Aaron Chen
Australian comedian (born 1995/6)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aaron Chen (born 1995/1996) is an Australian comedian and actor from Sydney.
- Comedian
- actor
Aaron Chen | |
|---|---|
Chen in May 2025 | |
| Born | 1995/1996 (age 29–30) |
| Occupations |
|
| Spouse |
Esther Shim (m. 2022) |
| Comedy career | |
| Years active | 2011–present |
| Medium | |
Early life and education
Chen was born in 1995 or 1996.[1][2] His parents are Chinese. His father, Peter, was a sent-down youth in the Cultural Revolution. His mother died in 2000 from breast cancer.[3][4]
He attended North Sydney Boys High, where he started performing stand-up comedy.[1]
Career
In 2012, aged 15, Chen won Melbourne International Comedy Festival's "Class Clowns", a national competition for high-school children, and after this started performing in pubs around Sydney.[1]
In 2014 Chen appeared at the Melbourne Comedy Festival in its "Comedy Zone" section.[5]
In 2017, Chen performed his debut solo show The Infinite Faces Of Chenny Baby, appearing at the Melbourne and Sydney Comedy Festivals and touring nationally, earning good reviews and selling out his shows and earning Best Newcomer awards at both.[6]
In the same year, he unintentionally caused controversy in the Australian soccer world by appearing as an unconventional interviewer at a football game,[6] a friendly between English Premier League club Liverpool F.C. and Sydney F.C.[1]
Chen also appeared as the sidekick on ABC TV's short-lived TV series John Conway Tonight, filmed live at the Café Lounge, Surry Hills, Sydney, before taking over as host and completing production, with the show retooled and re-titled Aaron Chen Tonight.[6][7]
From 2021, Chen has played probate clerk and Webmaster, George, in Kitty Flanagan's ABC sitcom about a law firm, Fisk.[1][8] Also in 2021 he appeared on the panel show Patriot Brains.[9]
In 2022, Chen performed his show If Weren't Filmed, Nobody Would Believe at the Melbourne and Sydney Comedy Festivals,[1] with a video of the show released on YouTube in September 2022.[10]
Chen has performed at Splendour in the Grass music festival, and supported Ronny Chieng on his Australian tour as well as featuring in his ABC TV show, Ronny Chieng: International Student.[6] He has also performed on a number of panel shows on TV.[10]
Chen was awarded the People's Choice Award at the 2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.[11]
In 2024, Chen served as the assistant on the Australian version of Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee,[12] and participated as a contestant on the third series of Taskmaster Australia, alongside Concetta Caristo, Mel Buttle, Peter Helliar and Rhys Nicholson.[13]
That same year, Chen performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, appearing in the show Best of Fest.
In 2025, Chen performed stand-up on Late Night with Seth Meyers.[14]
Personal life
Chen proposed to Esther Shim in May 2022, announcing their engagement afterwards on Instagram. It was widely reported that the proposal was done at a McDonald's restaurant,[15][16] however, Chen says that the photo of the wedding ring in a box of nuggets was taken a week after the engagement.[17] The pair married on 19 November 2022.[18][19][20]
Chen moved from Sydney to New York City in October 2023 on an alien of extraordinary ability visa.[17]
Filmography
| † | Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released |
Film
| Title | Year | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shortcut to Becoming an Influencer | 2018 | Hunter | Short film | |
| Set Times | 2022 | Aiden | ||
| The Dink † | 2026 | PJ | Post-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Dirty Bird | N/a | Episode: "Labyrinth" | |
| 2017 | 1800 Success | Aaron | 3 episodes | |
| Goscy's Classics | Whaler 1 | Episode: "Ocean Girl" | ||
| Get Krack!n | Beach Man | Episode: "#1.2" | ||
| True Story with Hamish & Andy | Dacks | Episode: "Jack" | ||
| Ronny Chieng: International Student | Trojan Wong | Episode: "Clash! Ronny vs Instructions! Obey?" | ||
| 2018 | Orange Is the New Brown | IT Guy / Zhu / Tony Chan | 5 episodes | |
| Very Small Business | Kim Park | 8 episodes | ||
| Pls Like | Carl3k | Episode: "Most Views" | ||
| Pilot Week | McIntyre | Episode: "Drunk History" | ||
| 2020 | Drunk History Australia | Cop / Fed Cop / Swimming Official | 2 episodes | |
| At Home Alone Together | Eugene | 2 episodes | ||
| Stepmom Blues | Aaron | Episode: "6 - Finale" | ||
| 2021 present |
Fisk | George | 18 episodes | |
| 2021 | Rosehaven | Caller (voice) | Episode: "#5.4" | |
| 2023 | Love Me | Vincent | Episode: "Kämpa då" | |
| Koala Man | Dennis (voice) | Episode: "Ode to a Koala Bear" | ||
| 2024 | Fam Time | Menulog Guy | 2 episodes |
Other appearances
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | John Conway Tonight | Himself | 3 episodes | [21] |
| 2017 | Aaron Chen Tonight | 6 episodes | [22][23] | |
| 2019 | Comedy Blaps | Episode: "Get Real Dude" | ||
| 2021 present |
Have You Been Paying Attention? | 12 episodes | ||
| 2023 | Thank God You're Here | 2 episodes | ||
| 2024 | Taskmaster Australia | Season winner 10 episodes |
||
| Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee (Australia) | 8 episodes | [24] |
Recognition and awards
- 2012: Winner, "Class Clowns" competition at Melbourne International Comedy Festival[1]
- 2013: NSW representative at the National Grand Final, Raw Comedy[6]
- 2016: Director's Choice Award[6]
- 2017: Winner, Best Newcomer, Melbourne International Comedy Festival[6]
- 2017: Winner, Best Newcomer, Sydney Comedy Festival[6]
- 2021: Nominated, AACTA Award for Best Short Form Comedy, for his 2020 video A Life in Questions: Wisdom School with Aaron Chen, on Adult Swim in the U.S. (with Henry Stone and Joshua Duncan)[1][25]
- 2021: Nominated, best show, Melbourne International Comedy Festival[1]
- 2025: Won, Logie award for Fisk, Silver Logie Best Lead Actor in a Comedy.[26]