Zen And The Art Of Asian American Comedy
JULY 20, 2007
LOS ANGELES (TNA) – September 11, 2001, was a watershed for millions of Americans and while the tragedies that occurred that day brought lots of tears, the after effects include lots of laughter.
Before that day, Dat Phan, a Vietnamese-American, was studying to be an art teacher in San Diego. However, after seeing the destruction of the World Trade Center and the damage to the Pentagon, he decided to change careers and become a comedian instead.
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Dat Phan |
As life changing decisions go, it was a good one for Phan. Less than two years later, he was declared the first winner of the NBC talent show "Last Comic Standing," and quickly became one of the most prominent Asian American comedians in the country, along with Margaret Cho and "MadTV" cast member Bobby Lee.
But Phan, Cho and Lee are just the tip of the iceberg.
There are lots of Asian American comics making their presence on the comedy circuit and have a chance of crossing over to mainstream Americans, especially if a new stand-up DVD, "Comedy Zen 1," is a success.
Phan predicts that just as comedians like Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor helped create a market for comics like Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock, he and other successful Asian comedians are paving a new road for others to follow.
"Asian Americans are still getting acclimated to the culture," Phan, who was born in Saigon, said. "As they get used to the culture, you’ll see more."
Phan sees stand-up comedy as a serious movement with Asian Americans, one that makes them more prominent in the mainstream media.
But it also requires them to make adjustments from the cultural norms many were raised with, such as hanging around with Asians from other cultures.
"In Asia, the people from the different countries don’t hang around with each other," Phan said. "For instance, the Chinese people in the north and south would probably kill each other.
"It’s probably not that different from Europe, where the Irish fought the English and the Germans fought with the French, but, here, you can’t do the whole cultural thing. There are so few Asian comedians that you have to work together.
"For instance, one of my best friends, Joey Guila, is Filipino-American, and we do shows together. We couldn’t do that if we were in Asia."
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Joey Guila |
"We adapt where we need to," Guila said. "We’re not known for anything but karaoke. If that was in the Olympics, we’d win the gold medal for sure."
Like Phan, Guila was inspired to go into comedy after a formative period in his life. A former hairdresser, he decided after recovering from Hodgkin’s disease to pursue stand-up fulltime.
It wasn’t that much of a stretch for him.
"I had a talent for imitating people and being goofy," Guila said.
Guila said that because the audience for Asian American comedy is small, he had to make a major decision about whether to start out at white clubs or the black circuit, explaining, "I chose the black clubs because I didn’t want to have to wait to get on stage."
That was in 2000, and even though Guila and Phan are both headliners, they are very aware that, unlike black or Latino comics, they have to have mainstream appeal in order to keep the laughs (and paychecks) coming.
"You can’t go too ethnic," Phan said. "I’ve been in Iowa performing for two scared Asians and a bunch of corn eaters and you can’t joke about Sriracha (a popular Asian chili sauce) there. But, in San Francisco, you can joke about Asians non-stop."
Guila agrees, and says he’s been in some clubs where the customers were "shocked" to see Asians on stage. That’s why he focuses on material about his family, which, despite his Filipino upbringing, seems to be a "universal subject."
Phan is more interested in joking about the immigrant experience and how Asian Americans fit into the larger society.
"I do impressions of my mom," Phan said. "But I like joking about bicultural things, like interracial dating and politics. I love joking about why so many military personnel marry Asians.
"Generally, Asian Americans fall into two groups, anyway: `FOBs,’ which are `fresh off the boat,’ and ‘Bananas,’ which are yellow on the outside, white on the inside."
One thing that Phan won’t joke about is Asia. Although his pal Guila has performed in Hong Kong to good response, Phan has little desire to go there or return to the country of his birth.
"Why would I want to go back to Vietnam? They would kill me for talking about freedom of speech. Ho Chi Minh tried to kill my parents. I’d rather visit a place like Japan, where they’re interested in building the economy."
Phan and Guila are happy to use their experience as Asian Americans as a source for humor and, when it helps, for marketing purposes, but other comedians like K.T. Takara find the label a little strange.
Takara is also featured in "Comedy Zen 1," but admits the "Asian American" label chafes him a little bit, since he’s half white, half Japanese and, by his reckoning, "didn’t grow up in an Asian household."
"It’s not like I feel overly tied to my Asian side," Takara said. "Some [Asian American comics] have stories about their crazy mom, but it puts me in a weird situation. The white people expect Asian humor, but the Asians immediately know I’m half white.
"To me, it just matters if you’re funny or not," Takara said, emphasizing that he prefers to joke about going to college or dating more than his so-called Asian roots.
He admits that DVDs like "Comedy Zen 1" may raise the profile of Asian comedians, but Takara said there’s a lot of work to be done if Asian American comedy is to succeed among its presumed core constituency.
"One of the reasons there’s not a bigger Asian America comedy scene is that everyone is from a different place, and not all Asians connect," Takara said.
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