Lady bosses of Shanghai: Norah Yang, comedian

Real talk: just existing in this world with XX chromosomes is some kind of victory. But then there are those unstoppable wonder women blazing trails and changing the game who have us all awestruck. Our column ‘Lady bosses of Shanghai’ looks at a few of the many brilliant women totally killing it in the city we call home. Take notes on general female badassery with: Norah Yang.

Self assured, goal-oriented and not conforming to societal norms and expectations – Norah Yang is the archetypal modern Shanghainese woman. A senior associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers by day, Yang is one of the city's most recognisable and successful comics, performing in English and Chinese and appearing regularly on hit video series Mamahuhu.

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A regular at Kung Fu Komedy Club, in English she has opened for big-name touring international acts, such as Mark Normand and Kyle Kinane. Last year, she performed at Burning Man in Black Rock, Nevada, while back in February she headlined in Chinese for the first time with her show 上海梦 (Shanghai Dream).

Away from comedy, Yang is also making a name for herself in the world of online streaming. She has her own weekly show, 诺拉小姐的下午茶 (Miss Norah's Tea Time), every Saturday on video platform iQiyi and has hosted live programmes to huge online audiences.

For Yang, comedy comes first. The traditional path expected to be taken by Chinese women of her age, such as finding a husband and starting a family, is one she's not thinking of going down anytime soon. It's something her parents and, more importantly, she herself have been happy to accept – not hat she, like so many, wasn't immune to the occasional probing question from family over Spring Festival...

Currently the only female stand-up performing on the English-language weekend showcases at KFK since the exits of former regulars Ida Knox and Reyhaneh Rajabzadeh, Yang's aware of the expectations and scrutiny that comes with being the sole woman on the bill. Still, she feels she deserves to be recognised as a comedian without the preceding and arguably categorising tag of 'female'.

This Friday 9, Norah Yang opens for comedian Kyle Grooms (Last Comic Standing and Chappelle's Show) at Kung Fu Komedy. Extract the QR code below to book tickets.

Kung Fu Komedy 1 Xiangyang Bei Lu, near Julu Lu. Fri 9 and Sat 10. 9pm Fri; 7pm and 9pm Sat. 200RMB; 170RMB (presale).

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