Date Night China: Jing & Tonic and the Dark Horses Entertainment

Rachel Weiss theBeijinger

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This article comes from Date Night China (WeChat ID: datenightchina), your guide to dating in China, from love to lust, first dates to worst dates, hilarious stories, and top tips to avoid (or steer into) disaster. Single in the city? Listen to their podcast.

Featuring musicians, comedians, magicians, and even Mongolian throat singers, Jing & Tonic is the variety show in Beijing you've been looking for!

Claire, a Scotland native who has been in Beijing since 2015, shares more about how she founded Jing & Tonic and where you can catch the next show.

First off: How has your personal dating experience in China been?
Woof! There’s a question! I left a rather awful four-year relationship just before the virus hit so I have mostly been using this time to realign myself and focus on what’s good for me. Sounds super cheesy and cliché but it’s been an incredible time! I think it’s really important to take some ‘single’ time after a long relationship, so I am not really actively dating, but I absolutely do have my eye on the game. It’s gonna take one hell of a dude to pull me back into that, I am having way too much fun. I am also horrific at flirting…

You started this fantastic variety show in Beijing. How did it get started and what kind of performances do you feature?
Jing & Tonic was birthed from a love of comedy/music and trying to push and support the dark horses among us. We are a "variety show," which means I am open to anything and everything that could be entertaining.

Typically, we have musicians and comedians, but we have had other acts too, such as a magician, a loop daddy, and a Mongolian throat singer. We also feature a main band at the end of every show, so we have been really lucky to get some of Beijing’s best bands on the show!

There was (understandably) a lack of events during the virus, which left a whole load of struggling comedians, musicians, and venues that rely on these events to pay the bills. Our first show was back in May and we have been running on the last weekend of each month since then!

Please do get in touch if you have a talent that you think you could bring to the stage, experienced or not, we are open to everything!

What makes this a unique event in Beijing? What do you think the audience loves most about it?
I think people love Jing & Tonic so much because it is the only event that really combines all of these acts in one place. The result of this is that we have, in my opinion, the best freakin’ audience ever! They arrive with an open mind and are just generally a bit mental and up for it.

The mix of acts really pushes you to come and try something new and it keeps your repertoire on entertainment fresh. You might come to see your favorite comedian and leave with a new favorite band and a whole list of events to go to in the coming weeks.

We are all about sharing the love between our acts and promoting their events to try and help get Beijing back on its feet in terms of entertainment! In terms of growth, we started extremely strong and haven’t come down. We have sold out every show we have put on!

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Tell us about your stage persona – Ms. Bobbi Benet. Where does her music style and inspiration come from?
Ah, Ms. Bobbi Benet Ramsey. What a doll. Actually, I have only been singing publicly since December 2019. I always really enjoyed singing but kinda treasured it and didn’t want to suck the fun out of it. Thankfully, I love it even more now.

I wanted to get into comedy somehow and realised just how hard stand-up comedy is (major props to those that do it so well), so it kind of grew arms and legs until it became what it is today – a comedy set through parody singing.

The thought pattern started at a Wisty Jing event, which is probably my favorite event that was ever held in Beijing. These guys were doing proper weird comedy and absolutely not apologizing for it. So, I approached one of the guys, Dan Taylor (the legend), and he got me onto the next show. We took it from there and it has snowballed.

When COVID struck, I felt as though I had only just gotten started, so I took the opportunity to just create my own platform to continue as the Wisty boys were all stuck outside China. I am secretly holding out hope for a Wisty/Tonic collaboration in the future!

With regards to lyrics and musical style, I usually despise parody music so I wanted to do something a bit different. I wanted to try and sing really well, with a sense of innocence and a simpler time, but with nasty, vulgar lyrics. I think what it does is make people feel so uncomfortable and confused to the point of laughter – there’s not really anywhere else to go with it. The end goal is to make people laugh and ruin their favorite songs forever.

Would Jing & Tonic make a great date night?
It’s the perfect date night! It’s really got something for everyone, and we try to push the boundaries a little bit so it can be a little bit cringe, and a little bit sexy at the same time. It just breaks the ice.

So, I guess if you are in a relationship, you could learn a lot about what your partner likes and if you’re not, then you could meet some like-minded people! We have a solid base of regulars now, so it has started to really feel like a community!

What’s next for Jing & Tonic?
The next Jing & Tonic will be this Saturday, Sep 26 at The Bricks! So soon!

We have a great line up, including Carl and Charles who are first-time comedians to J&T, and the one and only Date Night China – I hear you guys have some pretty awesome stuff planned!

Our band for the night is Joker’s Belief. I have been trying to get those boys booked from the beginning, so I am really pumped for that! And of course, Ms. Bobbi Benet – it’s a pretty bittersweet one because Greg, Bobbi’s guitarist, is moving back to the UK so this will be their last show together!

As if that’s not enough, our resident host and my bestie in the whole land, Curtis Del Gay will be there to make you almost wee yourself all night long.

We will also have a big Halloween Special on Oct 30 so stay tuned for more info to come on that. It’s going to be WEEIIIRDDD!

Find Out More About Jing & Tonic:
We have a WeChat group where we post inappropriate stickers and share information about each event.

Folks can add me on WeChat (ID: claireyco) if they wish to be added! We also have an Instagram page at ‘jing.andtonic’ where we post info and share photos, etc. We are working on getting an official page!

What’s even easier is to just scan the QR code and get down to see us, we’ll take you from there! Get in there before we sell out!