Comedians with Georgia Tech Students
Event Recap
TakeOut Comedy was a hit event with over 250 people attending, many from Georgia Tech. The five comedians provided laughter that had everyone falling out of their seats. The audience was terrific, especially those victims in the front rows who bore some of the brunt of the comedians' jokes. They were good sports and we appreciate their participation, be it voluntary or involuntary. This show was just a preview of the TakeOut Comedy show and some of the comedians in the group. OCA-Georgia hopes that with demand, the group will come back to perform in the fall of 2005 to perform to a sell out crowd. If you would like for TakeOut Comedy to return, please send a message to oca-georgia@comcast.net! To those who attended and to our sponsors, thanks for your support!
Comedians with Georgia Tech Students
Comedians with OCA-Georgia Board
After Event at Viet Chateau
Audience at Marriott Century Center Hotel Ballroom
Press Release April 2005
The Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), Georgia Chapter, is proud to announce the sponsorship of the "TakeOut" Comedy Show in Atlanta. This is the Premier Asian American Showcase featuring the best Asian American comics. The comedy appeals to everyone and is making huge impacts wherever they go. They are inspiring many people along the way and TakeOut Comedy is changing the perception of Asian Americans to the world!" The event will be held on Friday April 22nd, 2005 at 8:00pm at the Atlanta Marriott Century Center, 2000 Century Boulevard NE., Atlanta, Georgia 30345.
The diverse line-up of acclaimed comics hail from different cities across the country - New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Honolulu. The troupe members represent a broad spectrum of Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) ethnic groups, including Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean and Thai. They are the ONLY Asian American comedy troupe that travels all over the USA and the world. The group had successful shows in Houston, Salt Lake City, and Washington DC. TakeOut Comedy has also recently completed The First Asia TakeOut Comedy Tour with shows in Singapore and Hong Kong!
This show will promote Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) comedians and entertainers to mainstream Americans. It will celebrate America's diversity and elevate pride in APIA culture. Targeted at American and APIA college students and young adults, this show will help break stereotypes through both comedic material and by successfully demonstrating that Asian Pacific Islander Americans can be more than just doctors, accountants, engineers, nurses, nail salon owners, kung fu masters and delivery boys. TakeOut Comedy is dedicated to inspiring and establishing new APIA heroes in America!
The comedy show is also a fund raiser to support the OCA Building Fund. The OCA Building Fund will be used to establish a permanent headquarter for the OCA National office in Washington DC so that it can gather the leading national organizations serving Asian American and Pacific Islanders into a central one-stop location.
VIP Event
The VIP tickets include the show at 8:00 pm and an after event social at 10:00pm with comedians at to Viet Chateau restaurant (254 W. Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-373-0100). This social includes free appetizers and drinks and an opportunity to mingle with the comedians in a more intimate setting.
Corporate Sponsorship
Gold Level Event Sponsor
OCA-Georgia thanks State Farm for their support of TakeOut Comedy
Bronze Level Event Sponsor
OCA-Georgia thanks BellSouth for their support of TakeOut Comedy
Corporate sponsorship levels are available. For details click here
Promotional Material
Click here for promotional flyer
Click here for press release in English
Click here for press release in Chinese
General Admission: $15.00
Students and OCA Members: $10.00
VIP Tickets: $50.00 ($30 for members) includes after event with comedians
The Comedians
Jami
Gong
Jami Gong Founder of TOC and Producer of TOC Jameson
("Jami") Gong is a Chinese American, born and raised in New York City's
Chinatown. Throughout Jami's life, he always possessed the gift to make people
laugh. He believes that laughter soothes the soul, and unites people of all ages,
race, gender, and religion. When he was growing up, he watched Johnny Carson on "The
Tonight Show". This show inspired him to become a future comedian.
His first try at comedy happened on a dare when he was a sophomore at Syracuse University.
There was a stand-up comedy contest on campus sponsored by Doritos. His
friends dared him to enter and he did. The night before the contest, he wrote some
material, and memorized them as best he could. He expected only a few judges to view
his act, but the whole room was filled with students, teachers, and other critics!
He was so scared! However, it was too late to back out!!! Miraculously, Jami
survived and was very proud of his first time on stage.
In his junior year, Jami entered the same contest. This time he did a better job,
and realized comedy was his calling. Jami was determined to do even better for his senior
year and entered the contest again. He finished his gig to the sounds of applause
and more laughter. At the end of the show, the MC announced the winners. The
third prize was a dinner for four at Pizza Hut, Jami was the winner! Out of sixteen
contestants, he had won third prize. After the show, his friends congratulated him
and made many new fans that day!
In 1999, he co-founded www.ChinatownNYC.com with his college friends Raymond Chin, Sunny
Wong, and Eddie Shieh. Later he got licensed as a tour guide, and started doing
historical walking tours of Chinatown. Jami is a real "people person" and
loves meeting new people and telling them about the rich history of the Chinatown area.
After some soul searching, he decided retail was not his passion and decided making people
laugh would be his full-time profession. His determination led him to perform at
various clubs like Caroline's, Gotham Comedy Club, Comic Strip Live, Comedy Cellar,
Stand-Up NY, and NY Comedy Club. In December 2002, he decided he would perform and
produce his own shows in Chinatown. (Please see "Story of TOC" link).
Jami's vision is to revitalize the nightlife in Chinatown (once the capital of
entertainment in New York). With much love and support from friends and family, that
vision has come true and more! TakeOut Comedy is changing the perception of Asian
Americans to the world!
Air Tabigue (http://www.aircomedy.com)
He is a Filipino-American who was born and raised in Long Island NY. It is no surprise to Air's family and friends that he is a stand up comic. Throughout his life, he has had the natural ability to make people laugh in any given moment. And now he is sharing his humor on stage to people who need a little laughter in their lives. Air has rocked the comedy clubs of NY, Hawaii, L.A. and Houston. He also performed for colleges and benefit shows as well. He has appeared on FOX, NBC, and Radio. And has even shared the stage with comedian Jerry Seinfeld.
He was also the 2004 WINNER of the First Pan Asian-American stand up comedy competition in NYC held by WorldAsia Television and Takeout Comedy. He then competed in the National Finals in Hawaii at Xentopia 2004
Air has recently appeared on a NBC documentary on Jane's New York about the comedy scene in New York, which also featured comics Colin Quinn, Jackie Mason, and others.
Air connects with the audience as he talks about and pokes
fun at almost everything in everyday life with his own unique comedy style and animated
stage presence.
Ed Cho
(http://www.edchocomedy.com)
Ed Cho is not your typical comic. While on the
outside you see a friendly face and a polite demeanor, on the inside lies an aggravated,
to-the-point comic dealing with dating nightmares, ruthless friends, an overbearing
family, and, of course, growing up Asian. His uniquely honest, no-holds-barred style
of humor is quickly winning over audiences all across the country.
Born in Brooklyn and raised in Central Jersey, Ed caught the stand-up bug by idolizing
comedy veterans like Eddie Murphy, Robert Schimmel and George Carlin. He has
performed his unique brand of comedy at major venues in New York CIty and all over
Florida. His professionalism and hilarious material has earned him representation
with Goldstar Entertainment.
In addition to his stand-up comedy accomplishments, Ed is the creator/producer of "What's In It For A Dollar",
a barroom reality game show where the (usually drunken) contestants participate in
embarrassing stunts for a measly dollar. The show airs overseas, and is steadily
gaining popularity with international audiences.
In 2001, Ed's screenplay "CHILL" was turned into a short film and was entered in
many film festivals, resulting in a "Best Short Comedy" award at the Standig
Video Fest in California. He is now in pre-production for his first feature-length
film "Plasma", scheduled to shoot in early this year.
And no, he's not related to Margaret
Joey
Guila (http://www.joeyguila.com)
Born and raised in San Francisco, Joey moved to Los Angeles to pursue his long time dream of standup comedy. But before comedy, he worked at the famous Jose Eber Salon in Beverly Hillls. He still laughs thinking about being the only straight Filipino hairdresser. It was there he decided to become famous himself. Joey is known for his charming, witty and energetic stage persona as he continues to amaze his audience with his blend of multi-cultural comedy. His impersonations and character filled performances keep the crowds asking for more. In 2003, he won the regional “Kings of Comedy" competition where he rocked the house.
After winning this event, Hollywood came knocking. Latham Entertainment, from the
“Original Kings of Comedy”, asked Joey to go on tour making him the 1st Asian to
join this family. Latham Entertainment produced Chris Rock’s” Bigger and
Blacker Tour”, Martin Lawrence’s “Run Tell Dat Tour” and of
course...the “Original Kings of Comedy” movie with Bernie Mac, Cedric the
Entertainer, Steve Harvey and D.L. Hughley.
Joey has sinced performed in front of thousands of people at such venues as the MGM Grand
in Las Vegas, the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles, and the Sony Metreon in San
Francisco. He also won the World Asia Comedy competition in Los Angeles which led
him to performing in Hawaii in front of hundreds right on Waikiki Beach. This event
was called Xentopia which was hosted and produced by MTV’s Suchin Pak. He then
showcased his talents during the grand opening of the New York Improv located in Times
Square. Recently, he has been seen on VH1's "A2Z". Joey's latest
venture was the filming of P Diddy's newest project which will be released to video
entitled, The Bad Boys of Comedy.
RIO - Ryosuke Koike
Japanese American
TV - NBC Last Comic Standing season 1- June 2003; Comedy Central - June 2003; Las Vegas Comedy Festival - Pre-round in NY 2nd place
Comedy Clubs - New York Comedy Club, New York improv, Gotham, Comic Strip Live, Stand up NY, Los Angeles, Hollywood improv, Laugh Factry Hollywood, Ice House Comedy Club, New York Comedy Club Boca Raton
Colleges - New York University 2004, Pace University 2002
Ballroom Dance -Los Angeles Open Ballroom Dance 4th place 1998, California Open Ball Dance 2th place 1998