Ken Cheng, is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

-born Chinese professional poker player and comedian noted for reaching the final of the 2015

BBC New Comedy Awards The BBC New Comedy Award first took place in 1995, and it is considered to be one of the top UK comedy newcomer awards. It was axed in 2006, being replaced by a nationwide talent hunt that places its emphasis on sketch writing and filmed perform ...

. Cheng studied mathematics at

Homerton College Homerton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Its first premises were acquired in Homerton, London in 1768, by an informal gathering of Protestant dissenters with origins in the seventeenth century. In 1894, the co ...

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

but dropped out to become a professional poker player. He wrote and performed for the

Cambridge Footlights Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University. History Footlights' inaugural ...

, often known to refer to himself as a 'footlights regular', and he has also taken his stand-up performances to the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

. Cheng directed The Footlights International Tour Show 2015: Love Handles, which toured the UK, Paris and North America. Reviewing the 2015

for the comedy news, reviews and listings site Chortle, Steve Bennett stated that Cheng "deserved to win". On 22 August 2017, Cheng won "Joke of the Fringe". In September 2017 a Twitter thread insulting the national flag of every country in the world received national media coverage. His great-grandfather was academic and playwright

Hsiung Shih-I Hsiung Shih-I (; also S. I. Hsiung or Xiong Shiyi; 1902–1991) was a writer, biographer, translator, academic, and playwright in Beijing and London. He was the first Chinese person to direct a West End play, and the founder of Tsing Hua Academy ...

References

External links

YouTube channelCamdram pageTwitter account
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Ken English stand-up comedians English male comedians Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Living people Year of birth missing (living people)