Musician and Comedian Charlene Kaye Transforms Shame into Raucous Pride
The mother of comedian and multifaceted rockstar Charlene Kaye, Lily, has a personality worthy of her own “Real Housewives” franchise. Dramatically disapproving of her daughter’s artistic passions— “too sexual!”—, she simultaneously commissions and proudly displays 10-foot oil paintings of her own naked body around her home.
In Charlene’s one woman show, “Tiger Daughter, Or: How I Brought My Immigrant Mother Ultimate Shame,” she flips her mother’s vocal discouragement and ridiculous ironies as comedic fodder, complete with images of the aforementioned paintings and text messages so cruel they become absurdly funny. For anyone who’s ever disappointed a parent, Charlene’s show is a healing experience.
Through a PowerPoint presentation, Charlene chronicles the many times her “Asian Tiger Mom” felt betrayed and devastated by Charlene’s pursuit of a career as an artist. “If I tell [Lily] that I played a sold-out show, her immediate question is ‘How much money do you make?’ It’s not, ‘Did you have a great time?’ or ‘What did you learn?’,” Charlene tells me. “I am very happy as an artist, and that is sort of the crux of the show—the deep artistic fulfillment I feel from making stuff will always be a little bit mystifying to a lot of Asian parents.”
“Tiger Daughter” has already sold out a US tour and a run at Edinburgh Fringe Festival and recently sold out as a featured artist in Margaret Cho’s Vanguard Artist-in-Residence Series at Joe’s Pub.
Outside of “Tiger Daughter,” Charlene has gone viral several times for creating an original format in which she imitates and breaks down the songwriting patterns of famous pop musicians. The first video in the series, “Every Taylor Swift Song,” has garnered over 17 million views with its parodied breathy pre-chorus. Continuing its success, Charlene has made “Every Chappell Roan Song,” “Every Ariana Song,” “Every Sabrina Carpenter Song,” and many more.
Charlene’s pop star impressions are a testament to her mastery of music as both an instrumentalist and songwriter. She performs as Slash in an all-femme Guns N’ Roses cover band, Guns N’ Hoses and makes her own original music as KAYE. Under this name, Charlene has already released two EPs, Neon God (2022) and Honey (2016), as well as a studio album, Conscious Control(2020). Her earlier album, Animal Love (2012) is released under Charlene Kaye. She will be performing her music live at Union Pool on March 11.
The first time I heard of Charlene was as KAYE back in 2020. Her sister, Liann, was creating a web series called “The Blessing,” and I was helping her produce it. We were looking for someone to play NayNay, a fiercely protective rock star sister. Knowing that the character was inspired by Charlene, I took a deep dive into all the KAYE content I could find and quickly became a fan.
In the music video for “Too Much”, directed by Liann, Charlene is cloaked in an assemblage of indigo-blue fabric scraps. Completely covered, Charlene kneels in the opening frame, making herself small. As the song progresses, her presence becomes unapologetically louder. She waacks, ascends slo-mo, and gracefully unfurls in the air. As a nod to Yoko Ono’s famous 1964 performance, Cut Piece, each action sheds the blue that once covered her. By the end of the video, Charlene lies on the floor nude and carefree.
The song’s themes of self-doubt and criticism are relatable to all, but the video is the manifestation of Charlene overcoming both. Against the discouragement in her internal and external worlds, Charlene has remained true to herself, taking up space in industries known to stifle women.
In another video, “EARTHRISE,” Charlene spins, floating softly in negative space, transforming void into genesis. “Cut my ties, set a torch to my life,” she sings, with tremendous emotional availability. The video is simple but shows how her freedom to create did not come without sacrifices.
In addition to her work as a comedian and musician, Charlene also produces and hosts a podcast, Golden Hour Pod, that platforms other AAPI musicians. The latest iteration of its companion event, The Golden Hour Festival, raised funds for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and the Lebanese Solidarity Collective. Charlene also hosted Asian American Arts Alliance’s 2024 fall fundraising event, Costumes & Cocktails.
When asked about how her approach to artistry has changed over the years, Charlene shares that she feels she’s much kinder to herself these days. “I have this great tool of comedy to be able to laugh at myself and take things a little bit more lightly and turn something into levity instead of marinating in the pain of it all,” she said. “The music I’m making now is still very deeply felt, but it’s a lot weirder and freakier and more fun. It’s more playful. I still get sad, but not in the same way—it used to be my whole world.”
“That’s the beauty of growing up and the journey of therapy that I’ve been on. I think that’s really changed my life.”
As Charlene continues breaking through to mainstream attention, old fans like myself will continue rooting for her, and new fans will be delighted to discover the extensive breadth of her work. While she may be bringing her mother “ultimate shame,” she continues making the rest of us proud.
—Joyce Keokham is a writer and filmmaker based in Chinatown, New York. They are often mistaken for Doraemon.
