iamasiam

Inside, Looking Out

On the way back from Zuccoti Park^[1] this weekend, care to check out two plays currently in preview?  I know art is a luxury for us 99’ers nowadays.  But if you do manage to see either of these, I’m curious about what the odds are that each would enlighten views from the other side?  One percent?

“Asuncion”^[2] is about a couple of friends whose liberal views are challenged when a Filipino woman moves in with them.  Jesse Eisenberg, famous for his role in “The Social Network”, is the playwright and one of the actors.

“Chinglish”^[3] by David Henry Hwang, Tony award-winning playwright (M. Butterfly), traces similar cross-cultural challenges, this time from the perspective of a businessman traveling to China.

 

 

^[1] scribd.com
^[2] rattlestick.org
^[3] cherrylanetheater.org

Any other potential Asian American leading men out there?

It might take more than another 'Harold and Kumar' to bring Kal Penn back to the screen, writes Paige Wiser.  Chicago Sun-Time's entertainment columnist lists Kal Penn as one of several Asian American actors she deems worthy to be a television leading man.  Kal Penn has left "House" to serve as associate director of the White House Office of Public Liaison.¹

The other contenders are:
- John Cho ("Star Trek", "Flash Forward")
- Masi Oka ("Austin Powers in Goldmember," "Heroes")
- B.D. Wong ("The Karate Kid, Part II", "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit")
- Ken Leung ("Lost," "Sopranos")
- Daniel Dae Kim ("Lost")
- Tim Kang ("The Mentalist")
- Ken Jeong ("The Hangover," "The Goods", "All About Steve")

Wait a minute.  Didn't Ken Jeong play a role being beaten up by a group of angry co-workers after the lead character incites violence via a pep talk to his sales team?

I hope there are others then.  In fact, in another Paige Wiser column today, she writes about an Asian American actor who is getting a lot of air time and following on the hit HBO series, "Entourage".  Rex Lee plays Lloyd, the gay Asian assistant who is the object of "extremely creative slurs" from his boss Ari.²

Lee gives Lloyd an unsinkable ambition that will pay off during the next four episodes. Lloyd may be disrespected, but he never loses his dignity--or his impeccable argyle style.

We're yet to see what Lloyd's final pay off will be.³  Selecting positive roles makes better leading man qualifications to me.  Coincidentally, Jeremy Piven also plays the verbally abusive boss of Llyod in "Entourage."

¹Paige Wiser, "TVland of opportunity", Chicago Sun-Times
²Paige Wiser, "Gay, Asian ... and cool", Chicago Sun-Times
³Rex Lee, "Lloyd's Diary", HBO.com

Chin-Kee Ruvs Clispy Flied Cat Gizzards Wiff Noodle

I didn’t know it was graphic novel until my library called to say the book I had put on hold was ready for pick-up. Recommended by a friend oversees, the book published three years ago bore a title that was itself compelling. With lowered expectations, I took my library card and checked the book out. Later that evening, I thought I could get a quick chuckle here and there just browsing through the pages, only to realize it wasn’t for that type of reading. Luckily, my harried browsing missed the pages that would have been a spoiler to what turned out to be an astonishing climax to a very satisfying read.  The author cleverly interwove three disjointed stories, including a Chinese fable, to address issues of race and personal identity.

In National Public Radio’s slideshow featuring “American Born Chinese”, the award-winning graphic novelist Gene Yang also talks about the universality of his book’s theme and hopes it would appeal to the a broader audience: “I definitely don’t think that issues of shame and questioning the person’s identity are exclusive to Asian Americans in any way. So I would hope that people can connect to the book on that level, and then, well, broadly as a cartoonist I would hope that it opens them up to the world of graphic novels.” Yup, I’m set to look up his other works in my next trip to the library.

Helen will find you a find, laughing

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.

Fly Away: Towards dreams left behind

This year’s Asian American International Film Festival in New York closes this Sunday with H. P. Mendoza’s award-winning “Fruit Fly”. Bethesda (played by L.A. Renigen) is in search of her biological parents. From the same people who brought us “Colma: the Musical”, it promises to be fun entertainment. And, yes, will Bethesda realize the fruits of her pursuit?

Are you Chinese or Japanese?

"It is a wise man who can laugh at his own jokes." (Iranian Proverb)

"Where there is laughter happiness likes to be." (Japanese Proverb)

"Many families are built on laughter." (Indian Proverb)

"You will never be punished for making people die of laughter." (Chinese Proverb)