New York Times profiles Jesse Appell ‘12, Fulbright scholar, comedian, author, and entrepreneur | Of Note | March | 2026 | Brandeis Stories

New York Times profiles Jesse Appell ‘12, Fulbright scholar, comedian, author, and entrepreneur | Of Note | March | 2026 | Brandeis Stories | Brandeis University

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New York Times profiles Jesse Appell ‘12, Fulbright scholar, comedian, author, and entrepreneur

Curious about where a Brandeis degree can take you? How about across the world to master stand-up comedy in China, then back to America to start a successful tea business and write a book?

That’s the Brandeis story the New York Times recently told about Jesse Appell ‘12, who used a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to explore what tickles China’s funny bone. As he explains in the Times, the East Asian studies and international and global studies major lived abroad in China for several years before returning to the U.S. He now oversees Jesse’s Teahouse, a specialty tea company, and he recently published a memoir, “This Was Funnier in China: An American Comedian’s Cross-Cultural Journey.”

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