Cross Strait Comedy + Belly Laughs Food & Comedy Festival in Los Angeles
A Taiwanese comedian and a Chinese comedian walk into an interview... And I'm going to L.A. again!
I firmly believe that democracy is a system that demands an extraordinary ability to empathize with people who’s struggles you don’t understand. And I believe stories, especially funny stories, can be a great way to foster that empathy.
German public media DW News, or Deutsche Welle, recently interviewed me and my friend Jamie Wang. She’s from Shanghai and started doing stand-up in Taipei; I’m from Taipei and got my start with comedy in Shanghai. We met at Two Three Comedy Club in Taipei a couple of years ago and became fast friends. No, we’re not related. There are just a lot of Wang’s out there.
We talked about cross strait prejudices, censorship, and doing comedy as women. We’re both doing stand-up comedy with a touch of diplomacy. I want more people to learn about Taiwan. Jamie’s battling anti-Chinese prejudice, an issue that’s especially rampant in Taiwan but prevalent around the world. Comedy is our way of understanding ourselves and an effort to be understood.
The interview is in Mandarin Chinese; you can watch it with English subtitles on YouTube.
We had previously been interviewed by NPR’s All Things Considered after we did a Cross Strait Comedy show in Taipei. If Jamie can get a visa to come to the U.S., I would love to take Cross Strait Comedy on the road on the road.
On another note:
How. How did my name end up on the same poster as Asian comedic icons like Margaret Cho, Joe Wong, Hasan Minhaj, Aaron Chen and Robin Tran? Just last April, I had opened for Taiwanese American comedian
in Taipei (she fought Michelle Yeoh in Netflix’s The Brothers Sun!!!). Jason Cheny has an awesome YouTube special called Taiwanese American Human. Sabrina Wu was excellent in the movie Joy Ride. Hari Kondabolu is one of my favorite Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me panelists. And and and…MY POINT IS THIS IS AWESOME AND I’M VERY EXCITED FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY.
If you have friends in the greater Los Angeles area, let them know about this amazing Asian FOOD AND COMEDY festival. Belly Laughs Festival is coming to L.A. LIVE July 12-13th. See 30+ comedians across the 2-day festival and eat at 20+ food and beverage vendors curated by MAMA's NIGHTMARKET.
