Dat Phan along with his family on the set of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Courtesy of DatPhan.com

Phanning the Fires of Celebrity

By Jorgio Castro

The head of Dat Phan. Courtesy of DatPhan.com

By now there is little doubt you have heard about Dat Phan, comedian extraordinaire. But just in case you weren't paying attention, Dat earned the title of "The Funniest Person in America" by winning the reality competition "Last Comic Standing" (see August 15 issue) on NBC. Now with talent contract in hand, desire in his heart, and purpose in his stride, Dat sets out to accomplish his dreams and turn them into reality - after, of course, taking a little time out to sit down with APA.

"It's a good sign in entertainment when you're busy" quips Dat as the interview starts, on the first day Dat has been home in a long while. To understand where the man is now, you have to understand where he has been before. Dat's interest in comedy started in his late teens. "I was actually shy when I was in college, so I took a speech class" he reveals. "When I was nervous, I was making people laugh, and I liked that feeling." Pursuing that instinct, Dat went to an open mic comedy call and ate it up. "Something inside of me told me to go back up there." The rest is, as they say, history.

Dat recently appeared on "National Lampoon's Funny Money," alongside "average" Evan Marriott ("Joe Millionaire").

Fresh off his reality TV debut, I had to ask him about the experience of being watched 24/7. "They have cameras on you while you're sleeping, and it's strange. You never really get used to it" he recalls. Certainly most of us can hardly imagine the stress that knowing your every action will be seen by millions can bring on. Would that be a problem for performers? "When you take 10 comics, comics will go crazy. Stick them in a house and it's a fiasco." Dat never felt the need to perform for the cameras though. "The real me, I don't go around cracking jokes 24 hours a day."

"If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail" warns Phan, remarking on his rituals and preparations shown on "Last Comic Standing," such as charting laughs at his performances. "Luck is preparation meets opportunity," and he credits most of his success and his victory on the show to being prepared at the right moment.

From there, the conversation switched to a perspective focusing mainly on his personal feelings and goals. "Yea, I do kind of think of myself as a role-model" answers Phan begrudgingly. There is little doubt that he is making big inroads in a field not renowned for its large pool of Asian talent. Dat sets his goals quite higher than just the comedy circuit. "I wanna see an Asian win an Oscar for Best Actor. You know, just playing a normal lead role. It doesn't have to be me, although that would be nice. But if I could somehow be a part of bringing that around, that would be great." Phan's success undoubtedly has been inspirational to many Asians in the entertainment industry, and his hard work and perseverance are worthy traits of admiration.

Although his comedy features almost exclusively Asian-themed humor, Dat has said many times he wants to branch out and speak more on being an Asian-American in general. "We're all regular people, all Americans. We have the same problems, whether it's first date jitters or whatever." And that's the area Dat wants to tackle next, taking his humor into an area filled with more common denominators that everyone can relate too. "I'm proud of my Asian heritage, but there's more to being Asian-American than just being Asian."

Time flies when you're talking with Dat Phan, and before you know it we are out of it. Asked what motivates him most now, Phan immediately answers. "Passion; passion and just wanting it so bad…I've gone through some pretty rough times, and that gives me strength to know I can succeed." If it isn't broke, don't fix it. And with a recipe for success that has paid off big time, Dat will only continue to do what he has done to get here: work his butt off.

As we part ways over the phone, Dat tells me his one hope is that everyone finds something that they really love to do and care about, because he's been lucky enough to do just that. I deftly take this opportunity to tell him I am a novice interviewer, to which he responds that I have done a good job. Praise is not something Dat gives out lightly. I thank Dat Phan for his time, patience, and words of wisdom, and wish him all the best in the future. Who knows, we may see him on the 76th Academy Awards. Until then, you can see his half-hour special on Comedy Central sometime in the near future.

Check out http://www.datphan.com for even more information on the life and times of Dat Phan.

October 24, 2003