Philip Nathaniel Wang Sin Goi (born 22 January 1990) is a British-Malaysian stand-up comedian and comedy writer who is a member of the

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

group

Daphne Daphne (; ; el, Δάφνη, , ), a minor figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in whi ...

, and co-creator of their

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

series, '' Daphne Sounds Expensive''. He currently hosts the comedy podcast ‘BudPod’ with fellow comedian and

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 ...

alumnus Pierre Novellie.

Early life

Wang was born in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

to an English mother from Stoke and a Chinese-Malaysian father. One week after his birth, his family returned to his father's home town of

Kota Kinabalu , image_skyline = , image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wism ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, where his parents had first met in 1982. His mother, a trained

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

, had moved to Malaysia as a volunteer with the

Voluntary Service Overseas Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) is a not-for-profit international development organization charity with a vision for "a fair world for everyone" and a mission to "create lasting change through volunteering". VSO delivers development impact throug ...

(VSO). Wang's maternal grandfather was from Derbyshire and became the manager of a tea estate in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, India, where his mother spent part of her childhood.Wang P (2019
Phil Wang: Wangsplaining
BBC Studios. Wang grew up in Malaysia, where he was taught in

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. He took

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

s at

Jerudong International School Jerudong International School ( Abbrev: ) is a co-educational, boarding and day school in Brunei, Southeast Asia. It has over 1680 students - of which around 200 are boarding students. Less than 50% of its student body are Bruneians, with the re ...

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

. When he was 16, his family moved back to the UK, to

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

. There he attended

Kingswood School (''In The Right Way Quickly'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent , religious_affiliation = Methodist , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...

. He then studied engineering at King's College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, where he was also president of 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 ...

Career

Wang won the 2010 Chortle Student Comedian of the Year Award and, in 2011,

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

's Funniest Student Award. In 2012, he was president of

at Cambridge University, where he did a four-year engineering degree. Wang has since performed at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

and at the

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the second-largest international comedy festival in the world. Established in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typicall ...

. Wang has appeared in ''

The Rob Brydon Show ''The Rob Brydon Show'' was a British chat show hosted by comedian Rob Brydon. The first series started on 17 September 2010 and consists of six regular episodes, a compilation episode and a Christmas special. The second series had six regular e ...

'', ''Comedy Up Late'', ''About Tonight'', ''It Was Alright in the 70's'', ''Room 101'', '' Have I Got News for You'', '' Unspun with

Matt Forde Matt Forde (born 6 November 1982) is an English impressionist, television writer, and radio presenter. Background Forde attended Becket School in West Bridgford, Nottingham. His mother is a former nun. He joined the Labour Party when he was 15 ...

'', '' Would I Lie to You?'', '' Live at the Apollo'', ''

8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' is a British comedy panel show on Channel 4. The show follows the game of ''Countdown'', but presented in a comedic panel show format seen on ''8 Out of 10 Cats'', with the show being a crossover of the two. ...

'', ''

The Dog Ate My Homework "The dog ate my homework" (or "My dog ate my homework") is an English expression which carries the suggestion of being a common, poorly fabricated excuse made by schoolchildren to explain their failure to turn in an assignment on time. The phras ...

'', ''

Hypothetical A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous obser ...

'', and ''

Insert Name Here ''Insert Name Here'' is a British comedy panel game show presented by Sue Perkins. The programme made its debut on BBC Two on 4 January 2016. In each episode two teams of three compete to answer questions about famous people, past and present, ...

''. He has also acted in the sitcom '' Top Coppers''. In January 2018, he took part in Comedy Central's ''

Roast Battle ''Roast Battle'' is a British roast comedy show that is broadcast on Comedy Central. The show is hosted by Jimmy Carr and features comedians facing each other in roast battles. The show was created by American comedians Jeff Ross and Brian Moses ...

'', hosted by

Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer, and actor. He is known for his deadpan delivery of controversial one-liners and distinctive laugh, for which he has been both praised and criti ...

, in which he battled friend and fellow comedian

Ed Gamble Edward Stephenson Jamison Gamble (born 11 March 1986) is an English comedian, known for co-presenting '' The Peacock and Gamble Podcast'' and his regular appearances on ''Mock the Week''. He studied at Durham University, where he began his come ...

; Wang won the battle. Wang has recorded two full length stand-up shows, which are available to watch for free on his YouTube Channel. Wang has also written for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. In 2017 Wang appeared in the podcast series ''

Pappy's Pappy's is a British three-man comedy act, composed of comedians Ben Clark, Matthew Crosby and Tom Parry. The sketch troupe previously performed shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, but now mostly talk on podcasts about balconies and spagh ...

Flatshare Slamdown'' and ''

Do the Right Thing ''Do the Right Thing'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackson, a ...

''. On 4 July 2018 it was announced that Wang would be one of the contestants in series 7 of '' Taskmaster''. Tasks he won included 'Make the best noise' and 'Most surprisingly beautiful thing'. Wang is currently working on a stand-up comedy series for

titled ''Wangsplaining''. The pilot episode aired on 19 May 2019 on BBC Radio 4. In 2020, Wang appeared on ''Kevin McCloud's Rough Guide to the Future''. In December 2020 and May 2022, Wang appeared on ''Have I Got News For You''. In May 2021, Wang hosted a new podcast called ''Phil Wang Hates Horror'', which was released on

Audible Audible may refer to: * Audible (service), an online audiobook store * Audible (American football), a tactic used by quarterbacks * ''Audible'' (film), a short documentary film featuring a deaf high school football player * Audible finish or rush ...

. Wang's Netflix comedy special, ''Phil Wang: Philly Philly Wang Wang'', was released in August 2021. Shortly after, he released his first book ''Sidesplitter: How to Be from Two Worlds at Once'' in September 2021.

References

External links

* * * *
Page on Chortle with news and tour dates

CV at agents' page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Phil 1990 births Living people Alumni of King's College, Cambridge British people of Malaysian descent English people of Malaysian descent English male comedians English stand-up comedians People from Stoke-on-Trent Comedians from Staffordshire