Humour and global food: Uncle Roger and Big Zuu’s visions of culinary hybridity

Scholars have shown that there is a longstanding connection between food and humour (Sover and Ben-Meir 2017) as well as food and questions of identity (Counihan, Van Esterik, and Julier, 2018, Hutnyk 2000, Wu and Cheung 2002). This article will focus on two performers’ humorous visions of global food, and the issues they raise concerning diversity, stereotypes and cultural reappropriation. It will firstly focus on Uncle Roger, a character created by Malaysia-born comedian Nigel Ng who became a viral success on YouTube by mocking non-Asian chefs’ attempts to cook dishes such as egg fried rice. It will then analyse the relationship between food and humour in the light-hearted television programme Big Zuu’s Big Eats. In this programme, British rapper Big Zuu prepares a brand of hybrid fast food for celebrities of whom many are comedians. Big Zuu is the son of parents from Sierra Leone and Lebanon and hosts the show with fellow presenters who are of Iranian and Kurdish descent.
This article will begin by assessing the importance of Uncle Roger and Big Zuu’s humorous visions of global food reaching audiences via television and computer screens rather than via live in-person performances. In addition, it will examine the forms of humour they use and assess the extent to which they perpetuate and challenge stereotypes. Although Uncle Roger and Big Zuu’s humour has several shared themes, it will be shown that it is nevertheless based on differing attitudes to hybrid cuisine.