Jesse Appell, A Monday Morning Inspiring Story of A Chinese Comic and Tea Entrepreneur

Today’s Monday Morning Mojo, the first of 2025, is dedicated to a young man who inspires me very much. His name is Jesse Appell, he is 34 years old, lives in Los Angeles, and like me, he spent the past several years of his life living in Beijing, China. For 2025, I plan to write more about people who inspire me and others, and to get back to the original theme of the Monday Morning Mojo; to unearth inspiring stories about people and their contributions to society to balance the drumbeat of worrying news that occupies our 24-hour news channels.

Back to Jesse.

“Do What You Love, And You Will Never Work A Day In Your Life”

I chose to write about Jesse because his story is proof if you have a dream for your life, it can come true, no matter what barriers are presented. The adage, “Do what you love, and you will never work a day in your life,” defines Jesse’s career.

Using Humor To Bring People Together

I first met Jesse in 2012. He was in Beijing as a Fulbright Scholar studying Chinese humor. This was one of the only times a Fulbright Scholar was awarded such a fellowship, and he dove in with both feet, studying a very traditional form of Chinese humor called Xiangsheng (crosstalk in English). At the time we met, there was a video parody going viral on the internet called “Laowai Style.” Laowai in English means literally “old foreigner” in Mandarin. Using the tune of Gangnam Style by PSY, he created a hilarious video that resonated with both Chinese and Western audiences. “It was just a fun way to bring people together,” mentioned Jesse in a recent chat we had. Here’s the video that kicked off Jesse’s fame in China. 

Early Fame

If Xiangsheng wasn’t difficult enough, Jesse began toying with standup comedy in Chinese, attracting more than two million followers on his Chinese social media. He was one of the most famous Westerners in China, and the Chinese audience loved him. On a few occasions, I had the pleasure of watching Jesse perform, yet the most memorable event I witnessed was when I saw him on a panel at a World Economic Forum Summer Davos held in Tianjin, China. At this meeting, attended by hundreds of senior business executives, Jesse dominated a panel discussion with several established CEOs, where he explained his passion for bridging the cultural divide with humor. Jesse’s humor does not follow a traditional path. He is not raunchy at all, but rather pokes fun at differences in both Chinese and Western society, without making anyone feel uncomfortable.

Jesse’s Backstory

Nothing about Jesse’s life is typical. At a young age, he became interested in theatre and comedy in his hometown of Newton, Massachusetts, with a particular passion for improv and Chinese.

“When I was growing up, I was inspired by a group called The Lonely Island, who had a YouTube channel and were often featured on Saturday Night Live,” Jesse explained. The Lonely Island was an American comedy trio, formed by Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer in Berkeley, California, in 2001, and they were famous for musical parody videos that were hilarious and went viral.

Jesse also took up Chinese around this time before attending Brandeis University where he continued his Chinese language studies. At Brandeis, Jesse participated in a study abroad program in Beijing that set him on the path to a life that combined comedy and Chinese. Jesse describes his passions this way: “My love for comedy and Chinese has many commonalities. They are both lots of fun and extremely difficult to master. I find trying something absurdly difficult takes the pressure of failure away.”

Becoming A Fulbright Scholar

After graduating from college, Jesse was figuring out how to get back to China to chase his interests. He had a friend who was a Fulbright scholar, and after doing some research and meeting a Chinese Master of Xiangsheng, Master Ding, he applied for a Fulbright scholarship to pursue his passion for comedy and Chinese. According to a US Department of State article featuring US Fulbright scholars, and Jesse particularly:

 “To ensure that his Fulbright project is successful, Jesse arrived in September 2012 to begin intensive Chinese language studies at Tsinghua University. As a supplement to his Fulbright scholarship, Jesse was the recipient of a Critical Language Enhancement Award (CLEA), a feature of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program that supports intensive language study for three-to-six months prior to the Fulbright project.

When Jesse completes his CLEA program, he will start his full grant at his host institution, Minzu University. In addition to auditing relevant classes at his host institution during the first semester of his grant, which will help him to develop his understanding of the cultural roots and social resonances of Xiangsheng, Jesse will be apprenticed to a local comedy master who specializes in training foreigners. ‘He trains students to become very fluent Chinese speakers, that way you can play along on stage.’ Jesse said. ‘We have to hold ourselves to the highest standards to make Chinese people laugh.’”

How To Avoid A Real Job

According to Jesse, “Fulbright was one academic year, and I made a small stipend that was enough to be able to pay rent and eat food in Beijing. But I loved it.” Following the Fulbright Jesse stayed in China to teach English and pursue his comedy. “This route was important for me because I realized at that time I had friends who got the big money job out of college, but they were miserable. For me, I was not making a lot of money, but I was doing exactly what I wanted to do. I’m willing to live in a smaller apartment and do what I want with my life and control my schedule. That’s been the core of my career going forward. I do this all as a way of avoiding having a real job.”

Entertaining People During COVID

Jesse’s “Laowai Style” video was one inflection point in his journey to comedic fame in China. The second was right around 2020 when COVID was first reported in China. Jesse appeared on a Chinese version of Last Comic Standing in February of 2020, a show that was taped earlier, and since everyone was locked in their house, this was the only comedy episode that hadn’t aired. According to Jesse, “Winning that first round and reaching the top eight of the show was lucky for me, and to think this was happening concurrently in January and February of 2020, the very early days of COVID when everyone was locked in their homes watching television. As a result, my episode went mega-viral in China.”

Showing Up Is What Matters Most

In the years between “Laowai Style” and Last Comic Standing, Jesse was busy pursuing a comedy career in China and was approached by an agent who found gigs for him on cruise ships specializing in Chinese travelers. One crazy story Jesse shared with me had to do with an experience he had in Japan where he almost missed his first gig. He documented it in the video below.

The life lesson here, according to Jesse was this, “If you are hired for a job, you must make the show. Being good at the show is not your real job. Your real job is to be there and show up. How you do comes second.”

Finding Ways To Perform Remotely

Right before COVID was detected in China, Jesse left for a quick trip to the United States. Upon arriving in the US, China shut its borders, delaying Jesse’s return for nearly three years. That didn’t stop him, however. He put on his thinking cap and instead of just waiting, Jesse put on a fundraiser in Boston that raised money for COVID sufferers in Wuhan, China, the city where COVID was first detected. That Boston fundraiser went viral in China reaching hundreds of millions of people. “I like to think I am a comedian first and foremost, with Chinese skills, and fortunately the Internet allowed me to reach people millions in China when I could not be there physically,” commented Jesse.

A Pivot To Tea

Sitting on the sidelines was not in Jesse’s playbook. In 2021, Jesse put on his thinking cap considering what to do next. He knew he wanted to capitalize on the audience he created in China with his videos, his appearance on Last Comic Standing and his fundraiser that reached hundreds of millions. Jesse has one additional hobby he considered tapping. That interest was tea. From an original base in Boston, Jesse reached out to his favorite tea masters in China to source his preferred teas. The result? Jesse created Jesse’s Teahouse, a social commerce business selling tea to existing and potential tea enthusiasts inside China, across the US and globally. In less than three years, Jesse has grown the tea’s social media accounts to more than one million followers and sold to tens of thousands of customers, all online, and the business is thriving. Here is a link to Jesse’s Teahouse.

https://jessesteahouse.com

Combining His Passions

Jesse shared much about his love for tea with me, but the real story behind Jesse’s Teahouse was creating a platform where he could continue his love for comedy, China and his mission to “never work a day of his life.” Below is an example of how he combines the three:

Finding The Right Path

There are many reasons I have featured Jesse in this first Monday Morning Mojo of the year. He is an example of what many young people I chat with are looking for in a career. Jesse is incredibly creative and hardworking and has created a vision for himself that has guided his success for more than a decade. He is a chameleon, and despite whatever obstacles the world creates, he has been able to pivot, while staying true to his core passions. And, he does this all with humility, curiosity and a great sense of humor.

According to Jesse, “I just wanted to do humor, stay involved in China, and create a living doing what I love. Fortunately, my tea business has allowed me to do just that.”

Thanks for reading and being part of this community. Wishing you a fantastic 2025. More inspiring and fun stories to come.