Geoff Bennett:
As the challenges facing immigrant communities continue to make headlines, Los Angeles-based comedian and writer Jenny Yang is taking a different approach, using comedy to draw attention to the issues on her nationwide stand-up tour.
Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown caught up with her for our series Art in action, exploring the intersection of art and democracy, which is part of our Canvas coverage.
Jeffrey Brown:
Why are why are we here, Jenny?
Jenny Yang, Comedian:
We’re here because, why not? Jeffrey, why not?
Jeffrey Brown:
It’s not a normal spot for an interview…
Jenny Yang:
There might be some box-moving around here.
Jeffrey Brown:
… in the aisles of a grocery store in New York’s Chinatown.
Look what we have got.
Jenny Yang:
We got wife cake.
Jeffrey Brown:
Wife cake.
Jenny Yang:
We got mooncake. We got — so I don’t know. For me, it’s like what’s more joyful than my people’s food.
(Cheering)
Jeffrey Brown:
Jenny Yang is taking her comedy into some unusual places, like here at the New Kam Man Market, part of her Good Egg Immigrant Grocery Store Stand Up Comedy Tour.
You could be crying in H Mart.
(Laughter)
Jenny Yang:
But you’re laughing at New Kam Man Market, baby.
Jeffrey Brown:
For Yang, who was born in Taiwan and moved to the U.S. with her family as a child, the comedy is a serious response to the Trump administration and its policies around immigration.
Jenny Yang:
I have felt a deep sense of anger and hopelessness. And so for me to get some hope into my veins, I was like, what if I actually go to where the people are and witness myself, how are people living right now?
I decided I’m going to tour the country inside immigrant grocery stores and raise money for local immigrant organizations that are protecting our communities. Why not? Why not?
(Cheering)
Jeffrey Brown:
The tour started with stores in just a handful of cities, but grew to nearly 20.
Jenny Yang:
These ICE raids have created a second pandemic for people. It’s created a sense of isolation, of fear. And so I think for me to come to immigrant grocery stores to say, no, this is our space, and we can reclaim it, we can have joy in it, we can laugh in it, we can grab snacks and drinks that we love, that kind of physical, visceral experience is what I love about art and comedy.
Jeffrey Brown:
Yang, who spent several years as a labor organizer before becoming a comedian, appeared alongside Michelle Yeoh in the Netflix action series “The Brothers Sun.” She wrote for TV shows like Fox’s “Last Man Standing” and “Busy Tonight” on E!
In 2016, Yang was recognized by the Obama administration for her contributions to Asian American and Pacific Islander art and storytelling.
Jenny Yang:
I can write jokes about immigration policies. I have done topical jokes, but that’s not my personal comedy.
Jeffrey Brown:
But it almost sounds like the personal is political in this sense.
Jenny Yang:
A hundred percent.
Jeffrey Brown:
Yes.
Jenny Yang:
Jeffrey knows what’s up.
Jeffrey Brown:
Yes.
(Laughter)
Jenny Yang:
My art is not just what I say on stage. My art is in the practice of how I do my touring, of how I put together my work, of who I hire to do my art, you know?
So, going to a grocery store, connecting with the immigrant grocery store owner, of benefiting a local organization that might help with people who’ve been impacted by the immigration policies, that in and of itself is, like, part of my art.
Jeffrey Brown:
Shows are deeply personal, one bit, the challenges of growing up the child of immigrants.
Jenny Yang:
I would best describe my immigrant parents’ style, parenting style, as frazzled CEO.
(Laughter)
Jenny Yang:
OK, because how do you mean a micromanager and neglectful at the same time?
(Laughter)
Jenny Yang:
How do you do that? How do you do that?
Jeffrey Brown:
The grocery store setup keeps crowds small, sometimes fewer than 100 people. The Good Egg title is a nod both to her rule-following personality…
Jenny Yang:
I am what you call a recovering try-hard. If you did not laugh at that or nod, you are the slackers that are mooching off of us.
(Laughter)
Jeffrey Brown:
… and her struggles with fertility, including 10 failed rounds of in vitro fertilization.
Jenny Yang:
I think we need to do a photo shoot for my pregnancy failures.
(Laughter)
Jeffrey Brown:
What do you want from the audience? Because you are taking us to some dark places.
Jenny Yang:
Yes. I want people to laugh and to think about the stories I tell them long after they leave my show. I want them to reflect on how they might be a little more emboldened to be more themselves.
Part of my authenticity involves being transparent around the things that I struggle with and not having to sort of put up this facade and this mask that I just have everything together, which is what a lot of people rely on. We all are walking around just pretending we’re OK.
Jeffrey, we are not OK.
This is how every comedy show should begin.
Jeffrey Brown:
In July, she performed at the Shuang Hur Supermarket in Minneapolis, which became the epicenter of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown earlier this year.
Jenny Yang:
I can’t talk about Minneapolis without tearing up. It was very important for me to go to Minneapolis, because Minneapolis has been the source of so much heartache. It was symbolically meaningful. As an experience, it was meaningful for me to get to know how they coped, how they have adapted, how they survived.
The owner of that supermarket felt more safe than some of his Black and brown customers who didn’t want to show up into the streets. So he went and delivered groceries. Stories like that make me believe in humanity again, Jeffrey. And that’s why I toured. I just want to be amongst the liquid gold.
Jeffrey Brown:
Early next year, Yang will record her first one-hour comedy special at, where else, an immigrant grocery store in her hometown of Los Angeles.
Jenny Yang:
Any comedian who wants to do a one-hour special, all they need is stage time. So it doesn’t matter if it’s in a comedy club or a theater. For me, I’m like, if I could bring the people to an immigrant grocery store, that’s stage time.
That’s the show, everyone. Thank you so much.
(Cheering)
Jeffrey Brown:
For the “PBS News Hour,” I’m Jeffrey Brown at the New Kam Man in New York.
