Helen Hong: Bio, Comedy Style, and Where to Watch

Who is Helen Hong?

Helen Hong was born in Los Angeles to parents who had emigrated from South Korea. She grew up on the East Coast, attending high school in Staten Island and North Andover, Massachusetts, spent time in South Korea, graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and before becoming a full-time performer, worked behind the scenes as a TV director and producer on shows including What Not to Wear, Four Weddings, and Say Yes to the Dress.

Her stand-up has been featured on The Arsenio Hall Show, Last Call with Carson Daly, Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen, the Showtime documentary Why We Laugh: Funny Women, and Just for Laughs Montreal. She appeared in the Coen Brothers’ film Inside Llewyn Davis. Her television acting credits include five seasons of The Thundermans on Nickelodeon (as Mrs. Wong), Silicon Valley on HBO, Never Have I Ever, The Unicorn on CBS, Parks and Recreation, Jane the Virgin, Pretty Little Liars, and Blunt Talk on Starz. She is a recurring panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! and hosts the celebrity trivia podcast Go Fact Yourself. Her stand-up special Well Hong was co-produced by Comedy Dynamics and Tribeca Film Festival and streams on Amazon Prime and Apple TV+. Her NowThis opinion videos have surpassed 12 million views. She and her father run a YouTube channel called Old Korean Dad Stories, which documents the experiences of Korean immigrants through her father’s stories. Buzzfeed named her one of 18 comedians who could take over the Late Show from David Letterman.

Helen Hong’s Comedy Style

Hong’s comedy is sharp, fast, and built from a perspective that is genuinely specific — the daughter of Korean immigrants, raised between Staten Island and Massachusetts, now based in Los Angeles, navigating the intersection of Asian-American identity, modern dating, and the particular absurdity of family expectations. Her crowd work is known for being lightning-quick, which is a different skill from having good material: crowd work requires reading the room and responding in real time, and she is very good at it.

Where to Find Helen Hong

Well Hong is on Amazon Prime and Apple TV+. Find tour dates and the Go Fact Yourself podcast at helenhong.com. Follow on Instagram @funnyhelenhong.

Helen Hong has performed at the Comedy Cellar in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Check the current lineup and upcoming shows at comedycellar.com.

Catch Comedy Cellar shows live from New York on Mint Comedy at watch.mintcomedy.com.