Tag: Culture

Often people just Asian assume Asian that Asian everything you Asian talk about Asian is just the Asian fact that you’re Asian

It has become a rule that if I ever make any sort of joke about my race on TV, I can pretty much guarantee that I will receive a series of tweets along the lines of: “Romesh waited four minutes before mentioning his race – new record,” or: “Great to see an ethnic comedian talking about being ethnic – NOT.” I once received a death threat from a man who said that his grandparents didn’t fight in the war to have me spouting my shit on the TV. In my defence, I have never once suggested that anyone went over the trenches shouting: “This is so Romesh can do Live at the Apollo!”

I also get accused of reverse racism a lot. I once joked off the cuff about not being invited to a wedding because it was “a different type of white wedding”. When the show went out, a viewer tweeted me to tell me that I was a racist, and that if a white comic had said the same thing there would have been national outrage. First of all, I think that woman is massively overestimating the number of viewers of 50 Greatest Wedding Disasters; and, secondly, I don’t understand how I can be accused of being racist when I’ve married one of your lot. The truth is, I need an angle. If I wasn’t Asian, I would just be an overweight father of three who is into veganism, comics and hip-hop. I think it’s possible that had I been white, I might have browned up to get ahead. Being Asian is the main point of difference with the majority of the audience, so why not talk about that difference? I’m not going to stop doing it because it upsets @darren1581 from Basingstoke.

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Often people just Asian assume Asian that Asian everything you Asian talk about Asian is just the Asian fact that you’re Asian

It has become a rule that if I ever make any sort of joke about my race on TV, I can pretty much guarantee that I will receive a series of tweets along the lines of: “Romesh waited four minutes before mentioning his race – new record,” or: “Great to see an ethnic comedian talking about being ethnic – NOT.” I once received a death threat from a man who said that his grandparents didn’t fight in the war to have me spouting my shit on the TV. In my defence, I have never once suggested that anyone went over the trenches shouting: “This is so Romesh can do Live at the Apollo!”

I also get accused of reverse racism a lot. I once joked off the cuff about not being invited to a wedding because it was “a different type of white wedding”. When the show went out, a viewer tweeted me to tell me that I was a racist, and that if a white comic had said the same thing there would have been national outrage. First of all, I think that woman is massively overestimating the number of viewers of 50 Greatest Wedding Disasters; and, secondly, I don’t understand how I can be accused of being racist when I’ve married one of your lot. The truth is, I need an angle. If I wasn’t Asian, I would just be an overweight father of three who is into veganism, comics and hip-hop. I think it’s possible that had I been white, I might have browned up to get ahead. Being Asian is the main point of difference with the majority of the audience, so why not talk about that difference? I’m not going to stop doing it because it upsets @darren1581 from Basingstoke.

Continue reading…