Peter Chao

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Peter Chao
Tong, wearing his glasses and a Sleeveless shirt underneath a hoodie jacket, is looking straight at the camera from his living room.
Tong in 2015
Born
Davin Tong

(1987-05-08) May 8, 1987 (age 39)
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
Alma materVancouver Film School
OccupationYouTube personality
Years active2009-present
SpouseChelsea McGeachy (2013-present)
Websitewww.youtube.com/user/pyrobooby

Davin Tong, better known by his alias Peter Chao (born 1987), is a Canadian actor,[1] comedic vlogger, and YouTube personality. He is known for his unconventional portrayals of Asian stereotypes, which alongside other comedic videos have amassed a following of over 1.2 million 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

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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

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Personal life

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Discography

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Music videos

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Year Title Record label Notes
2010 "Harry" Pyrobooby Records Lyrics by Peter Chao, parody of Justin Bieber's "Baby".
2011 "Asian and I Know It" Peter Chao Directed by IFHT and produced by JGrammBeats, parody of LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It".
"Mudabitch" Peter Chao Directed by IFHT & Van Dinh, produced by Gentleman Vibe, parody of Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend".
"Mudafucka" Pyrobooby Records Written and produced by Peter Chao.
"Fuck Christmas" Gentleman's Vibe Directed by IFHT, vocals by Gentlemen's Vibe.
2012 "As Rong As You Ruv Me" Peter Chao Directed by Van Dinh and produced by Gentleman's Vibe, parody of Justin Bieber's "As Long as You Love Me".
"Canton Style" Peter Chao Directed by Matt Dennison and produced by Justin Villarosa, parody of Psy's "Gangnam Style".
2013 "Poop and Fart" Peter Chao Written and produced by Peter Chao, parody of will.i.am's "Scream & Shout".
"Canton Style" Peter Chao Directed by Matt Dennison and produced by Justin Villarosa, parody of Psy's "Gangnam Style".
"Douche" Peter Chao Written and produced by Peter Chao, parody of Taylor Swift's "22 (Taylor Swift song)".
"White Man Food" Peter Chao Written and produced by Peter Chao.

Filmography

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Commercials

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Year Title Role Notes
2012 Campbell's Soup[18] SOC North America, 2012
2013 Pizza Hut[18] Principal North America, 2013
Vote 2013 PSA[18] Principal BC Regional, 2013

Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2010 The Plastic Protocol (short film)[18] Yu Wong Directed by Peter Brown.
Paper Trail[18] Hitman Directed by Travis Grant and Tong.
Therapy (short film) [18] Man Directed by Lisa Newell.
2012 Grave Encounters 2[18] Himself Directed by John Poliquin.
2013 The Hangover Part III[18] Himself - Chao's son (uncredited) Directed by Todd Phillips.
Jackhammer[18] Hammer's dream nemesis Directed by Michael Hanus.
2014 A Fairly Odd Summer[18] Researcher Directed by Savage Steve Holland.

Theatre and Stage

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Year Title Role Theatre/Stage
2011 Parlor Live! Club[19] Headliner Parlor Live! Club, Bellevue, Washington
Peter Chao and Friends[18] Headliner Punch Line Comedy Club, Bellingham, Washington
Peter Chao and Friends[20] Headliner Punch Line Comedy Club, San Francisco
2013 I'm Not Racist[21] Headliner Revue Stage, Vancouver
2014 Peter Chao's Asian Domination Tour[22] Headliner National University of Singapore, Singapore

References

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  17. ^ Elisabetta Bianchini, "The series Canadian broadcasters passed on: 'Comedy Invasion' series makes world premiere with Asian, diverse comics". Yahoo! News, November 29, 2022.
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