Funny Garden

Aaron Chen stands on stage holding a microphone stand, occasionally taking a sip of water from the decorative flower vase beside him, fully committed to a deadpan, minimalist delivery. He looks at his new life in New York through a distorted, hyper-literal lens, turning minor irritations into bizarrely funny puzzles. The performance succeeds because of how much he refuses to do; there is no shouting, no energetic stage pacing, and no standard crowd work. Instead, Chen waits out the silence, forcing the audience to adjust to his awkward tempo.

The 45-minute set, released on Netflix in February 2026, marks the Australian comedian’s official introduction to the American market. Following a massive couple of years in his home country, which included winning a Logie Award and winning Taskmaster Australia, Chen relocated to the United States. His profile had already received an unexpected boost when the legal sitcom Fisk became a global streaming hit. Chen addresses this newfound fame directly, noting that his audience shifted overnight from young men to middle-aged women, whom he sweetly calls his white angels. Other bits touch on overnight oats, the strange news headlines at LaGuardia airport, and the general bewilderment of being a newlywed expat. While some reviewers felt his droll, low-key style is better suited to short online clips than a sustained solo special, the performance stands as a unique showcase of his deliberate, understated approach to stand-up.