Los Angeles-based comedian Jenny Yang will perform as part of the Asian American Comedy Night at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Gifford Auditorium. She has been a writer and performer on BuzzFeed videos and co-founded Dis/orient/ed Comedy, the first mostly female Asian-American touring comedy group. The Daily Orange spoke to Yang about finding content from her Asian-American roots and who she is as a performer.

The Daily Orange: How did you get into comedy?

Jenny Yang: I’m a loud Asian girl with opinions. I first started off in politics, and so when I realized that wasn’t making me happy the only other alternative for a loud lady with opinions was comedy.

The D.O.: How did the Dis/orient/ed Comedy tour come about and how has it been?

J.Y.: Dis/orient/ed Comedy is the best thing ever. We started it in 2012 to a sold-out show in Los Angeles, and the goal was to feature the first all-female Asian-American comedy tour. Now it’s a mostly female comedy tour and we’re really proud of the fact that we feature folks like an Egyptian-American female comic, a transgender Sri Lankan immigrant guy and an Iranian-Persian comic from San Francisco. That’s really the spirit of Dis/orient/ed Comedy.

The D.O.: How do you think Asian Americans, particularly Asian-American women, are represented in comedy?

J.Y.: Asian-American women tend to be completely invisible in comedy. There are maybe only a handful of people that most people will know about, and the only other real presence Asian-American women have in comedy is usually the punch line of someone else’s joke. No one’s really talking about Asian-American women like they’re real people. I think, to me, that says a lot about the comedy playground mentality and where Asians, in general, fall. We’re not that high up on the totem pole.

The D.O.: Why did you choose your work to focus on what it’s like to be an Asian American?

J.Y.: To have an opportunity to be onstage in front of a captive audience, being able to garner their attention, I thought to myself, “What do I want to talk about?” A lot of it is that these are the stories that don’t tend to be heard, but need to be heard. When I was in college, I was very influenced by Asian-American studies and ethnic studies. That knowledge always stayed with me because I realized how important it is to give voice to my experience, which happens to be being Asian American, being a woman and being an immigrant. It’s who I am.

The D.O.: The BuzzFeed video “If Asians Said The Stuff White People Say,” which you’re featured in, has received over 8 million views on YouTube. How do you feel about that?

J.Y.: I think it’s really representative of me as a comic, which is good because sometimes when you’re collaborating with other people, you don’t really have control over the outcome. It feels good to be a little drop in the national Internet conversation about identity and being Asian American. Other than being funny, I think why it was so viral was the fact that Asian Americans mocking other people, much less white people, is very rare for people to see. Oh, and Asian Americans definitely shared the sh*t out of that thing.

The D.O.: What message would you give to young women and Asian Americans?

J.Y.: I think it’s really important for people of color, Asian Americans particularly, and women to always understand that they have a voice and they can have a place and they can take up space. Every one of us has different packages of privilege that we come with and if you are able to forge a space for yourself, always think about how you can think about amplifying the voice of those who may not have has much space as you do.

Published on March 31, 2015 at 9:03 pm

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