Ken Cheng

Kenneth Yuan-Ke Cheng (born 1988/1989) is a British-Chinese professional poker player and comedian noted for reaching the final of the 2015 BBC New Comedy Awards.

Cheng studied mathematics at Homerton College, Cambridge, but dropped out to become a professional poker player.

He wrote and performed for the Cambridge Footlights, often known to refer to himself as a 'footlights regular', and he has also taken his stand-up performances to the Edinburgh Festival. Cheng directed The Footlights International Tour Show 2015: Love Handles, which toured the UK, Paris and North America.

Reviewing the 2015 BBC New Comedy Awards for the comedy news, reviews and listings site Chortle, Steve Bennett stated that Cheng "deserved to win".

In 2017 Cheng won "Joke of the Fringe" at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

In September 2017 a Twitter thread insulting the national flag of every country in the world received national media coverage.

Early life
Cheng was born in Cambridge to mother Xin, a Mandarin interpreter, and father Jen, who works in software and whose parents were from Hong Kong. His great-grandfather on his mother's side was academic and playwright Hsiung Shih-I.