Founder of Shanghai\x26#39;s first female comedy club
By Ned Kelly
Moving to Shanghai, she left behind a stable career as an English teacher to pursue a life of laughter, eventually founding Herlarious, a female-focused comedy club breaking barriers in China's stand-up scene.
Now a mother, performer, and club owner, Li Ying juggles parenting and punchlines—often literally, with her baby in tow at gigs.
We caught up with her to talk village life, sexism in the scene, and why comedy is the ultimate tool for resilience.
Li Ying bringing the laughs on stage
First up, what was it like growing up on a farm in Jilin?
Growing up on a farm in the late 80s and 90s was a very chill and laidback experience. We were sorta isolated and self-sufficient, with very little technology, but people were simple, friendly, and everyone was somehow related.
We grew up believing in hard work and resilience: If you don't sow, you don't harvest. Working hard on the farm shaped who I am today—very hands-on and practical.
I don't have an ayi to help with my baby because I genuinely enjoy doing things around the house. Cooking and cleaning are like second nature to me, a way to sort out my mind.
The village always came together—weddings, funerals, helping with harvests, or slaughtering an animal for the New Year. There was a real sense of community.
I could go on and on about village life. It always makes me feel nostalgic.
Li Ying back visiting her grandparents on the farm
When did you first realize you wanted to be a comedian?
In 2018, when I watched a show at Crack House, a comedy club in Kuala Lumpur. The headliner was Ron Josol. He killed.
One of the openers was a comic who was based in Shanghai. I talked to him after the show and he said I should check out Kungfu Comedy when I visited Shanghai.
And you moved to Shanghai the next year...
Yeah—except by then, Kungfu Comedy was gone!
Luckily, the comic I'd met in Kuala Lumpur was running an open mic, so I went to that and discovered another club, Comedy Bunker. Three days after arriving in the city, I did my first Shanghai open mic.
From there, I just kept going—open mic after open mic. About a year and a half later, I started landing weekend shows.
I became more and more fascinated with comedy, quitting my full-time job as an international school English teacher to freelance instead.
That freedom allowed me to run my own shows and travel to perform in different cities.
Li Ying winning the English Standup New Faces Competition in 2021
What were your first impressions of the Shanghai comedy scene?
When I started doing comedy in 2019, the scene was very male dominated. White male dominated.
There were only a few girls in the mix, and whenever a new girl tried an open mic, some of the guys—not all, but enough—would be like, "How long do you think she'll last?" or "Who's gonna sleep with her?"
That was the vibe.
At my second open mic, after my set, a middle-aged white guy came up to me and said, "Shy girl talking about being bad at sex, huh? You know, I could make you funny."
I was disgusted. Right then, I decided: I wasn't going to date any comics. Instead, I'd focus on getting better at comedy myself.
I refused to let anyone think, "Oh, he writes her jokes."
How did Herlarious Comedy Club come to be?
In 2020, I took over an open mic previously run by a comic who returned to New York. When COVID hit Shanghai hard, we moved our shows online to entertain people stuck indoors.
After a female organization invited us to perform for them virtually, they asked for our club's name and logo—neither of which we had at the time.
A group of female comedians brainstormed ideas, and Lily Ma ultimately suggested the name. Fellow comic and painter Daniel Holmes designed the logo and poster for us.
Daniel Holmes poster with logo
What is the club's ethos?
Herlarious Club is a safe and open place for people to tell jokes and have a laugh. No favoritism. No harassment.
If you are funny, you are funny. Doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman. Period.
Li Ying in Comedy Action…
What are the ups and downs of running a female-focused comedy club?
The exciting part is that there's a whole crowd of educated, ambitious young women diving into comedy and connecting through laughter—and it's so much fun to meet them.
The challenge lies in the fact my life took a pause for pregnancy, and I am now raising a kid. My priority has to be my baby, but I love and want my comedy baby to grow as well.
You take your baby to shows with you...
I took my baby to his first gig when he was seven weeks old. The weather was awesome, and he is easygoing, adaptable, and loves the outdoors.
It was an African festival—I thought it was good exposure for him, even if he was probably too young to understand any of it.
I was also very protective, and believed my baby was happiest when he was with me. Plus, since I was breastfeeding, bringing him along wasn't too much hassle.
Since then, he's traveled with me and done gigs in Shanghai, Ningbo, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.
Before he turned six months, it was super easy—he'd just doze off on stage in my lap.
Now, he doesn't like staying onstage for more than 10 minutes, and sometimes grabs the mic. But he's perfectly happy hanging out in the back of the room for hours.
Li Ying on stage with her baby
What is your thinking behind bringing him along?
I like the idea of him growing up in a comedy club. He's half black and half Chinese, and at some point, will have to deal with racism. What's the best tool for that? Comedy and humor.
Plus, he's a funny little guy, showing those traits even as a baby.
Bringing him onstage also fits my parenting style—I over-romanticize a gypsy kind of lifestyle. To me, life on the road is the norm, and the idea of being static, mentally and physically, fills me with dread.
As long as he gets his stable time for food and rest, it's all good. Though my mom disagrees—she's traditional and thinks babies shouldn't go out at all, except to parks.
What do you see for the Shanghai comedy scene going forward?
As the audiences grow and get more exposure to stand-up—both online and offline—the comedians will also keep growing and getting better.
And as Chinese comedians keep working on their craft, some might even break out internationally. We can travel now, lol!
Herlarious comedy crew and friends
Finally—why should people head along to a Herlarious gig?
Comedy is where we speak our truth in the form of humor, no bullshit.
Come watch a bunch of women doing what they love, owning the mic. It's feminine. It's powerful. And it's very sexy.
(We have men too—the kind who bring laughs, not toxic energy.)
Upcoming Shows
For all the latest show details, and to purchase tickets, click below:
Every Sat, 9pm
Soda Comedy Club 7/F, Block A, 830 Nanjing Dong Lu, by Xizang Zhong Lu, Huangpu District 南京东路830号A馆7楼, 近西藏中路
[All images courtesy of Li Ying/Herlarious Club]
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