It’s not enough for Asian American stand-up comedians to capitalize on ethnic stereotypes anymore. That’s been done! Even Margaret Cho has since expanded her forte. “I’m doing acting”, Margaret says her recent appearance at the “Late, Late Show”. In the show, Margaret breaks seamlessly into that Korean accent, but only after being led to it by her host, Craig Ferguson.
Helen Hong has been in the industry for a while now. But now she’s found her new shtick, comédien et marieur. Actually, it’s speed matchmaking that she has added to her forte. New York Times’ Susan Dominus qualifies this further today in her column, Big City.
“Actually, it’s more refined than that: it’s speed matchmaking of singles in the audience of a comedy show. Actually, it’s even more refined than that: it’s speed matchmaking of singles in the audience of a comedy show that has been packed with Asian-Americans.”
Miss Dominus writes that Helen already has plans to further expand her act to a more racially diverse crowd. With her recent act at the comedy club called Comix drawing a large Asian following, Helen Hong should bask in her newfound niche just a while longer.
How about first setting a record in the number of matches you can actually make—and this could be rather tricky—for Asian American women? Miss Dominus cites only one case that is “successful enough” in such undertaking. It could be a challenge given, as the columnist reports, the comedian-cum-matchmaker’s occasional annoyance with shy young women, especially Asians: ‘“I won’t stand for that—I hate that geisha hand-covering-mouth thing.”' The ethnic jokes always come in handy!
Here’s a sample of Helen Hong’s repertoire before her matchmaking days.
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