The ‘Tiger Daughter’ is Singapore-born Charlene Kaye, a musician and comedian. Her Tiger Mother is ethnically Chinese Lily, who also harboured dreams of being a musician growing up in Singapore.
After her first marriage dissolved, Lily’s charms enticed an American husband. A good result of this union, was Lily securing her a new life for herself and her two young daughters in the USA.
If you’d seen Kaye’s amusing take on female pop stars at the 2025 MICF Allstars Supershow, this show isn’t really like that. There is some humour through Kaye sharing photos and stories of Lily’s attention seeking behaviour.
However, as you would expect from the title, quite a bit of the show is about Kaye not meeting her mother’s expectations. Rather than pursue a higher education, Kaye moved to New York and joined bands at 17.
We would get a sketch of her time in different groups, and a demonstration of her skills on electric guitar. Often we were shown a photo or video that encouraged us to laugh at how inappropriately Kaye’s behaviour was given her family background. We got the point pretty quickly.
After feeling that she couldn’t gain much acceptance from Lily for her life choices, only very recently (Kaye is 38) she learned of some of the hardships of Lily’s youth, and what formed her mother’s attitudes. It’s hard to believe that she wasn’t more curious earlier. The historical details, and Kaye’s reactions to them, were also laid on a bit thick.
Around me people were snuffling or wiping away tears at various points. It’s probably best to not expect an abundance of laughs here. However, Kaye’s struggles to find more of a connection with her mother despite their differences seemed to strike a chord in the venue.
Tiger Daughter, Or: How I Brought My Immigrant Mother Ultimate Shame
ACMI – Gandel Lab, Federation Square, Melbourne
Performance: Tuesday 15 April 2025 – 7:45pm
Season continues to 20 April 2025
Information and Bookings: www.comedyfestival.com.au
Image: Charlene Kaye (supplied)
Review: Jason Whyte