Ronny Chieng
钱信伊
Chieng in 2018
Born	Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Citizenship	Malaysian(until 2025) American(since 2025)
Education	Pioneer Secondary School Pioneer Junior College
Alma mater	University of Melbourne (BCom,LLB) Australian National University (LPC)
Occupations	Comedian actor
Years active	2009–present
Spouse	Hannah Pham ​ ​ (m. 2016)​
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	钱信伊
Traditional Chinese	錢信伊
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Qián Xìnyī Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Cin4 Seon3 Ji1 Southern Min HokkienPOJ Chîⁿ Sìn-i
Website	ronnychieng.com
Signature

Ronny Xin Yi Chieng (Chinese:钱信伊;pinyin:Qián Xìnyī) is a Malaysian-born American^[1] comedian and actor based in theUnited States. He is a senior correspondent onComedy Central'sThe Daily Show, and he created and starred in theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation sitcomRonny Chieng: International Student. He has also appeared in films such asCrazy Rich Asians and the English version ofInspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow.

Chieng was born into aMalaysian Chinese^[2] family inJohor Bahru.^[3] He does not celebrate his birthday and prefers to keep his date of birth private.^[4][a] He grew up in bothSingapore and the United States, living inManchester, New Hampshire from 1989 to 1994.^[5][6]

In his youth, he was a SingaporeSea Scout of theSingapore Scout Association.^[7] When he lived in Johor Bahru, Chieng commuted to Fuchun Primary School inWoodlands, Singapore.^[7] He subsequently attendedPioneer Secondary School andPioneer Junior College inJurong, Singapore.^[8]

Thereafter, he attended theUniversity of Melbourne in Australia, living atTrinity College and graduating in 2010 with aBachelor of Commerce degree and aBachelor of Laws degree.^[9] He also obtained aGraduate Diploma in Legal Practice from theAustralian National University in 2012.^{[10][failed verification]}

In 2012 Chieng, alongsideMatt Okine, won best newcomer at theMelbourne International Comedy Festival for his showThe Ron Way.^[11]

Chieng performed withTrevor Noah in 2013 at theJust for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal.^[12][13] In 2015, he was asked to audition for the correspondent role onThe Daily Show, which Noah hosted from 2015 to 2022.^[12] In July 2016, he was named one of 10 Comics to Watch byVariety.^[14] Three months later, he had a segment onThe Daily Show in which he gave an expletive-laden criticism of aJesse Watters clip onFox News deemed by many as racist. He also revisitedNew York City'sChinatown neighborhood, where Watters had mocked residents, and conducted more respectful interviews inMandarin andCantonese.^[15] The video went viral and received coverage inThe Washington Post and onSlate.^[16][17]

In 2017, Chieng began co-writing and starring in the sitcomRonny Chieng: International Student, based on his own experience as a Malaysian student in Australia.^[18] It was developed for Comedy Central in America andABC TV in Australia.^[2][19] In 2018, he made his film debut inCrazy Rich Asians, as Eddie Cheng, an obnoxious banker.^[20][21]

In 2019, his first stand-up special with Netflix,Asian Comedian Destroys America!, was released,^[21][22] directed by hisDaily Show collaborator Sebastian DiNatale.^[23] In early 2021, Chieng signed a deal with Netflix for two additional stand-up specials and a "docu-comedy."^[24] He also appeared as the original character Jon Jon in theMarvel Studios filmShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,^[25][26] and it was announced that Chieng and DiNatale will co-write a martial arts action-comedy film for Sony.^[23]

The new "docu-comedy", titledRonny Chieng Takes Chinatown, was released in 2022 and co-stars YouTuberDavid Fung, with guest appearances from fellowShang-Chi actorSimu Liu and professional NBA playerJeremy Lin.^[27] Chieng's second Netflix special,Speakeasy, was released on 5 April 2022.^[28][29]

In October 2022, Chieng commented onRishi Sunak becoming Britain's first Asian Prime Minister during aDaily Show segment. He said, “I know everyone is excited that this is the first Asian prime minister, but let’s be clear: Indians are not Asians, OK? They’re still people — great people — just not Asian people.” Many internetnetizens have criticized the joke, particularly Indians.^[30][31]

In July 2024,Honolulu mayorRick Blangiardi signed a proclamation that 27 July will be known as Ronny Chieng Day for his contributions to the entertainment industry, during Chieng's stay inHonolulu for hisThe Love to Hate It tour.^[32]

In November 2024, Chieng was featured in the lineup forComics Come Home 28 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.^[33]

Chieng has lived inNew York City since moving to the U.S. in 2015.^[34] He is married to Hannah Pham.^[35] The couple met and began dating while studying commerce and law at theUniversity of Melbourne. Pham later obtained a master's degree in law atNew York University and worked as an attorney in the United States.^[36] Although Chieng lived in Australia for a decade, he does not have citizenship or permanent residency status there.^[37][38] In April 2025, Chieng became aUnited States citizen.^[39]

He practicesBrazilian jiujitsu and holds the rank ofblue belt.^[40][7]

Chieng is an avid collector of watches, an interest that first began with aSeiko 5 that he purchased during his university years in Australia. His watch collection was featured on an episode of theHodinkee seriesTalking Watches and includes a rare variant of the Seiko Chronograph Ref. 6139-6010 and a vintageGMT-Master Ref. 16753 "Root Beer".^[41] Another of his watches, a two-tone Rolex dated to 1984 that he inherited from his late father, appeared on an episode ofAntiques Roadshow and was valued at $5,000.^[3]

• Official website
• Ronny Chieng atIMDb

• 21st-century Malaysian male actors
• Australian National University alumni
• Comedians from New Hampshire
• Living people
• Malaysian comedians
• Malaysian emigrants to Australia
• Malaysian emigrants to the United States
• Malaysian male film actors
• Malaysian male television actors
• Malaysian people of Chinese descent
• Malaysian stand-up comedians
• Male actors from Manchester, New Hampshire
• People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne)
• People who lost Malaysian citizenship
• People from Johor Bahru
• People from Singapore
• Primetime Emmy Award winners
• Singaporean comedians
• Late night television talk show hosts

• CS1 Simplified Chinese-language sources (zh-hans)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Malaysian English from September 2021
• All Wikipedia articles written in Malaysian English
• Use dmy dates from December 2023
• Articles containing Chinese-language text
• Biography with signature
• Articles with hCards
• Articles containing simplified Chinese-language text
• All articles with failed verification
• Articles with failed verification from September 2024
• Year of birth missing (living people)