Davin Tong, better known by his aliasPeter Chao (born 1987), is a Canadian actor,[1] comedic vlogger, and YouTube personality known for his unconventional portrayals of Asian stereotypes, which alongside other comedic videos have amassed a following of over 1.2M followers on TikTok and almost 800,000 subscribers on YouTube. Born and raised in New Brunswick, Canada, Tong is the second son of "Chinese immigrants", while his character Chao was born and raised in Hong Kong. Tong is bilingual, speaking both fluent English and Cantonese.
Early life and education
Davin Tong[2] was born and raised in New Brunswick, Canada, the second son of "Chinese immigrants".[3] He produced an early version of Paper Trail, a minute-long short film pertaining to a neighbor caught stealing newspapers, with director Travis Grant. The film caught the Vancouver Film School's attention and it subsequently issued scholarships to them.[4] Tong graduated in 2008.[5]
Background
Personal life
Tong realised his flair for vlogging when one of his first YouTube uploads, about a Chinese restaurant run by Southeast Asians, garnered around 15,000 views.[6] Under the username pyrobooby,[7][8] Tong adopted the guise of "Chinese Guy",[9] and later Peter Chao. Tong described the character as born and raised in Hong Kong,[10] and "a zany Chinese immigrant forced into Canada by his street hustling mother. Instead of listening to his mother to go to school, he decided to pursue comedy on YouTube."[2]
Tong's character Chao has drawn mixed reception, often being mistaken as a real person. After a misunderstanding with YouTube and Google officials, the account had been previously suspended[9] for a period of fourteen days but reinstated and has remained free of controversy for over 10 years.[10] Gabriella Nomura of The Vancouver Sun has branded Chao as "a breath of politically incorrect fresh air",[2] while Kevin Tang of Amped Asia has called him "one of the most funny YouTube celebrities".[7] However, viewership has been positive. The "Canton Style" music video – a parody of Korean singer-rapper Psy's "Gangnam Style"[11] – amassed 1.1 million views within three days of its uploading.[12] His videos are, as of 2011, the number one and two most watched in Canada.[13] Tong has said, in response to audience comments that his performances are "controversial", that everything is "done for comedy. I don't discriminate when it comes to comedy". I take stereotypes and I make them outlandish so everybody can laugh."[6]
Creative Content
Chao is seen in almost every video as sporting a pair of sunglasses a habit which kindled viewer interest.[14] Tong attributes the sunglasses as contributing to Chao's "cool factor". In the videos, Chao puts on a "thick, over-the-top Cantonese"[15] and "fresh-off-the-boat" accent.[16] Chao also parodies popular songs, such as the Justin Bieber hits "As Long as You Love Me" and "Boyfriend", as well as criticizing and poking fun at other people, usually with profane language. Fans of Chao are referred to as "Chao Nation".[9] Beth Hong of The Vancouver Observer writes that Chao is an example of a "FOB" or a "Honger". Tong – speaking in character – refutes this, stating, in a tongue and cheek manner, that "a FOB is a fresh-off-the-boat immigrant that come [sic] all the way from China to study in North America. Don't look at me, I'm not a FOB. I'm Peter Chao. FOBs can't speak a lick of English."[15]
He performed a stand-up comedy set in the 2022 Canadian series Comedy Invasion.[17]
Acting
After leaving an indelible mark on the social media landscape with an incredibly successful run as one of the top 50 YouTubers in the world as ‘Peter Chao’ (2009-2012 / 800K subscriptions / 200M global views), Davin Tong set his eyes on the acting world. In 2016, Tong began his journey to pursue the artful craft of playing make-believe and from starring alongside film legends like Peter Dinklage (“American Dreamer”) to carrying his own alongside legendary character actors like Danny Trejo (in Season 4 of 'The Flash'), he did just that.
His career continued to evolve in 2018, recurring in 3 episodes as a troubled young man who would soon develop a drug addiction in Netflix’s “Wu Assassins” as “Young Tommy” and followed that with back-to-back appearances in ABC’s “A Million Little Things”, Disney’s “Gabby Duran”, CBC Gem’s “Wild Cards”, and most recently in a Hallmark feature, “The Wedding Season”.
As Davin continues to chase the acting itch, he also made the most of his time during the pandemic, starting a TikTok page that grew his following to 1.2M followers and 30M video likes; an endeavour that helped ink him a sponsorship endorsement deal with Prime Video to promote their new catalog of films and original programming.
Professional Wrestling
Chao has appeared frequently in Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling beginning July 6, 2013 in Port Coquitlam, B.C. where Colt Cabana taught him a few things about wrestling. He was a part of ECCW Ballroom Brawl at the Commodore Ballroom in January 2014, the largest attendance for independent wrestling in Vancouver in the last 25 years.
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