Margaret Cho may have paved the way but TV personality-cum-comedienne Suzanne Whang takes it all the way with her outrageous portrayal of Sung Hee Park, her “F.O.B.” alter ego.
See the full transcript of the Suzanne Whang interview.
While Margaret Cho and Dat Phan perform impressions of their mothers that make audiences howl with laughter, some people might see a pattern with today's Asian American comedians. Why is the stereotypical “F.O.B.” (Fresh off the Boat) Asian with squinted eyes and thick accent always the butt of the jokes?
Asia Pacific Arts sat down with actress, writer, producer, and comedienne Suzanne Whang (pronounced ‘Wong') to discuss her success and also to hear her side of the story about her comedy act based upon her fictitious F.O.B character, Sung Hee Park. Who would have thought that the high school valedictorian, who received a bachelor's at Yale and a master's at Brown University, would be hosting alongside Dick Clark on the classic TV show “Bloopers?” Whang didn't.
Aside from her busy academic life, Whang found herself dabbling in entertainment, appearing in the television show “Spencer for Hire,” her big break into the business. Fifteen years later, her resume includes a list of hit TV shows like “NYPD Blues,” “The Practice,” “Passions,” and “VIP,” and film credits that include House Sitter, the 2004 blockbuster, Along Came Polly, and Seoul Mates, which won Whang the Los Angeles 48 Hour Film Festival Audience Award and Best Acting Award.
Recently, Whang completed Constantine, a film in which she co-stars alongside Keanu Reeves. Besides gracing the theatrical stage in countless starring roles, the world is probably most familiar with Suzanne Whang, the hostess. From her red carpet coverage on “An Evening at the Academy Awards,” to “FOX After Breakfast,” and “Breakfast Time,” Suzanne has been awarded for simply being herself. Her talent as a hostess can be seen every week on the #1 HGTV show, “House Hunters.”
With a plethora of fine accomplishments under her belt, Whang now has a one-woman standup show about a Korean immigrant who comes to America to make it as a comedian. Unfortunately, this girl named Sung Hee Park is horrible at telling jokes. Not only does the character not write her own material, but she has to pronounce everything phonetically and tends to tell the most racist, politically incorrect, inappropriate, sexual jokes imaginable. From the girl who had trouble understanding people who asked her to be “more Oriental” at auditions, Suzanne soon found herself performing the Korean accent flawlessly.
Though Whang has been recognized with the Best Up & Coming Comedian of 2002 Award at the Las Vegas Comedy Festival, she has also been given a lot of heat for ridiculing Asian immigrants. Whang explains the Margaret Cho-esque controversy as, “I do something that is pulling into a stereotype in order to make a point, to make a satire, to make fun of, to lighten up about it, to illuminate it through humor.”
When asked about the possible negative response from the Asian community that she may fall victim to, she tells APA, “I think that it's too easy to get up on a soapbox and point at what's wrong. I think that it's too easy to point the finger. We've become so politically correct that we're not talking about anything. Everybody is trying to sanitize everything and act like everything is fine. There's something about the political incorrectness of this that takes the soapbox and puts dynamite in it and when it explodes there's just this carnage everywhere that people have to respond to. I like the idea of blasting through people's defenses and getting people to talk.”
Whang ironically finds the Asian American community's criticism to her comedy act as a “more stereotypical response” than the stereotype she portrays on stage and has something very clever to say to those who think there's nothing funny about Sung Hee Park. “If you're not writing, directing, acting, hosting, producing or editing something that contributes to what you think is the solution, then I'm not really interested in your whining and complaining. How's that for blunt?” Not bad. Not bad at all.
Click here for a video interview and Q&A with Suzanne Whang.
For more information on Suzanne Whang and her upcoming performances, visit www.SuzanneWhang.com.