Jimmy O. Yang isn’t his real name, but Americans would struggle with Au-yeung Man-Sing so Jimmy seemed to be the better option and he’s absolutely right; pronouncing foreign names of anything isn’t exactly our strong point. Photo courtesy of Amazon.com
In his debut standup special Good Deal, now streaming on Amazon Prime, Jimmy O. Yang brings laughs and fresh insight into the struggles of growing up Asian in America. An immigrant himself, his stories on all of the ways Asian stereotypes casually creep into everyday life are a riot and yet still educational. For example, we learn what Ti Chi actually is, that apparently Asian customers really do tip less than most, and if you want a bargain just watch where your Asian communities go shopping.
Noted.
You also get a solid look at the difficulties of coming to America as a teenager and trying to fit in with our culture while maintaining your own cultural identity. Simple things like learning how to dress so you don’t get bullied in gym class, understanding differences between regular English and slang, and the frustrations of getting prodded into ordering everyone’s dinner at a Chinese restaurant in your native language because it sounds cool which when you think about it, it’s kinda weird because you would never see that happen to an American overseas.
Growing up an immigrant means you constantly deal with opposing ideals between your culture and the ones you’re surrounded with which Jimmy swan dives into with bits about how his very traditional parents reacted to his choice of career, job prospects, and why following your dreams = becoming homeless. Somehow I think he proved them wrong.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
Good Deal is a great, low key standup delivering lots of laughs while inviting you to rethink how you handle causal racism towards immigrants. It also offers great reminders as to why you don’t visit Mexico drunk or lie to the Canadian Border Patrol but still.
Official trailer can be seen here
Information on his work and upcoming shows visit his official website right here