By Contributor & Friend of Serica Emily Nevins

When Rachel Yu gets on stage, she brings more than punchlines; she brings an unmistakable comedic voice that has garnered the applause and approval of audiences from Beijing to Brooklyn.

Since arriving in the United States through Duke University, Rachel has built a growing platform across YouTube, Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book), Instagram, and TikTok. With over 1.5 million impressions across platforms, Rachel’s sharply observant voice has achieved well-earned recognition with no sign of slowing down. 

Rachel’s route coming to America reads like a pilot episode: a new liberal arts experiment at Duke’s China campus is met with a delayed arrival in 2022. Her journey then led to the immediate immersion into the odd yet delightfully unfamiliar American landscape. 

Traveling to Nashville, Rachel became immersed into the city’s naturally blonde crowd, and the booming energy of the "Honky Tonk Highway," a vibrant stretch of country-western bars in Nashville's Lower Broadway district. At one point, Rachel witnessed a church reunion which felt like it was straight out of a movie. For this comedian, material was abundant in America’s “Athens of the South.”

Rachel attributes her early comedy influences to watching sketches from a young age. Growing up in Jinan (济南), Rachel would watch the annual national television program, China’s Spring Festival Gala, that produces traditional and modern dances, talks, comedy variety shows — and even robot kung fu in recent years! Through her television set, Rachel absorbed an education of deliciously fun sketch comedy every year.

An early exposure to xiangsheng (相声) was also a big influence in Rachel’s comedy education. Xiangsheng is a specific style of stand-up comedy that is rooted in eccentric cross talking. 

It left such an impression that Rachel performed a one-person version of xiangsheng for her 6th grade school talent show. 

For Rachel, staying creatively bold means going outside her comfort zone while staying observant.  Rachel adds, “I stay creative by taking in a lot. I watch a lot of shows and sketches, and I feel like that really inspires me to think about new ideas.” 

Nowadays, social media is filled with many different avenues for content creation and influencer media. As she began her journey on social media, being a beauty influencer appealed to Rachel — an industry well-suited for a beautiful woman (the writer's words, not Rachel's).

The glamor of being a beauty influencer is very enticing, from lavish PR packages from beauty brands, to sponsored travel opportunities. The chic yet effortless lifestyle of a beauty influencer is hard to pass up. However, Rachel soon realized that her strengths resided in her authenticity, and she discovered that comedy was the best vehicle for her voice. Reflecting on the dilemma she was facing, Rachel adds  “I (felt)  like I have so much more to contribute, which is my humor.”  Combining her comedic voice with her training in production, Rachel launched her podcast: YuUp?

YuUp?  is Rachel’s candid and absolutely hilarious podcast series where she and her guests converse about their dating experiences, personal identities, and everything under the sun since nothing is off-limits. 

Reader, I will have you know that it was hard to ask the comedian to describe her favorite YuUp? moments. Rachel paused to think over her past season, which included 28 guests, over 22 hours of interview content and almost 100K views on Youtube across the series. After a long beat of contemplation, Rachel narrowed down her top 3. 

Rachel’s first moment was her interview with comedian Alexa Springman. The two discussed how “Open Mics” should also be called “Open Michelle’s” to steer away from the male-dominated spaces. “This was a very ADHD episode, but we were talking about Open Mics and how they can be very dreadful because (they’re still) a very male dominated space. So, [to combat that] we should have Open Michelle's.”

Rachel’s other favorite YuUp? moment was her segment with comedian Sarah Thomas. During their episode, Rachel and Sarah talked about how Jesus was most likely Asian. Rachel went on to explain that, “The Middle East is technically in Asia. So, that means Jesus was Asian. Which means, [if] Jesus created everyone, everybody is Asian." (A school of thought this author thinks we could all get behind.)

Outside of YuUp?, Rachel’s comedy career is consistently packed; she hosts open mics across New York City. She is a booked and busy opener for other established performers, like Joe Wong. And she performs in comedy social strategy shows, like Outlaugh Comedy: Madhouse at the Asylum Theater. 

Rachel’s perspective encompasses a sense of humor that spans across borders. When asked what is funny in China that she believed the rest of the world would also find funny, Rachel brought up a rather surprising premise:

“Between the end of March to the beginning of April, Chinese immigrants will buy Chick-Fil-A to influence their H1B lottery odds. Some people even go as far as setting their social media profile pictures as Chick-Fil-A logos to increase their lottery odds.” Rachel explains that all of this is because of a rumor. “Allegedly, someone ate Chick-Fil-A after applying for their visa and immediately won it.” Thus, the Chinese Chick-Fil-A devotion was born.   

When asked how her family reacted to her comedy career, Rachel admits that early on they were not happy about it. Their unhappiness stemmed from a place of worry. Recognizing their concern, Rachel nullified their worries.

“I remind them that I love them and that I am okay.” Rachel’s love for her family is very noticeable not just in how she talks about them but also when she includes them in her comedy, which her audience has grown to love.

(Photo by Drew Rosen) 

One of Rachel’s most compelling traits is her frankness about performance identity. Rachel describes her public presence as an “act” in the best sense. Her artistry is aimed at amplifying the experiences of others. In person, Rachel confesses she is more introverted. She adds, “Whenever I put the camera on, I have another personality, but in real life, I feel like I’m quieter.” 

It is well known that representation matters across all platforms. Rachel points out the pressure that responsibility brings for any Asian performer. Rachel notes, “it’s more important that someone is there,” indicating that being visible gives others permission to try. Rachel aims to carve space for other immigrant performers, online or on stage, who haven’t historically seen themselves onstage or in mainstream media.

She attributes her principles to trailblazers like Ali Wong and Ronny Chieng. Both of their works have been extremely influential to Rachel’s craft and she hopes she will work with them in the future. For Rachel, she hopes her legacy will be less about individual fame: her goal is to collaborate with other immigrant and bilingual women in comedy.

In an era where conversations about cultural differences move at the speed of a swipe, Rachel Yu is a comedian who asks audiences to slow down and listen…and then laugh. 

Her comedy unites audiences from different backgrounds because of her honesty. 

Whether she’s riffing about immigration lore, recounting family moments from Chinese New Year, or poking fun at influencer aesthetics, Rachel folds complexity into a laugh line and leaves you feeling seen. The kind of voice audiences crave, Rachel Yu is always serving.