Ah, Microsoft Paint. It’s the tool that once sent our young creative minds into a tizzy. And apparently, it continues to live on! Comedian Jenny Tian is currently utilising the ancient digital art program to accompany her new stand-up show, 'Picture This', which heads to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival this April. If you’d like to score double-pass tickets to the show on Tuesday, April 18th, then pop over to our win page. In the meantime, find out a little bit more about Jenny below.

Hey Jenny! Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Hello! I’m Jenny Tian. I open my mouth and funny things come out. I believe this is known as a comedian. You can find my face on the interweb (here and here) or hobbling around various comedy clubs in Australia.

How did you get started in comedy? When I was 21, I rocked up at an open mic (just to watch) and went, “I reckon I could do this.” The next week I returned with a whopping two minutes of material and bombed the entire way through. I got one laugh at the end and thought, “Oh my god, that felt SO good!” After that, I entered my ‘look at me tell jokes’ era.

What inspired your upcoming show, 'Picture This'? I did a storytelling night at Generation Women (it’s a wonderful night and I’d recommend checking it out). I spent a lot of time writing a very funny (and true) story so I wanted to record it and post it on socials. On the night, my camera went bonkers, and the entire video was out of focus. So, I ended up posting just the audio with a series of Microsoft Paint drawings, and it turned out even better than I’d hoped. I’ve now made an entire show using Microsoft Paint drawings. It’s called 'Picture This' and it has my best stories, stand-up comedy bits and of course, many, many drawings.

You’ve got quite a following on TikTok! How do you come up with ideas for your videos? Coming up with content is really difficult, so I’m constantly on the prowl for inspiration. Generally, I gravitate toward things that are frustrating, hence my many, MANY videos about public transport.

What do you like to get up to in your spare time? I love trying out new recipes, doing Pamela Reif’s YouTube workouts, looking after my plants and refusing to use the term ‘plant babies’.

What’s your favourite joke to whip out at parties? Excuse me, whipping things out at parties is inappropriate. I’m a polite, sensible person and I never tell jokes.