but intense relationship she had with a serial narcissist, kudos to her for coming out unscathed on the other side and mining unexpected comic fodder from the experience.
Using her presence like an open mike therapy session, she laughed off the episode by adding that being single is great, and that everyone in a couple should break up and try it sometime.
This is the third show I have seen this year where audience interaction is key to the overall journey. Perhaps drawing on the likes of global icons such as Jessica Kirson and Matt Rife, Tian is a natural in that department. That she can weave what appear to be random questions and spectators’ responses into her routine with seamless ease, is a master stroke to making her material that much stronger for it.
Fresh from touring the United States in 2025, When Life Gives You Oranges showcases Tian and the comic’s observational wit for which she is known.
Playing for the duration of this year’s festival, if you’re a friend, fan or completely new to Tian’s style of delivery, her grab bag of anecdotes will surely leave you smiling.
