For all that comic Ali Wong talks about intercourse onstage, her first three specials got here from a spot of inherent sexual constraint: a long-term, monogamous marriage. In “Single Lady,” her fourth, self-directed hour, all guardrails are off. Two years in the past, Wong bought divorced from her husband of almost a decade. What adopted was a carnal rumspringa Wong now narrates in the identical gleefully graphic element she as soon as utilized to the delivery of her first little one. “I really went on a tear,” the 42-year-old says, and has the anecdotes to indicate for it.
But with “Single Lady,” Wong needs to do greater than merely recount her exploits to an ecstatic crowd at L.A.’s Wiltern Theater. The stand-up needs to reframe the middle-aged divorced girl from a pathetic determine, per widespread stereotype, right into a triumphant one, with herself because the main instance. “Look how much fun I’m having,” she exhorts her viewers. Wong makes a convincing case, albeit much less in regards to the broader situation of midlife divorce than her personal extremely distinctive set of circumstances — beginning with the truth that her personal break up was nationwide information, an expertise she calls “a bat signal letting all potentially interested men know I was suddenly available.”
Those males embody, in Wong’s telling, a well-known movie director; a 25-year-old who despatched the performer her first-ever thirst entice video; a 60-year-old who screamed when he climaxed; a Japanese American drummer; and a white man who couldn’t inform a tea cup from a rice bowl. “I’m not trying to trap a man anymore,” Wong explains, nodding to the operating theme of her breakout particular, 2016’s “Baby Cobra.” Liberated from the confines of dedication, she’s free to pattern all the fashionable meat market has to supply.
“Baby Cobra” ended on an excellent reversal. For all Wong’s insistence that she simply wished a wealthy husband to take care of her, it was she who ended up paying off her partner’s scholar loans. This bait-and-switch established cash and the company it affords because the skeleton key to Wong’s physique of work, which now consists of an Emmy-winning position in “Beef” in addition to her comedy. Motherhood, Asian American id and transgressive profanity are all signature motifs, but it surely’s wealth that Wong discusses with a very distinctive degree of candor and pleasure, in “Single Lady” as in prior releases.
Wong insists that her suitors pay for the primary date. “I know that sounds crazy,” she smirks. “Because I’m a millionaire.” As such, she’s capable of fly her hookups out to L.A., inventory her home with Toto bathrooms and, most significantly, strategy relationship as a “financially independent divorced mom.” For most ladies, partnership is as a lot an financial establishment as a romantic one. For Wong, relationship is solely about her personal wishes, a mindset most of her civilian friends will view as aspirational escapism quite than a sensible mannequin.
“Don Wong,” the 2022 particular, displayed the same degree of bravado. Of all of the taboos Wong breaks, from stepping into the gory reality of breastfeeding to working blue whereas visibly pregnant, the unabashed embrace of her personal success stands out as the most difficult of all to social norms. In “Don Wong,” the place Wong opined on the secrets and techniques to a wholesome marriage, this disposition flirted with self-satisfaction. And in “Single Lady,” Wong remains to be removed from susceptible — she opens the particular by admitting the publicity round her divorce made her really feel ashamed, however she closes it by stressing that she’s greatest buddies together with her co-parent and ex. The causes for the wedding’s finish are by no means mentioned.
From her new vantage level, nevertheless, Wong’s confidence has a extra defiant forged. When she dumps a fling, she’s extra taken with mining the alternate for materials than managing her date’s emotions; when admirers bathe her with items, she has no compunctions about accepting the free swag, whether or not or not she plans to really exit with the sender. One of the particular’s few false notes is Wong’s repeated self-identification as “a kind 6,” in distinction to the 10s males her age had been after the final time she was navigating single life. To her credit score and our enjoyment, Wong is clearly neither average-looking nor particularly mild with others. One of the most effective bits of “Single Lady” sees her categorical bare condescension in direction of insecure male comedians and the youthful girls they make her babysit at varied dinner events. It’s not very sisterly of Wong to sneer at “Insta-hoes,” but it surely is a real expression of some less-than-PC emotions.
Wong’s followers already know the title of “Single Lady” is one thing of a misnomer. Since final 12 months, the comedian has been in a public relationship with Bill Hader, a relationship she alludes to all through the hour with out mentioning her new accomplice by title. (She specifies she might solely severely spend time with a divorced dad, as a result of she wants a person who comes “pre-yelled at.”) This growth offers Wong a neat ending, and permits her to border her exploration as a closed, finite chapter she will be able to synthesize into her act. Despite such broad thesis statements as “for women, 40 is the golden age — to get divorced,” although, it’s obvious Wong’s final two years had been as extraordinary as her abilities. Not all divorcées will discover themselves as sought-after as Wong did within the speedy aftermath, and virtually none will flip their saga into an account this entertaining. “Single Lady” is way from a how-to information, but it surely’s a riveting testimonial.
“Ali Wong: Single Lady” is now streaming on Netflix.
