onny Chieng may or may not get cancelled. Though if he to be held at the stake of the big bad Internet, our conversation on an iridescent New York night makes me think he’ll be just fine. “A lot of my comedy is trying to make an argument to defend something that is absurdist. It’s either that or being almost belligerent and countercultural.” As we speak, Chieng is a picture of friendly insouciance, a decided departure from his stoic persona onscreen. Wearing a T-shirt and cap, our first minute together flies by in a flurried attempt to prop his phone up. It feels like I am on FaceTime with a friend, except.
