Ali Wong: Single Lady Review 2024 Tv Show Series Cast Crew Online
The term acquired taste is often used for food or films that you don’t quite enjoy at first, but with time, they grow on you. If I have to be honest, I was not quite vibing with Ali Wong’s latest stand-up on Netflix, titled Single Lady, initially. Not that the jokes were bad or anything, but the set seems to lack a certain edge. But when it ended an hour later, I found myself completely engrossed. Clearly, this is a case of acquired taste. This is the first time I saw Wong doing comedy on stage. I was familiar with her thanks to last year’s smash-hit Netflix show Beef, where she played the lead, but Single Lady is my first tryst with stand-up comedian Wong, and I’ve got to say that it went pretty great.
The title of her show is very literal. Ali Wong herself is a single lady. She got divorced two years ago, and her stand-up mainly focuses on her post-divorce experience. And it’s mostly funny, maybe a little bit sad, and most importantly, very erotic. Wong doesn’t shy away from spilling the details regarding the eroticism part. She’s quite proud about it. After getting divorced, she jumped onto a dating app. However, a man she already knew texted her pretty soon. It turned out the guy had a crush on her already. And now that she was finally single again, he wanted to take his shot by asking her out. Sadly for the man, Ali Wong rejected that proposal. How could she not when she had paid her 250 dollars up front for the app? The temptation of trying out a whole lot of other things was always there. So Wong went to take a trip in Europe, and in each city she visited, she received bouquets of massive size from the man. When she told her female friends, they were so jealous of her for having such a man like him. But when she told her male friends about this man, they warned him because this guy has to be a psychopath. Because how can a normal human being just send flowers like that to the person they admire? Wong is subtly taking a jab at men here for categorizing something actually nice as abnormal behavior.
A certain subset of men might find Wong’s stand-up a bit too much. Because there’s a lot of male bashing in it—both the in your face kind and the kind you won’t immediately get. However, if you don’t have a fragile, masculine ego, then there shouldn’t be much of a problem for you. Most of Wong’s set is basically about her experience with various men over the past two years. There’s this guy with whom she broke up because he never used to initiate going down on her. When she finally told him that, the dude was all surprised and wanted to know why she hadn’t mentioned it before. Obviously, they expect the woman to spell out everything. Quite hilariously, the man told Wong that she was never going to find someone like him. Her response was full of sass, which said that was exactly what she was looking for—not coming across a man like him ever again. Later in the show, Wong talks about another man who would not kiss her after getting off in her mouth. Naturally, she found that extremely rude, as anyone should. She makes the joke funnier by bringing her Emmy and Golden Globe winner status quo into the equation, where she practically says that the man should have been grateful for being able to do that with Ali Wong. It’s a joke, but the woman has a fair point.
Among all her experiences, the most profoundly hilarious has to be the one where she dates a sixty-year-old. Wong has a fifteen-year up-and-down dating range, which basically means at forty years of age, she can date anyone between twenty-five and fifty-five. This man, however, lied about his age. Not that it was intentional – as he fed the wrong info into the app, and was unable to change. However, the man was quite attractive, so Wong went ahead and had a great time with him. She even goes on to say that they came at the same time, which is obviously touted as the pinnacle of the best erotic experience. However, once that was over, the man fell on top of her like a boneless blob. Given his age, Wong was scared. She compares her situation with the wobbly pieces of a Zenga tower that are about to crumble. Thankfully, the man was not dead after all, saving the comedian a whole lot of trouble. Wong goes on talking about him—about how he reminded her of King Triton from “Little Mermaid” or how he would repeat the same story again and again.
Wong then takes us to the other end of the spectrum. This twenty-five-year-old she was talking to sent her a thirst trap. She was more than happy to look at it numerous times. Obviously, they met, and she had the time of her life so many times. The funny part? The guy used to make the thirst traps in YMCA bathrooms.
I was wondering whether Wong intended to give a message or if this was just her candidly talking about her life. Both would have been pretty much okay, by the way, but before leaving the stage, she makes it clear, albeit indirectly, that she is out to tell you something. Her agenda here is to raise awareness over the stigma regarding divorce in society. She wants to let you know that there’s life after divorce; in fact, it gets better. She also happens to be best friends with her ex-husband, which pretty much bursts the age-old myth of exes not being able to stay on good terms. It promotes something healthy, like the whole set. I wouldn’t say Single Lady is extremely funny, but it’s certainly a good watch. Not all of it is supposed to be funny anyway.
