During his own childhood in Tacoma, Wash., Jo Koy and his sister were encouraged by their mother to take part in school talent shows. His sibling is now a singer in Las Vegas, which is also where Koy first did stand-up in 1996. Of Asian decent, Koy hates when people try to guess his heritage. " 'Hey, dude, do you eat rice? Hey, are you a bad driver? I’ll bet you’re good at math.’ I hate that,” he says. “I just tell them right off the bat, ‘Hey, dude, I’m Asian.' " However that seems to make it worse.
"I get the worst compliments. ‘Oh, really, you’re Asian? I love orange chicken.’ That’s not a compliment, that’s an insult. Like I’m supposed to say, ‘Sank you! Sank you! Orange chicken is very good!’ ” Koy is quick to add, “It is good, though, orange chicken. Delicious. Thank the Chinese for orange chicken, they brought it to this country. (But) I’m from L.A.”
Jo Koy performs at The Funny Bone at Newport on the Levee Wednesday-Saturday. Go here for show times and ticket information.
