How Sheng Wang finds ‘Purple’ comedy in a stuck drawer and a toothbrush choice

For comedian Sheng Wang, purple is more than a color, it’s a way of being. From his style (today he’s sporting a colorful purple-shaded tie-dye T-shirt) to the way he floats through the world writing jokes based on the small, fleeting moments of life, Weng’s aura is maintaining a sense of tranquility and creating impact with his art by not trying so damn hard.

It’s no shock that his second Netflix special “Purple” is the most revealing of who he is at a time when folks are finally paying attention. Coming off the success of his 2022 Netflix debut, “Sweet and Juicy,” Wang, a 23-year comedy veteran, became a marquee name touring theaters across the country. Within a few years, the career of this slow-paced Houston native has moved fast. But even though he’s become a stand-up star and a Westside L.A. resident, success definitely hasn’t changed him. Just ask Ali Wong, longtime friend and director of both his specials.

“Comics universally adore Sheng because he’s a true artist,” she said in a statement to The Times. “He’s all about finding the perfect wording for a joke, he’s all about the process and the work and does not have a single thirsty bone in his body. I honestly can’t believe he’s even doing this L.A. Times profile piece because outside of stand-up, he just wants to spend his time exploring botanical gardens and eating great food with the people he loves. He’s my best friend in comedy and the godfather to my children. My daughter once threw away her Invisalign by accident because it was wrapped in a tissue, and Sheng spent about an hour digging it out of the trash.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

A lot of people got introduced to you in 2022 when your first special, “Sweet and Juicy,” premiered. To have your new one come out a few years later, how would you describe the evolution of your comedy in that brief period?

It’s been very exciting. It’s been a fun ride. I think when you first retire an act after the special comes out and that act is done, there’s a sense of like, “There’s no way I’m gonna write another one.” I’m feeling that now after [“Purple”] came out, there’s supposed to be another one after this at some point. And it just feels so daunting and big to me. But I just love doing the craft. It’s kind of a natural thing for me to notice things and then eventually things fall into place. But it’s been a really fun journey from the first one to the second one because after the first one, all of a sudden there’s people wanting to come out to the shows, I’m selling tickets, that’s all pretty new to me in terms of the scale of people coming out. So it was my first major tour and I got to go all around the country, all around the world and I’m playing these theaters and I am playing shows where people come out to see me specifically. So that’s all quite new and it’s very exciting because it kind of makes you feel safer and freer to be more yourself. So that’s kind of been the last two and a half years for me.

One thing that’s apparent from the minute you walk on stage in “Purple” is how comfortable you are on stage, from your persona to your outfit.

Thank you. I mean, that was a choice that we made. I dabbled in different kind of outfits throughout that tour. The outfit I landed on is actually blue. It’s from a friend’s fashion label called Kaarem. And I just thought it’d be fun to wear something that’s a little different, comfortable, loose and a little bit catchy. [You’re] kind of not sure what kind of outfit this is, it’s a little vague. It could be like fashion, could be pajamas, could be gardening. But I just thought it’d be fun to change it up a little bit and also kind of support a friend at the same time.

It matches your aura in general. Speaking of which, when it comes to the color purple, how do you think it relates to you and your comedy?

One thing I wanted to steer clear away from or just be wary of is getting too like — especially with the outfit and the hair — too, like, culty. And “Purple,” as far as the name goes, it was just a fun name. I mean, I love the color. There’s a joke in the special that references a purple toothbrush, but, and then there’s also a reference to my aura based on the fact that I’m cooking with shallots. There’s just sort of vague purple-ish themes throughout the special. And also it represents strength and royalty. And to me, the second special, it feels like there’s a bit of a growth in leveling up. And so I thought “Purple” would be a fun way to go with the title. We had thought about playing off of the first one, like “Sweet and Juicy” going to like, I dunno, “Umami” or “Delicious” or some other thing that’s like food-related. We ended up going “Purple” just because it just feels a little bit more intriguing, a little more vague, a little poetic and kind of let the audience feel out what this is.

“I think this is just a general good practice to like to be bored, to stay off our phones to a certain extent where it’s not always an immediate automatic response … basically I live life, I try to pay attention,” Wang said.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

A big part of your special and your comedy in general is focusing on those small moments in life that you build into a greater theme of something that’s funny. When you are out there living life, what are your tricks to sort of like listen and absorb jokes?

I think it’s about being present and putting down the phone. I think it’s just being engaged with your life, especially during moments that don’t feel like it’s a moment. It’s those in between moments, you know? I don’t really actively do this, I think this is just a general good practice to like to be bored, to stay off our phones to a certain extent where it’s not always an immediate automatic response. So for the special, again, I don’t do this intentionally, but basically I live life, I try to pay attention.

A lot of these moments are from all of our lives are usually so small and fleeting that we don’t pay attention to them. And we’re kind of experiencing them almost on autopilot and running on emotions. And we’re not really choosing anything. We’re not making a choice there. And so, I’m basically just collecting these moments. There might be a small touch of some discomfort or dissonance or awkwardness or absurdity or something. And I just jot it down, and sometimes it’s clearly funny as it is. Sometimes I have to kind of find it on stage as I share this moment with the audience. But it all starts from just being present and engaged with your life. I wanted to be a comedian, I wanted to be a poet, and I wanted to be a photographer. And for me, stand-up comedy embodies everything, those other things as well.

Talk about how you met Ali Wong in the comedy scene and how your friendship started.

Ali and I met in the comedy scene in San Francisco in the early 2000s when we were both starting out. Basically, at the time it was a much smaller scene. It’s just a bunch of people trying to encourage each other to keep doing stand-up. And there was an emphasis on originality and writing that was kind of the vibe in San Francisco at the time and we just were running around doing open mics, doing shows and we ended up like, she did produce some shows, she booked me on some of her shows. We ended up moving to New York around the same time together. We were just on this journey together. We were both Asian Americans, children of immigrants, I think we just connected on many levels immediately. We kind of struggled together. We did gigs together that were not very pleasant. We ate cheap food together. We just kind of came up together.

How does your friendship transfer over to the director/comedian relationship when it came time to actually film the special?

When we would do the special and she’s directing, she actually doesn’t get very involved in any of the creative stuff. She’s just a voice that I really trust, a mind that I trust. And she’s been through it. So she knows in and out of all this stuff. I’m very lucky to have her as a friend and also someone to just lean on during these moments where I don’t really know what’s the priority or what’s most important to focus on and all these decisions to be made. It’s just nice to have her along the ride. It’s also helpful too as far as representation to see another Asian American person go through this. I see her excel and just keep killing it on all different kinds of aspects of entertainment. I just feel very lucky and privileged to have friend like that, to have voice like that in my corner.

Comedian Sheng Weng

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Were there any things that happened during the filming of the special that were unexpected that kind of stood out to you as far as maybe some unintentional humor?

Well, the first special had a lot more issues. There was like a fire on the city block we were taping on. The power went out. It was very hot. We had to stop taping a number of times. My hair was getting too sweaty. It all was a bit of a mess. The second time we did it, the current special that we’ve released, there’s nothing too crazy. Nothing went awry.

You pretty much got the recipe down at this point, which also made me think about your other passion — cooking. Is comedy similar to cooking for you?

This is an interesting question. As far as cooking goes, it might be very different than how I approach comedy. My comedy is generally pretty precise. It takes a while to get to this, but once it’s like in its final stages, the performance of my jokes are pretty precise. I know the words, I know the beats, and I’m just kind of going for it. As far as cooking goes, I’m kind of freestyling. I’m cutting up a bunch of garlic, I’m using a bunch of olive oil, and I’m using a bunch of different seasonings, and whatever happens, happens and in the end, it’ll be tasty. It might taste close to what I did last time. But it’s always a little bit different, because it’s never a recipe that I follow. It’s just a bunch of seasoning and a bunch of garlic. That’s kind of my generic start, is like those things, just a little everything. Yeah, no matter what.

No matter what form it takes, it’ll work out.

Yeah, it’ll be tasty for sure.

Do you have anything that you love to cook?

When I get off the road, I always make a big pot of beans or a vegetable stew. So it’s a lot of lentils, legumes, beans, chickpeas and just all kinds of veggies. Bell peppers, jalapeños, a mirepoix and a butt-load of seasoning. It’s just something that’s healthy that I can make a lot of in one time and just basically make up for all the eating out I’ve did for the last two weeks on the road.

The special’s title represents strength and royalty, while his directorial collaboration with friend and fellow comedian Ali Wong has helped him feel safer and freer to be authentically himself on stage.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Are there things in your career that you feel like have made you funnier as you’ve gone through them?

I guess for me, it’s just getting to where I am now. I have a little bit more trust and faith that I can make these little moments funny, even if they seem so small or so random and not obviously a crazy, funny life event. I think the second special reflects that a little bit in a way, the second is a little bigger and smaller. I watched parts of the first special recently and it’s a bit aspirational in some of the themes where we’re talking about getting a mortgage, getting a bigger sink, and immigrant parents, and trying to reach for fruit that’s higher up and stuff like that. And this one, it has some of that, but it’s also, I think that those moments are a little bit smaller. Picking a color when you’re getting a new toothbrush. Just all these little smaller moments that I think are still funny, and I still try to tie to bigger things in life. And the second special, it’s also bigger in that I’ve been touring in theaters for the last two years. So I think the performance is a little bit bigger. I’m kinda working the stage a little more than I was in the first one. The first one is a bit more like I was performing in clubs and you can kind of see I’m still and just delivering it out like this. So there’s a little bit of a difference between, that’s, yeah, some of the differences between the first and second one.

Yeah, I could definitely see you working the stage on the second one, making use of those flowy pants.

Yeah, you gotta get the drape and the flow.

And I think you really get a sense of who you are as a person.

Yeah, I just think like, you know, as far as like picking out these jokes, I’m trying to like live intentionally. A lot of these moments are just small fleeting moments. It also gives people a chance to reengage with them. After they see a special, there’s a moment where they can kind of reflect on this and just be present to make a deliberate choice on what color toothbrush you want or another moment that’s kind of frustrating when the kitchen drawer is stuck, you know, that’s one of my favorite jokes is that moment when you’re trying to get something out of the drawer. It’s not opening and you’re frustrated. These are little moments that we all have, but my hope is like the special gives people like a second to be like, this kind of sucks, but it’s kind of funny and it’s something we all go through. And there’s a sense of connection and awareness and being present.