Your work is awesome and truly a breathe of fresh air. When did
you realize that comedy was for you? Explain how this process came
about?
Thanks for that compliment! I guess I'd always been the funny one
in class. But while I always wanted to do stand-up comedy, I never
thought that it was something I could do. Then one day at college, I
saw a poster for a comedy competition on campus. For the next several
days, I tossed the idea around in my mind and finally decided to give
it a shot. When the night finally came, I snuck out of the dorms and
didn't tell anybody where I was headed. I tied for third, with
horrible material I threw together over a couple of days, but from
that moment I was hooked.
In addition to standup, you've done television shows, radio, movies, voice-overs and numerous other comedy projects; yet, standup
always permeates your approach to comedy. Please describe how you
view the role of stand-up in being a comedian.
Stand-up is comedy at its purest. It's just you and the audience in the moment. It can be a scripted delivery of a honed bit, or a
jazz-like scat-singing of a premise idea to flesh out the funny, or a
playful interaction between comic and audience, or a battle of wits
between me and a heckler. In any case it is beautiful and something to
be enjoyed on both sides of the mic. Stand-up is really the genesis of
all other forms of comedy. Stand-ups will often branch out to other
comedic genres such as acting, writing or directing. Often with much
success.
I think I speak for the masses when I express that I'm glad that you decided on a career in Comedy over being a Magician. You have been quoted as saying "comedy is about truth," can you further
describe what comedy personally means to you?
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a magician. I had a bunch of
store-bought tricks and did a show at a family Christmas party. But
magic is about deception. Lies. Making your audience applaud for doing
something you didn't really do. I mean, I still have much respect and
awe for great magicians. But when I discovered comedy albums and
comedy specials on HBO, that really floored me. You can tell the truth
about how you feel about things? Awesome, I wanna do that! Certainly,
there are some comics who employ the absurd to great effect. For me,
however, speaking my mind on things is at once a good source of
material and also incredibly cathartic. I can get things off my chest,
work through my issues and get paid! Everybody wins.
A captive audience or being captive in front of an audience? …Can
you describe your experience of performing a private comedy show for
an (alleged) organized crime lord? Is it safe to even talk about it?
The guy who roped me into the gig told me it was a family reunion.
I just didn't know it was a "family" reunion and the reason why there
was a reunion is that some of the "family" were away for awhile at an
"extended stay resort." But guess what? Alleged criminals want to
laugh just as much as the rest of us. They were nice people. Those
nasty Federal Agents in the white van across the street should just
leave them alone, and that's all I have to say about that.
You were made an honorary Senator for the State of Hawaii, please describe how this happened for you?
Like anytime the government does something nice for you, it was
because they needed something from me. The two houses of the state
legislature and the Governor's cabinet were competing with each other
in a talent show at the Governor's mansion. The Senate decided that
they really had no talent amongst themselves and opted to bring in a
ringer. And in order to play by the rules, they made me an honorary
Senator. A nice sized check but also a textbook lesson in shady
government practices wasting your tax dollar.
Having basketball lessons from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is awesome! When
and how did you acquire this experience? Are you a better basketball
player for it?
The Kareem Incident happened when I was in the 5th grade. I call it
the Kareem Incident because it makes it seem like a crime. Which it
was. I'm not a big guy as an adult, and I wasn't even this big at the
age of 10. So for Kareem to roll into town and charge good money to
teach basketball to tiny kids was like a crime. He didn't really
strike me as enjoying himself around us kids. Plus, it's not like he
had some big secret that would make us all NBA stars. He pretty much
told us the same things our coaches told us. Basically he got paid for
saying, "Hey, work on your fundamentals. And next time be born
taller."
Performances: Do you need to emotionally/mentally prepare for a
live performance? If so, how do you prepare for this?
I still get a little nervous before every show, but I like it. It's
a furnace in pit of my stomach that lets me know I'm alive. Would I
still get on stage if it never got me excited anymore? Not likely. I
pace around a lot, running through what I might say first. I stretch a
little, too, since I can get physical on stage. I've pulled muscles
while performing and that makes for a long show. Also, I like to do a
little reconnaissance on the crowd. I watch the opening acts to see
what kind of stuff the audience is into. I take note if there are
people who want to be part of the show, and what sort of things they
are saying to the comedians.
Inspiration: What are your sources of inspiration for writing
comedy? Who/what have been your greatest inspiration?
Strange/horrible/curious things happen to me all the time. I'm
blessed that I'm so cursed. I talk about that stuff on stage. If
something gets me worked up in the news, I'll share that too. Also, my
wife is an endless spring of material. Man, if I knew there would be
so much material I would have gotten married years ago. And to
multiple women.
If you could work with any celebrity on a project, who would it
be? What type of project would be ideal to work on with this person?
I've been a huge fan of Mel Brooks' all the way back to the
original Get Smart TV series. And his edgy irreverent humor in Blazing
Saddles was classic. Of course, Richard Pryor had a hand in that, too.
But I'd like to see Mel get back to his former glory, and much like
Cleavon Little did I'd like to help Brooks shatter society's
sensitivities about what is and isn't okay to laugh at.
On a personal note... The contrast of growing up in a more
traditional, conservative household (and expectations therein) to that
of standup comedy must have been substantial. Describe the impact of
hearing your father express that he is proud of you. In the
beginning, were there other expectations placed on you instead of
comedy?
Maybe it was because as a kid I'd shown an interest in writing
video games that I was told I had to get a degree in Electrical
Engineering. A lot of people ("parents") probably see comedy as the
antithesis of a respectable career in Engineering. So I always figured
myself as somewhat of a disappointment to my mom and dad, who were a
lawyer and a chemist. I never got to hear from my dad that he loved me
or that he was proud of me. I thought it was because of the typical
emotionless Asian father thing. But a couple of years ago, they came
to see me at a sold-out theatre of 1400 people and I thought it was
the time to strike. And on stage, I made a joke about him never
telling me those things. Maybe you can't be proud of your son if you
think he's telling fart jokes to 6 people in a smoky bar, but in this
situation you've got to be proud. And the next day, after 35 years of
silence, he finally told me that he loved me and was proud of me. It
was totally a forced confession, coerced by my mother, who was jabbing
him in the ribs, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. So the moral of the
story is: fathers, tell your kids you love them. Or they'll develop
issues and become comedians.
What charities do you support and have worked with? How have these
experiences touched your soul?
I've done several shows for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I
hear all the time how comedians are brave to get up on stage in front
of all those people. But if you take a look at how these kids,
stricken with cancer, are able to face the world with a smile, now
that's brave. The kids came up to thank me before a show, and I was
like, "No way, I should be thanking you guys for showing me what
courage is all about." What people need to realize is, you get as much
as you give when you help others. Also, I just did a show for the
Brittany Foundation, a no-kill dog shelter. Dogs can bring
immeasurable joy to the right homes. I like that they try to match
homeless dogs with dogless homes. That's purely win-win. How can you
not help?
What has been your greatest accomplishment to date?
In comedy, I am most proud of winning the 32nd Annual San Francisco
International Comedy Competition. It's the granddaddy of all comedy
competitions and was won previously by folks like Dana Carvey, Sinbad,
Doug Stanhope and Jake Johannsen. It took three weeks of grueling
travel and continuous self-doubt. In life, I still can't believe I got
my wife to marry me. That's been seven years of self-doubt!
Describe your most embarrassing moment.
I did a show once where an elderly white couple was sitting front
and center. They were old, like from when everybody was racist. As I
took the stage I noticed the old lady was shaking her head at me. So I
immediately tried to squash the hate and told her, "Hey, I didn't even
say anything yet. Let me do my act, then you can judge me." But as I
started my first joke, I noticed that she was still there, shaking her
head at me. So I stopped and addressed her, "Is there so much hate in
your life that you won't even let me speak? Come on." And I tried to
do my act again. But sure enough she was still looking at me shaking
her head. That's when I exploded, "That's it, bitch! I've had it with
your racist ass!" And I was probably more foul than that. That's when
her husband stood up and said loudly in his old man voice, "She has
Parkinson's!" Well, at that point, the only four words you can say
are, "Thank you. Good night."
What are some of your up and coming projects in the near future?
I did a movie which is playing the Festival circuit now, and it
just won an award in Australia. It's called "Porndogs", and it
co-stars Ron Jeremy, Marilyn Chambers (her last film) and Heidi
Fleiss. That will be out in the US in a couple of months. If they can
find a gutsy distributor, look for it on the big screen, but more
likely it will be for sale as a DVD. Don't let the title (and the
cast) fool you, it is a hilarious comedy and nobody gets naked, no
animals were harmed. Aside from that, last week I shot the interview
portion of the Showtime comedy special that I headlined. The tentative
air date is in December. And I'm talking with the producer of that
show to shoot a live comedy special in Hong Kong. I can't wait for
that!
Genie and a bottle, three wishes, what would they be?
I'll be selfish here, because I know the world's governments are
going to address poverty, hunger and war. (1) I want a 500-HP V10
Dodge Tomahawk motorcycle that runs on self-loathing so that I never
have to pay for gas again. (2) I wish there was food I could feed my
dogs that would be totally metabolized by their bodies so that I
wouldn't have to pick up their crap. I might eat that stuff, too, from
time to time. (3) I once saw Elton John's yacht. It was bigger than
every house I've ever lived in put together. His boat was so big it
had a spare boat on it, and his boat's boat was bigger than all the
other boats I have seen. Also it had a helicopter. I think you know
where I'm going with this: I wish I could play the piano.
If you were to give advice to beginner standup comedian, what
would you tell him/her?
Be you. That's all you can be. And no one else can be you, which
makes you unique. You see so many young comics trying to emulate the
style and material of Dane Cook or Mitch Hedburg or Bill Hicks. Don't
be the next Mitch, be the first you.
