Ali Wong is on a roll these days. With three comedy specials under her belt at Netflix, a film she wrote in Always Be My Maybe, and an excellent turn as Bertie alongside Tiffany Haddish's Tuca in the hit animated sitcom Tuca & Bertie among many other things, Variety reports that she's now going behind the camera for the first time in her career. Wong is set to direct her fellow comedian and touring partner Sheng Wang's debut Netflix special. The show will be filmed on June 12 at The Belasco in Los Angeles with an expected premiere on the streamer later this year.
Wong will also take up executive production duty with Wang and John Irwin for the currently untitled special. The popular comic is just hitting her stride, fresh off her Valentine's special Don Wong on Netflix, which closed out her deal with the streamer as the follow-up to two other acclaimed specials. She's been one of the hottest and hardest to get tickets in all of stand-up, with theaters selling out in mere minutes. Her most absurd feat, however, has been a thirteen-show run at The Wiltern in Los Angeles.
Beyond her stand-up routine, Wong has proven herself a multi-talented force to be reckoned with in the industry. She'll be appearing in the Amazon adaptation of the Paper Girls comics, and she's recently been entrenched in the Big Mouth franchise as Ali in the original series, and now Becca Lee in the Human Resources spinoff. In terms of film, she starred in her own rom-com Always Be My Maybe alongside Randall Park and appeared in 2020's Birds of Prey. Wong also penned the book Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice for Living Your Best Life, which became a New York Times bestseller for its humorous, insightful tales addressed directly to her daughters.
It's a special occasion for Wang as well, with this being his coronation into the Netflix stand-up space. He's been doing stand-up for some time now, first appearing on the showcase series Comedy Zen before landing bigger gigs with Comedy Central Presents and Last Comic Standing. Lately though, he's best known for his work on Fresh off the Boat, which ran from 2015 to 2018 and saw him wear a number of hats from staff writer to story editor and even actor. He and Wong have also been together outside of tours, as she was also a story editor on Nahnatchka Khan's hit sitcom.
We'll have more on this special after the live show is recorded on June 12. This special marks a sweet occasion for two comedians that've been tied at the hip comedically as they both experience important firsts in their careers.