Uncle Roger responds after US chef says his ‘schtick’ gives people free pass to be racist

Uncle Roger responds to US chef saying his ‘schtick’ gives people a free pass to be racist

It’s been over four years since US chef J. Kenji López-Alt shared a YouTube video with a description saying that Uncle Roger’s “schtick” seems to give people a free pass to be racist.

Just last Sunday (8 Feb), Uncle Roger posted his own “clap back” while also reviewing the chef’s fried rice video.

Since then, Mr Kenji has also responded in the comments to explain why his stance as an Asian American might differ from the Malaysian’s.

Comments closed on Kenji’s fried rice video

In 2020, Nigel Ng, better known by his alternate persona “Uncle Roger”, became a household name when he began posting reviews of fried rice cooking videos.

The 34-year-old would put on an exaggerated Cantonese accent and harshly critique peculiar practices while cooking Asian cuisine and offering traditional Asian techniques.

An Uncle Roger’s fried rice reaction video became part of his claim to fame.

Eventually, it began spreading to general Asian cuisine, extending beyond Uncle Roger’s Malaysian background.

So when J. Kenji López-Alt posted the fried rice video in 2021, he pre-emptively disabled the comments section.

The US chef was concerned about the influx of Uncle Roger comments.

“I have zero interest in Uncle Roger’s comments, so please don’t make them and consider not making them in other places as well,” he wrote in the original YouTube description.

“I don’t like that his schtick seems to give a free pass to people to imitate stereotypical Asian speech patterns and pronunciation (especially as it’s almost always non-Asians doing the imitating). It’s ugly, it’s yellowface, it’s not funny, and it promotes anti-Asian racism at a time when Asians are already being heavily discriminated against.”

His comments come amid a surge in Asian American hate crimes in the US, especially after the onset of Covid-19.

Uncle Roger responds

Roughly four years on, Uncle Roger posts a video addressing what Mr Kenji had to say.

Source: mrnigelng on YouTube

In it, the Malaysian comedian said that many imitated his accent “out of love”. He also said he was proud to spread Malaysian culture, noting that many have now added Malaysian slang to their daily lingo.

“Sorry, I don’t sound white like you,” he said.

After providing his take on the matter, Uncle Roger eventually reviews Mr Kenji’s fried rice video, which he ultimately compliments.

Mr Kenji comments on Uncle Roger’s video

Mr Kenji would later see the video and respond to Uncle Roger’s “clap back”. He said that he understood Uncle Roger’s point of view, and even complimented him on his comedy.

Source: mrnigelng on YouTube

He also invited Uncle Roger to consider the Asian American point of view, saying that the surge in Asian American hate caused his mother to be scared of leaving her home.

“When I open up the comments to a video and see comments imitating your catchphrases or speech patterns, then see that the people doing it are virtually all non-Asian American men, it rubs me the wrong way,” said Mr Kenji.

Mr Kenji said he is open to collaborating with Uncle Roger should they ever be in the same place together, provided they discuss such nuanced issues together.