The promise of opportunities of the American Dream has attracted numerous immigrants to America over the generations. The toils of immigrants to forge a life, profession, and identity for themselves is documented as part of the heritage of many cultural groups in their stories, songs, dance, .... and now...stand-up comedy!!! Joe Wong is from the old country, China. He moved to the USA to pursue first a career in science and then his eventual calling as a pioneering stand-up comedian with a style of comedy that is intellectual and offers a view from the perspective of an immigrant. It is quite a unique brand of comedy that has appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, the Ellen Degeneres Show, and the Radio and Television Correspondent Association Dinner in Washington, D.C., which was attended by Vice President Joseph Biden. Joe is blazing a trail and breaking the traditional mold of perception of immigrants. You go, Joe!!! More jokes about pursuing the American Dream!!!
0 Comments
One of the hardest things in the world to do is to make people laugh on demand. The character of the comedian is one that is goofy on the outside, steely tough on the inside. There's a battle being waged on that stage as the comedian must artfully negotiate the fine line between having them laugh with you versus laughing at you. The comedian's resolve was heartily demonstrated in the 2003 season of Last Comic Standing when Dat Phan, born Vietnam, raised USA, competed for the title. He was an inexperienced comic who relied heavily on Asian jokes, very risky in the nitpicky-type environment of stand-up comedy. The other comedians showed a disdain towards him and ganged up against him. Phan persevered through one challenge after another during the show, while displaying a devoted dedication to winning the prize. And then....justice prevailed as the show and America stood up for him and voted him the champion!!! Yeah, score one for Asian jokes!!! So, Dat Phan, thanks for your courage and inspiration, and welcome to the Kingdom. Here at the Kingdom of Chen, we are big fans of reality TV. One of the original reality TV shows is Big Brother. The premise of the show is to record a group of strangers in a house where they are isolated from the outside world and have only basic living necessities. After being locked up for a while, their bad habits start surfacing; they start bickering and backstabbing, and some of the horny ones try to find ways to have sex without being seen. This idea is brilliant!!! What's more is that the host of this television landmark franchise is a Chen, Julie Chen. She holds the record for longest tenure as host of a reality show and has been the host of other news shows. Bravo, Julie, you are fulfilling our great destiny. She also underwent East Asian blepharoplasty, which is eyelid surgery that is popular in certain Asian countries. This raises some sensitive issues regarding discrimination and how one should combat it. Then again, people undergoing cosmetic surgery to advance their careers is quite common. What would you do? Let's hear her explain. The Chen line once saw the heights of glory when we proudly hailed a president....of Taiwan!!! Yes, there once was a king named Chen, Che Shui Bian. He won election in 2000 for the presidency with 39% of the vote. That in itself was quite an accomplishment in that there were more people who did not want him as president as those who voted for him. That would eventually contribute to his downfall. Politics in Taiwan is an unstable game. They are infamous for their patented WWE-style brawling parliament. Chen Shui Bian held office until 2008 and then...was convicted of corruption and is now serving a 19-year prison sentence. His presidential approval rating once hit 5.8%. And you wonder why we have never had a dynasty. He once was king...and then, smh. Here at the Kingdom of Chen, we are big sports fans. We are always thrilled to see a Chen playing pro sports. At the moment, there are no Chen's playing in the NFL and NBA. But, we do have two proud representatives in Major League Baseball! Lots of Asians playing in the big leagues!!! Let's give a warm welcome to the kingdom for the Chen's of Baseball. 1) Bruce Chen Born and raised in Panama with Chinese descent, Bruce Chen has put together a respectable major league career as a lefty starting/relief pitcher. He has played for a few teams with some decent stats. Let's get to know more about Bruce: 2) Wei-Yin Chen Wei-Yin Chen is from Taiwan!!! He is a legitimate starting major league pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles. To be a bit technical, he is the classic lefty with fastball, curve, and change-up. His career has lots of upside with All-Star potential! Keep mowing 'em down, W.Y., we are beaming with pride! More details: Welcome to the Kingdom of Chen. The world is full of great people named Chen, and we should be proud of our heritage and contributions to humankind. One of the greatest inventions of all-time came from a Chen. That, of course, would be Youtube founded by Steve Chen. There are a lot of Asians on there! Steve is from Taiwan and moved to the USA as a teenager. Taiwanese-American!!! Too bad, he didn't live in Arcadia...our de facto capital. He started with Paypal and Facebook and then went on to start Youtube. Here's to you Steve-o and welcome to the Kingdom. |
AuthorChinie Chin Chen Archives
May 2015
Categories
All
|