I'm excited to share my experience as an immigrant assimilating to a new country and an outsider stumbling my way into Hollywood.
— Jimmy O. Yang
When 'Chappelle's Show' came out, if you didn't watch it on Wednesday night, you had nothing to talk about in high school the next day.
The great thing about the comedy world is that everybody is somewhat of an outsider. That's the community where outsiders feel like they're insiders.
I'm just a quirky, funny dude.
When I quit my internship and started doing standup to pursue my dreams and do that full time - I feel like that's when I 'Americaned.'
My publicist actually told me about the book. She's half-Indian, half-Dutch, and she was like, 'You've got to do this book. It's called 'Crazy Rich Asians.''
I was first introduced to Kiesza when I saw her perform 'Hideaway' on Jimmy Kimmel's show. It was the most incredible thing I've ever seen.
Nate Dogg is my favorite artist. I cried more when he passed than when Michael Jackson did.
That's what's great about standup comedy: the instant feedback. You get up on stage, you tell a joke, if it doesn't work, come back the next day with a better version of it.
My Chinese name is Man Shing which means 'ten thousand success.' It's a name that's sure to set me up for failure.
To get noticed you need to work a lot and have a bit of luck. And I'm here to say that it's possible.
Mother always tries to buy things for a reasonable price. I was never allowed to buy things at full price. Probably, it's rooted in the Chinese mentality. We are very thrifty.
Certain stories, like my mom leaving when I was 15-years-old to go back to China because she didn't quite assimilate like we did, that was a moment that was very sad in my life.
I obeyed my parents' rules inside our Chinese household while I pursued my dreams in the American world outside.
I was doing stand-up at the Improv and when the host introduces you, 'OK, the next comedian, you've seen him on 'Silicon Valley.' People always clap. They really watch the show and they are fans of it. And then they said, 'You are also going to see him in 'Crazy Rich Asians,' and I did not expect this, but the applause was even louder.
I love everyone on 'Silicon Valley.'
As far as stand-up, a lot of Asians and Chinese are not as apt to stand-up, especially the older generation since they don't even know what stand-up is.
If you want to do standup, you have to go on stage. That's the only way to get good - stage times.
One of the hard things coming from an immigrant family - or any family that doesn't believe in the arts - is that you have to disappoint your parents. That's hard for people to do if you're a good kid.
When a Spanish actor does an accent, that's sexy. When Peter Sellers did a French accent in 'Pink Panther,' that's funny - he got nominated for a Golden Globe. How come whenever an Asian actor does an accent, he's stereotyping?
Look, to be honest, when certain movies like 'Ninja Assassin' came out, that had a sexy, sexy Asian man with a six-pack, that made some people think, 'Maybe I should go out there and date an Asian dude.' And that did pretty good for us in a way of representation.
It comes from within to not be ashamed of our brothers and sisters who have accents.
Comedy and drama are like two different sports; they both require athleticism but they're different.
It's so great when there's a catchy song that's fun and easy to listen to, but there's also a real artist behind it.
I was actually fairly athletic and coordinated, but I never played any organized sports.
I'm a big Clippers fan. I have season tickets to the Clippers. That's the only team I really root for in any sport.
My dad played my dad in 'Patriots Day' and that's why he thinks that's a good movie.
I don't read in Chinese very well. Google Translate helps with that. It's cool that I can upload a photo and translate the text from it.
Growing up, my dad was 'get a real job, don't go pursuing your dreams, that's how you become homeless.' So, do I pick my family or do I pick my own happiness, and how much does my own happiness depend on my family?
I always have to brace myself when I visit my parents. My mom often greets me with a slew of nonconstructive criticisms: 'Jimmy, why is your face so fat? Your clothes look homeless and your long hair makes you look like a girl.' After 30 years of this, my self-image is now a fat homeless lesbian.
Just because I don't speak English with an accent anymore doesn't mean that I'm better than the people who do.
One of my first big paychecks, I used it to buy a Rolex. I bought a used 1968 vintage Rolex. I was too cheap to buy a new one.
Whatever ethnicity you are, yes, absolutely you have to be proud of who you are man. I am really really proud to be Asian, I got to say.
I think you have to experience life and then pull certain experiences into your act and your character's life, whoever you play, so you're full.
I studied economics and thought I wanted to play with the stock market - my dad was a financial adviser - and I was going to go down that path. I was an intern at Smith Barney.
My job is to go into that audition and be good enough of an Asian actor - or an actor in general - to land that role so they don't have to go out and hire a white guy. My job is to make sure I capitalize on these opportunities that other people created.
Maybe my job on this planet is to make the Asian accent sexy.
When I became an American citizen, nothing's changed because I'm still Asian.
When I was on the playground, people were calling me Jackie Chan.
When you are in America, at least for me, as an immigrant, I try to be as Americanized as I could. I just want to be an actor, I don't just want to be an Asian actor necessarily.
With a lot of pop music, they just have one song and a good beat, but there's not necessarily that much talent.
I remember the first couple of TV things I did, I was really nervous.
I was competitive ping-pong player. I played in youth tournaments, under the age of 13.
I tried a bunch of things, like Jiu Jitsu boxing classes. I don't know why, but I did.
I spoke English when I moved to the U.S.A. but I had an accent. To get rid of it, I watched a lot of TV-shows and tried to repeat after the tv-hosts. I liked shows about hip-hop.
A lot of people go on this journey of finding themselves and then eventually realize that their true self wasn't on the outside but it's always been there.
For once in my life, I wanted to flaunt my Asian side instead of hiding it to fit as somebody else... 'Crazy Rich Asians' made me want to get in touch with my roots, instead of running away from them.
I tried my hardest to be the opposite of a stereotypical Asian student.
I just want to keep working and have a roof over my head.
I hope I can get to more and more of the Chinese audience and kind of lead the way to maybe, y'know, inspire seems like a big word, but y'know... inspire to get people into entertainment because I think we can be just as good as anybody else.
