Comedic Storyteller Angel Yau as Herself: Awkward, Asian, and Hilarious

By Sharon M. Chin

For young Asian-American immigrant girls, performing comedy isn’t typically part of the American dream. The comedic landscape is dominated by male voices, with a select minority being Asian, and even more token representation of Asian women. For almost two decades, Margaret Cho was THE Asian-American female in popular media and it is only in the past few years that voices such as Ali Wong, Awkwafina, and Mindy Kaling have begun to occupy mainstream space. Given this dearth of representation, it is no wonder then, for Angel Yau, a NYC-based Chinese-American stand-up comedian and storyteller for over 15 years, real life friends and associates will still state to her “I just can’t see you as a comedian.”

Sitting before me in fuschia glasses and teal sweatpants, it is understandable why Angel might not be perceived as a comedic storyteller. Beyond being an Asian-American female, she lacks the traditional elements of a comedian- “loud, confident, and opinionated” and instead presents herself as “shy, nervous, and awkward.” Contrary to an alter ego, which some artists adopt to do battle with the world [Think of Beyonce’s Sasha Fierce], Angel presents an amplified quiet, insecure, and awkward version of herself to unexpected and hilarious ends. Angel presents her comedic storytelling as a solo performer, in the company of others [e.g. the comedic group AzN PoP! and Upright Citizens Brigade], and produces events [Caveat’s On This Day comedy show]. In all these mediums, Angel delightfully remains the same, herself; Angel notes she is in fact “extra nervous, and it means playing up the awkwardness and nervousness of her character even more. While audience members might initially be puzzled or mortified at my approach, when I can unexpectedly and successfully flip it, the laughter is the reward.”

Fast forward to 13:00 to hear Angel’s Election Speech Experience on Mortified Podcast!

In honor of primary season, Mortified presents two tales of kids who encounter politics and campaigning for the first time. Hear more episodes at getmortified.com/podcast. The Mortified Podcast is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Become a supporter at radiotopia.fm.

Polite laughter and applause may have accompanied Angel’s first comedic set- which was also completely unintentional. As a shy and “invisible” sophomore at Townsend Harris High School, seeking a dedicated audience, Angel decided to run for student election. The position was a mouthful of a name as the Queens Superintendent Advisory Council student representative. Angel recollects “I wanted to stand out. I decided to write up a speech, dramatically tear it apart on stage, and then break out into a song about why I was the best candidate. I used my guitar, the three chords I knew, and sang in a quiet voice with my legs shaking on stage. I may have had to do it twice because they couldn’t hear me the first time.” If Angel expected a Napolean Dynamite dance election scene, in which a rapt student audience would erupt into a standing ovation after a stunned silence, Angel received a more muted response. “Going into it, I thought folks would come up to me and say ‘Angel, you are so talented! That was great!’ and instead I got cursory applause and some laughter. One friend said ‘Angel, you’ve got balls.’ And that’s not a compliment- but a statement!” Rather than being mortified, Angel realized “Something ignited. I enjoyed being myself, being creative, and being up on that stage. And it gave me the fuel to connect to people”

To succeed in the arts and comedy, however, requires motivation, grit, and resources-especially when one is not yet brilliant and hilarious. Jenny Yang, a prominent Asian-American comedian, notes “Creating comedy spaces for people I could relate to was the only way I could improve. We all need spaces where we can fail and learn; I only tried comedy after years of repeatedly hearing that I was funny like Margaret Cho. How many female and nonbinary comedians have we lost to harassment and violence whom we will never know about?” Angel’s path to performing, like Jenny Yang’s, was also one of rejection, insecurity, and repeated determination to grow and hone her craft. In college, Angel auditioned for a comedy group that was mostly men and mostly white- and felt out of place. She found a home with a newly formed standup team on campus and continued to pursue comedy via improv classes in Los Angeles and New York City. She describes auditioning for LA’s and NYC’s Upright Citizens Brigade, putting her heart out on the stage, and ultimately getting rejected for over 10 years. “I had a UCB digital team to fall back on- where I focused on editing, technical work, and acting- and then, 2 improv, 1 character and 2 sketch auditions later, I eventually made the UCB sketch house team. But then UCB restructured their team, cut me, and I was so devastated.” And amid all rejection, Angel felt like quitting.

Fortunately, Angel met Iliana Inocencio at this low morale moment and was invited to join a new sketch group of all Asian-American women. Angel was hesitant to join, being typically a solo performer, but she found comfort in being surrounded by Asian-American female comedians who wanted to poke fun at Asian-American stereotypes and issues. Angel “remembers crying the first time she met with the group, as they brainstormed and pitched ideas. The group was so comforting, so encouraging, and we were ruthless in skewering Asian-American stereotypes.” The 5 members of the group, AzN PoP!, represent 5 Asian heritage countries (Japan, China, India, Korea, and the Philippines); Wearing Sailor Moon-catholic school girl hybrid inspired costumes, our comedians adopt the personas of a satirical k-pop group as they perform their sketch musical comedy. AzN PoP! Live in Concert, their signature show, can feel like a “non-sensical variety show” as they hilariously and educationally rap about how Asia is 43 countries (not just China, Japan, and Korea), perform an ear worm violin solo to play up on the “talented Asian musican stereotype,” and challenge perceptions and definitions on being “woke.” Their comedic concerts have been featured at residencies at Upright Citizen’s Brigade, Joe’s Pub, and a host of other comedic halls throughout the USA and have earned them a spot on NBC Asian America’s 2018 Emerging Voices list.

While the group adopts personas, “Baby Rice, Competitive Rice, Edgy Rice, Brown Rice, and Quirky Rice” respectively, Anna Suzuki notes that she and the group are inspired by “Authenticity. Anyone or anything that is true to themselves inspires me to be the same.” Angel, and indeed all the comedians, remains themselves. Angel is Quirky Rice and Quirky Rice “likes to bite her toenails and remind Japan of "Rape of the Nanking," the massacre of 1937. Awkward!” As these women sing passionately about interracial dating, how Asian Americans have been historically represented in mainstream media with an irreverent but factual PowerPoint presentation, and more, their amplified personalities quickly emerge and delightfully challenge perceptions of Asian-America on the stage. With humor and vivacious personalities, they educate and surprise us with their blunt and in-your-face takedowns on Asian-American stereotypes and issues.

Performing comedy is not for the faint of heart. And Kate McKinnon, SNL comedian, has stated that “Comedy is a tool of togetherness. It’s a way of putting your arm around someone, pointing at something, and saying, ‘Isn’t it funny that we do that. It’s a way of reaching out.” Beyond connecting with other strong Asian-American women via AzN PoP!, Angel is not shy about approaching her own individual personal tough topics on the stage. In June 2019, one of her recent comedic bits focused on her own depression and the need to find support for mental health services. Angel notes “In the Asian-American community, mental health is often disregarded and it’s not funny. But if I can make someone feel not alone, then putting my own issues out there is worth it.”

In the words of Jenny Yang, the first comedian to produce an all Asian-American female comedian line-up, “The future really is female. It is also racially diverse, immigrant, disabled, indigenous, trans, and queer. Comedy has…to adapt- not shut out the very people it needs.” With Angel Yau and the other women of AzN PoP!, able to present amplified versions of themselves to comedic ends, its refreshing to see the comedic landscape grow with authentic and genuine voices- voices that are Asian-American, female, confident, quirky, and awkward.

More from Angel Yau and AzN PoP!

Where Can We See You Next: “AzN PoP! will be live in concert at Joe’s Pub on July 24. We have a super secret guest- so come! Also I’ll be hosting On this Day! at Caveat on July 16; we’ll host comedians who present comedy based on what happened that day personally, historically, and comedically. For more info, follow angelyau.com.”

Who Are you Watching: “This is going to sound promotional but all the ladies in AzN PoP! (Anna Suzuki, Iliana Inocencio, Ann Marie Yoo, Maya Deshmukh. They are each amazing, funny, and compassionate individual artists.”

Describe a comedic bit where your audience really ROFL’D: “I think my proudest moment has to be when I did a one minute set for “I Don’t Think So, Honey” in 2018. A brilliant show/event hosted by Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, the show lets performers rant about something that is bothering them. I chose to discuss ‘I don’t think so honey, people who wear traditional Chinese dresses as casual fashion…’ I never yelled and jumped and changed my clothes so much! I received a standing ovation… it was thrilling!”

Have you ever had a moment where you bombed with the audience? “In comedy, I’ve had a lot of moments with that. My style of comedy is not necessarily main stream and the specific audience definitely matters.. One of the first times I bombed, I was in Times Square with an all male line up. My set depended on an audio track as the bit was based on the audience hearing my inner monologue as I was too scared to say anything aloud. And of course my mom was there and of course, the audio with the CD player failed. I just stood there for 3 minutes in silence, in my boxers (the joke was that I was so scared, I forgot my pants) and then I ran off stage. Eventually the cd player worked again but the audience was tired of me. My mom’s advice or words of consolation for me? ‘Why didn’t you do jokes about politics or facebook?’”

One Fun Fact: “Can I give you two? So one, I run an Asian-American Film Thing. Along with the comedy, I host Asian American short film screenings. I started that two years ago when I found out that May was Asian American Awareness Heritage month and I wanted a screening to showcase all Asian American film makers. I have it at least twice a year and it forces me to write and make videos on a deadline. It also forces...inspires... other Asian American filmmakers to make stuff as well. It doesn’t have to be perfect or even complete, we just need to have our voices out there (Upcoming September 28, 2019 @ Caveat). My second fun fact is that I make stop-motion animation short films. This is one of my latest animations about my relationship with food. I also won the Quickiefest Best Animation award for Sleep Tight on June 29, 2019 and I succeeded in making my friends in the audience cry.”

Published: July 7, 2019