Esther Ku: Last Comic Standing

By Brian | Thursday, July 24, 2008 | 19 Comments

Thanks for visiting 8Asians, a blog about Asian American issues. If you find this interesting, subscribe to the RSS feed, visit our Facebook Page or add us on Twitter!

I don’t watch Last Coming Standing, but someone brought this to my attention and now she’s been drawing particular ire b/c of Esther Ku‘s “…Asian women are out of Asian men’s league” joke. I have to defend her on this, because there’s some truth to it — the fact that some women feel this way. And I actually laughed out loud — LOL-style! — when I heard that punchline.

(see @ approx. 1:30-2:10)

You can’t take a comedian’s material literally; that defeats the purpose of the entire art form (Yes, it’s actually an art form. We’re not assholes who wake up one day and say, “I’m just going to talk in front of strangers.”) A comedian’s bits, stories and jokes are based on truth but it’s being reflected through a fun-house mirror; it’s perverted, distorted, digested and shat out for your listening approval; the cheesecake of truth we eat at noon becomes the feces of humor by sundown. The end might bear only a faint resemblance to its beginning because the filtering process has taken its liberties. Does Esther Ku really think Asian guys aren’t worthy of Asian women? C’mon… use your fucking brain. She’s making commentary.

Being a comedian of sorts, I don’t like to judge another person’s material — it’s sort of an unspoken rule — but I will say this: I hear Black and Hispanic comedians do it ALL THE TIME. No one (White comedians) says shit. Turn on BET’s Comic View and tell me 90% of the material isn’t self conscious racial humor. But, hey now! The comedy police suddenly shuts the fuck up and hide behind their mommy’s skirts. Why don’t they criticize the Black comedians? I guess that’d be racist.

I’m not saying Esther Ku is the second coming. I’m saying if that’s her material, then that’s her material. Laugh or don’t. I do pedophile, rape, bestiality, incest, and midget-donkey-orgy jokes. It’s not for everyone and I apologize to no one. But if you’re going to criticize the subject matter of her material, then apply that criticism uniformly. Don’t say Asians have to stop doing Asian jokes but then conveniently avoid criticizing comedians of other races.

Categories:

Comedy

NOTE: 8Asians.com is a community, and we thank you for being a part of it. While we welcome and appreciate differences in opinion, if you're rude or you're promoting spam, we have a right to edit or delete your comment. Read our comment policy for more information.

If you see a comment that violates the 8Asians.com comment policy, you may flag the comment by mousing over the comment and clicking "FLAG."

Facebook Comments (Beta)

Smarter than you

Well, I think it’d be different if she were *funny* or *original*. But she’s not, at least not to anyone that I know who’s seen it. She is literally telling 5th grade level jokes. You’re comparing her with other comedians of color solely based on the fact that they tell racial jokes, without commenting on the quality of those jokes. I also bet you that any successful black or hispanic comedian has something else in their arsenal than jokes about their own race.
http://www.oneyearmillionaire.net KG Lew

You hear people laughing in the video… if it wasn’t funny then you would hear the crickets. Most comedians will play the race card… or other cards they can manage from their deck. I know there’s this one comedian who’s whole set is making fun of himself because he is obese.
http://hellomoye.com/ moye

the only thing i find offensive with her is her complete lack of comedic talent.
Joe Chu

The difference between her and other racial comedians is that her jokes are not ironic at all. People like Carlos Mencia and Chris Rock actually use a tinge of irony, i.e., there’s some pride behind the jokes. This is absolutely not the case with Esther.
http://www.jozjozjoz.com jozjozjoz

Ok, so I was reading the interview on her bio at the LCS page and she was asked, “What do you hope to gain by becoming the Last Comic Standing?”

Her answer was, “I hope that I can convince NBC to do a sitcom about the Kus. We are really funny and goofy. And America is intrigued by Asians.”

THIS HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE, GIRL! It was called “All American Girl” and guess what? It turns out America is NOT all that intrigued by Asians; at least not in sitcom form. Especially if the lead is not funny and lacks talent. You could make the argument that Margaret Cho and her jokes about her family were actually funny, but dang, if this is Esther’s best material… well, daaaaaaaaaaang. I wouldn’t watch THAT sitcom.

She’s got balls for going up there and doing standup, though. Wish she was just a little bit funny. I’ll give her some slack… maybe this was a bad set? Has anyone seen her other stuff and was it any better or worse?
http://www.8asians.com John

Esther is pretty cute. Actually, I found some of her jokes funny – especially the “I’m so American, I’m against immigration.”
http://www.minoritymilitant.blogspot.com minoritymilitant

Brian, you are sorely mistaken on your take on the “…Asian women are out of Asian men’s league” joke. I could understand if it was funny, but I mean, who are you kidding? Speaking of the comedy police, we understand that people get too sensitive about certain ethnic jokes.

“Does Esther Ku really think Asian guys aren’t worthy of Asian women? C’mon… use your fucking brain. She’s making commentary.”

I think you miss the point. She doesn’t have a solely Asian audience, she’s speaking to America. Do you not think that gives some of these dried-up advertising writers and lame commercial and screenwriters ammo to do the same shit she just did?

I’m not trying to put you or Esther Ku on the spot, but her skit was whack. The parallel you use with Black comedians is totally irrelevant because Blacks have been in standup and have built reputations for themselves. They have a cultural identity — Asians don’t.

So when you ask us not to take it “literally”, you should take into account that some of the racist and offensive things we convey comes at a cost. No one’s asking or telling other Asian comedians to stop telling Asian jokes.

Now I’m gonna transcript the skit for you because you left the important part off.

Asian girls are going out with White guys, black guys, you know? Everybody but Asian guys. You know, like what’s gonna happen to Asian guys, they’re gonna go extinct or something, as they sit at home and play video games. I feel bad like they’re all single, but umm…not enough to date them. Like last week..this Asian guy asked me out..I’m like jeez, when are they gonna realize that Asian girls are just way out their league.”

Now tell me if I’m going just a tad bit overboard on this. Just my take on it.
Brian

No, believe me. I got the joke and understood it well better than you. I guess some of you people here reading 8A need to be spoon fed, so spoon feed I will.

This issue is NOT whether she’s funny; that’s wholly subjective. So all you people bringing up “funny” is not getting it. There are people that I have met that think Chris Rock is not funny. Honest to god. Ever since then, I completely stopped trying to convince and argue comedy. What YOU find funny is what YOU find funny; hence “Laugh… or Don’t”.

The issue is whether her material is grounded in some truth? There are Asian women who ABSOLUTELY feel what she said. Does her saying it on national tv bother you? Upset that our warts and scars are being put out there for the neighbors to see? Tough. Deal with it. Change the landscape, don’t brush it under the carpet.

You said: “I think you miss the point. She doesn’t have a solely Asian audience, she’s speaking to America. Do you not think that gives some of these dried-up advertising writers and lame commercial and screenwriters ammo to do the same shit she just did?”

THAT’S THE POINT??!! Out of all this, THAT is what you think is “The Point”? The racial make up of her audience? THAT’S what should dictate her material?

“No one’s asking or telling other Asian comedians to stop telling Asian jokes.” Yes, they absolutely are. There is a double standard born out of a hypocritical fear of offending other minority comedians but it doesn’t surface with Asian comics. You have no idea what you’re talking about.

“Now I’m gonna transcript the skit for you because you left the important part off.” Why did you type this all out? I put up the Youtube link (which you click and pasted on your own site) for a reason. You can listen to the whole thing in CONTEXT. What is the important part? Why is it important to you? You’ve said nothing.
lxy

This is basically a lame defense of Esther Ku’s pandering to the same old White racist bullshit about Asian men being emasculated, etc. The fact that certain Asian American (women) believe in this stereotype doesn’t legitimize Ku’s pathetic brand of “humor”; it only shows how racism is an integral part of American culture in general. It’s taken for granted as self-evident, just like breathing.

And if you look at Brian’s rant, he doesn’t really address the racist nature of Ku’s comedy. He only whines that the “Comedy police” (whatever the hell this is) doesn’t also criticize other minority comedians for the supposed ly same type of comedy.

First of all, I don’t know who or what this “comedy police” is, except a lame catch-phrase with no meaning. If you are talking about Asian Americans who criticize Ku’s comedy, they primarily focus on her because, guess what, they are Asian Americans and are firstly concerned about AA issues.

There are also plenty of African Americans, for example, who will criticize the comedy of Chris Rock or other African American comedians for the stereotypes they pimp. So your “concern” about this issue does not seem to be warranted.

BTW, Howard Stern-style rants and faux attitude is not a substitute for an actual argument, no matter what the American media tells you.
http://www.minoritymilitant.blogspot.com minoritymilitant

“But if you’re going to criticize the subject matter of her material, then apply that criticism uniformly.”

I think someone’s mad. I think we did “criticize” the subject matter, but your retort was insufficient. No need to continue.
Ko

Brian,

Unless a message is closed ended, it can be interpreted many different ways. Who are you to tell someone their interpretation is wrong? Also, how are you able to gauge the audience’s view on it? How do you know they were laughing at the irony or actually laughing at Asian men which will perpetuate a stereotype?

One good example is that Dave Chappelle quit his show when he realized that white viewers and support staff were actually laughing AT blacks in racially charged skits, not at the idiocy of racism.

Christ, the arrogance on you. What a great way to get people ignore whatever you have to say.
Ko

I actually figured out that the reason why Asian America is still stuck in the same situation can be outlined by the comments in this thread.

I used to think that there were outside sources were at work that prevented Asian America from moving forward but I do agree that it’s 100% the fault of Asian Americans.
http://www.8asians.com/author/brian/ Brian

So why didn’t you ignore me?
Seraphim1991

What is everyone so angry at? Brian made a comment. Some people don’t agree with the comment. You responded. He is leading you in circles by using inflammatory language, and you just keep responding angrily. What are you trying to prove?

I thought some of Esther Ku’s stuff was funny. Some of it wasn’t. Some of it might of had some sort of commentary behind it, but most of it was just her trying to be funny.

So it might be racist. Some people might have laughed at it because they believed the stereotypes. I laughed because I saw the absurdity of the stereotype. I don’t think it propagated racism. People aren’t going to suddenly decide that all asians are losers just because Esther Ku said so. If they believe that, they are already racist.
Josh Chau

Some of us aren’t ready to hear this kind of humor.

I am among those not ready to hear it. My first thought at hearing the “Asian girls are out of Asian guys league” joke was when I asked out a vietnamese gal in highschool and her reply was, “I only date white guys.” instead of “I’m not interested.”

I can’t fault her for her naivete (we we’re in highschool and kids are mean) but I can fault her for what I felt at the time was a complete betrayal to all Asian peoples.

Of course this kind of humor is always dangerous since we’re not all in the same place and it’s important to approach it carefully with the expectation that it may not be what you want to hear. That’s what I’m trying to do in my quest to not get worked up over racial/identity issues.
Smarter (and funnier) than you

Holy crap! So much for all asians being smart. Brian, she’s a comedian, so yes the point it she should be funny. I haven’t read anyone saying her jokes “aren’t grounded in truth”. In fact you would have to be really, really stupid to tell a joke that isn’t based on some truth that people can related to. But just telling the truth isn’t the basis for a stand-up routine. “Hey everyone! Why is it that all asians are good at math?”. Wow, isn’t that funny? Isn’t that witty and insightful? No, it’s not for those of you who can’t figure it out. And as for some people laughing in that clip, sure, some people will laugh. In fact, if I stood up at a comedy club and said my above joke, I’ll bet you some people would laugh. It still doesn’t make it funny. As for some people hating Chris Rock, of course some people find him not funny. In fact, there isn’t a comedian alive that everyone on the planet finds funny, however he’s very successful which is some kind of barometer that *a lot* of people find him funny. So you’re ridiculous proof by analogy doesn’t hold water.
aj

[quote]The fact that certain Asian American (women) believe in this stereotype doesn’t legitimize Ku’s pathetic brand of “humor”; it only shows how racism is an integral part of American culture in general. It’s taken for granted as self-evident, just like breathing.[/quote]

very well said.
manaa

I usually dont’ take jokes by comedians too seriously, but when its based on “real” beliefs..then it becomes disturbing and is not a joke anymore..read her blog to get and insight of what shes thinks of being asian..

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=8855993&blogId=510443130
Angela

Comparing her stand up to black comedians is stretching. Until I hear a black comic make a joke like “People say I don’t have nappy hair. That’s because I have regular people hair,” I’m calling you on B.S.

8 Asians