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S T I R IFRIDA Y
NIGHT!
wenc to keepraceout of this,' implores
native'born scnatorialcandidateSterc
BGnamatsu,a characterin Stir-FridayNghd's
latestrenre WI II: Birth ofthc YclloutMctwc.
But rhe reporterswont let up: 'How long did it
eke pu ro pcrfectyour American accenC"
IGnamusu is at fust cirormspect,asbcfits an
Asian-Americanand politician. But the press
corps'relendessinterrogation of his American-ness
finally causcshim to snap. "All righd I m Japanae!
How'sthis Myfather shotdown Bob Dole!"
A viableAsian American senatorialcandidare
Fom Chicagois at prescnta frrfetc}red nodon
But running in a single-isue racewhen that single
issu*in fris case,nc+-isnt ofpurchoosing it
rernainsa mre.to-life feeling not just for Asian
Americansbut for anyonepowerlessto resetrhe
political agenda"Comedy is universal,"explairu ensemble
leaderQuincy'Wong 'a mairutreamaudienc
shouldbe ableto relateto humor by and about
AsianAmericanrif we do it righr' And rhey are
doing ir right, at la$-W{ il fi.rlfillsr}repotential
only hined at during Stir-Fri&y Nightt ruru last
)ar ar GeorgeStrea CafeandTurnAround
Thcater The dancingand singing interludes(and
fie "amatanrhour'' atrnospherethey lent) aregone.
The group,composedof DaiqyCasro,'Vayne Eji,
IGn Hamada,JenniferUrr Ron Mok, Secma
Su.ko,JoeYau,and'Wong hastoughenedits writ-
ing sharpenedits timing, and gonen darnnd funny
overdl.
WI II ts pepperedwith )ollo* esorcrica;reftrcnces
ro Russell'Wong(actor) and the Nationd Asrcciation
ofAsian American Professionals(ftppi. network), for
example,might bafle non-AsianAmericans. But the
showjr:st asoften foorseson easilyrccognizableicons,
and scndstlcrn up wickcdly.
David Carradinen l{ung Fw beomes Cricket, a
white drifter in *re Chinesecountryaide,overcoming
human conflict widr dre ancientwisdom of hair-aigger violence. Bruce I-een Enta thc Dragonbecomes
lcgendaryfunnyman StanMoy, a masterof dre lethal
Vay ofthc ntabc Intuts who is caught betweenwarring comedyacademiesin Hong IGng.
In clesic Chicagoimprov tradidon, Cridat and
Moy meet up wirh senaror-electIGnamatsu in thc
*Ve
spentour first year
showt apocalypticclima:c
doing nndom sketchcomedy-we neededdre challengeofwriting a realshow,with recuning characten
and inrerwovensubplos,"'Wongsap. Varior:s
ensemblememberstraind in improv with Sccond
Ciry, ImprovOly-pi., andl BLINK [n ia looscfeclirrginaicacy Yfo{II re)k thosecompanies besr
work
Vong, a 42-yas-o.ld'ABc" (American-born
Chincse),is the only memberof Sdr-FridayNigh.
working firll-dme in showbusiness.Het alsocunently appearrngn TImc Non-Bbndcs,a scriecomic
group monologueshow touring collqes around thc
etr
f,
f
F
.$^
)trr.lno ay ntg nr! pta tc r s ( ln as c c ns lngor oa4
S ccmaSu cko,len nife r L iu, J ennif erBanz on,Dais y
C astro ,Ken Hama da ,loe Yau, Ron l, lok , W ay nc Eii,
and Qu incy Won g.
in sand-up comdy
Midwesc- ln between,he squcezes
across
the
country.
at
nightdubs
gigs
'Wong
acknowledges
thatAsianAmericarutacean
uphill struggleto becomeagen*--rather than
objeca<fcomedy. l:st year,comedienneMargact
Cho s nenvork sircomAll-Ancrban Girl wascancelld
after half of a season,despitefinishing in the middle of
the pack, aheadevenof severalrenewedseries.But for
tle very ideaofAsian Americanfunniness,it wasa
high-profile flop. "Unforn-rnatelyit wasnt very good,"
'Wong
sa1n."But I dont think it setall of us hack I
can secone of the new nerworksespeciallyFOX, UPN,
\78, Eying out an AsianAmericanshowsoorL'
"Pop culrure is whereAsian Americaru become
politicallyconscious,'says'Wong."For me, becoming
I'm
a performermademe confront the stereory'pes.
from Skokie,but somedmesI haveto fakea Chinese
a@entto ger a parL In *ris show we useaccentsro
makeour own poinrsabout srcreotypes."In 1989
V'ong and othersfrom Chicago'scompacrAsian
American culrural sceneimproved the number and
qualiryof rheir oppornrnitiesby forming Angel Island
Theaue Company,which hassaged dassicsfrom the
AsianAmericanqrnon and commissioned,original
worla. 'Wong seesStir-FridayNighC asservinga similar role,asa supponivespacefor the developmentof
AsianAmericantalent,and asan orpressionof a
vibrantfuian Americancuhuralscenefiat's often overlookedin Chicagoand in coasal-centricAsian
America.
To Sdr-Fri&y Nightlt credir, W II'ts plenrypolidcal,but hardlycorrect. "Poliricalcorrecmess
is the
dearhof comedy,"V'ong sap, "you cant pleaseeveryone. You haveto be offensiveto attack offensiveness,
lilcein the Choco-Chinks
skir." Het referring to a commercialfor an "inscruably ddicious" snacktrcat "&om
rhe folks who broughtyou CheeseNips,' sarring
Super-CoolieGuy, a giant hat on legs. Indecd,those
offendedby evensubvenedsrereoqfpes
shouldsteer
clearof YLI II, with its wisecradcingrickshawjockrys,
bumbling ninja warriors,gameshow-playingBuddhas,
moralizing Pakisuni ceh6kiys15,
and white-bashi"g y=llow nadonalists.Thc laner did give'S7ongbrief pause"At first I wasa linle concerncdabout dre'round-e1'e'
jokes,"he admits. "Buc in contexr,theyrefunny."
8cn Kim b lsocil! tdioro{dlclllinois
lneruincr,
a rmdffyrui< nngnh
andb r fonding
Frnerof foruncl,ar kiar lncrionart olecivrSa *t 6i
bn $orasr (flmfrninl)in tlhg* ad (!t b76c
ryringprodxr6. tuiu ArrE
fub,n
lrrt bn rd bnarn* IG, Aden,
ad Sqrh brut'€[email protected]