Chinese Burn: the new BBC comedy aiming to smash East Asian stereotypes For anyone frustrated with the lack of authentic Asian characters on screen, new BBC comedy Chinese Burn might be the […]

For anyone frustrated with the lack of authentic Asian characters on screen, new BBC comedy Chinese Burn might be the perfect remedy.

Plagued by endless casting calls for ‘model minority’ roles and takeaway workers, Yennis Cheung and Shin-Fei Chen decided to craft a no-holds barred show depicting the lives of three East Asian women living in London.

The pilot episode appears online today as part of BBC Three’s Comedy Slice initiative. Cheung and Chen tell i that they met at an audition five years ago.

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“I changed into a little red dress and came out the toilet thinking I looked fabulous,” explains Chen.

Yennis looked at me and said: ‘Oi, your dress’ and pointed to me that my dress was tucked into my granny panties. From the get-go she’s had my back.”

A friendship that informs the show

Chinese Burn’s three lead characters are Cheung’s fierce aspiring actress Jackie, Chen’s rebellious, self-destructing Elizabeth and mega-rich, ethereal Fufu.

The trio are partly based on Chen, Cheung and their friends.

Chen says: “We have quite crude humour sometimes. We talk about poo (“and periods,” Cheung interjects) – anything.

“The thing is we kind of ‘get it’ – we’re from very similar cultural backgrounds. We both lived in the East before, Yennis in Hong Kong and myself in Taiwan.”

Chen later studied in Cardiff before relocating to London, where Cheung has lived since 2007.

“We’re very rooted in our East Asian culture and language, but we also are quite quote-unquote ‘Westernised’,” Chen explains. “We like the liberties we have in the UK and the US.”

“The first thing our mum would say is ‘you got fat’. That’s funny from a Western perspective”

‘A blend of British and Hong Kong comedy’

While they’re fans of Peep Show, W1A and Absolutely Fabulous, Chen notes that they also get a lot of ideas from Hong Kong slapstick, including films such as Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle.

“Our comedy is a blend of this very British, awkward style and this [Hong Kong] physical comedy.”

The popularity of slapstick star Jackie Chan – not to mention an eagerly awaited reboot of Takeshi’s Castle – prove that British audiences certainly have an appetite for Eastern entertainment.

Something largely untapped by British show-runners.

Chen explains how they use this blend of humour to maximum comedic effect in Chinese Burn.

“In East Asia, people are absolutely blunt, but from a Western perspective we find that really funny.

“For example, when we see our mum, the first thing our mum would say is ‘you got fat’. Now that’s funny from a Western perspective. That’s just hilarious and we want to see some of that bluntness. It’s truthful but it’s also funny.”

‘You can use comedy to smash stereotypes more than drama’

The writers hope to bring some authenticity to the way that East Asian characters are portrayed on TV.

“We wanted to show people, ‘this is the modern Chinese girl’,” Cheung explains. “That’s how we live in London. We wanted to write a show that is modern.

“We’re not locked in the DVD seller, the ‘tiger mum’ or the Chinese prostitute/illegal immigrant. [That] era should be done and dusted, we should move on.”

The pair are mindful however that when avoiding old stereotypes, it can be easy to inadvertently create new ones.

For example, Chinese Burn’s three protagonists continually fight off the advances of well-groomed Asian men, while Cheung’s character Elizabeth has a ‘white fetish’.

They believe that comedy is the ideal genre for addressing such issues.

“You can use comedy to smash stereotypes more than drama, because you can make fun of the situation at hand,” explains Chen.

“You’ll have to bring it up but there’s always clever ways of letting people know that these are stereotypes and this is what we’re going against, and it’s an easier pill to swallow with laughter.”

Chen cites Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Ali Wong as good examples of comedians who use laughter to tackle tough subjects.

“They’re not afraid to confront issues but they do it with such a witty sense of humour that people get their message.”

Cheung also points out that stereotypes are a natural social response.

“I just got my psychology degree and I can understand that stereotyping is inevitable in human nature, so when we joke about these things it’s not about hating on stereotyping. We find it funny and we can laugh about it.”

The pair hope that, above all, Chinese Burn will represent the modern female experience.

“In a lot of East Asian comedy the female is always the perfect wife, the perfect daughter, the perfect mother”

The importance of ‘flawed’ characters

Cheung believes that Asian audiences will be “curious” to see a realistic depiction of life in London.

“They will understand the parent perspective – the last generation giving us a lot of pressure, trying to guilt-trip us into doing certain things,” she explains. “Even though we’re away from home we still have that sort of guilt.”

According to Chen, it’s not just Western entertainment that needs a shake-up.

“I think they’ll appreciate it as being a breath of fresh air, because a lot of the shows in East Asia are quite formulaic in their own way. A lot of things centre around male leads and the female acts as a function to the male story lines.

“We bring the perspective that we don’t necessarily have to be perfect. In a lot of East Asian comedy the female is always the perfect wife, the perfect daughter, the perfect mother. We’re portraying that, you know what – you can be flawed and still be a good human being.”

Chinese Burn is now available to watch on iPlayer.