Eddie Shin and Randy Park debate the power of "Wang Chung"Courtesy of ProperGander.net

A Breeding Ground for Talent

By Bobby Okinaka

Courtesy of propergander.net

A new season of network television recently premiered and despite community calls for diversity, the number of Asians on prime time is lower than Shaq's free throw percentage. So with a diminished prospect of a successful career as an entertainer, what's a young and talented Asian American actor to do? How about getting a few college buddies together to write, produce and perform in your own live show?

Randy Park, a writer and actor, and his cohorts did just that with a show called "Fertilizing Eggy and Other Stories," a live sketch comedy performance that ran through October at the 2100 Square Feet Theater in Los Angeles.

The group showcased their creative talents in a series of sketches that introduced the audience to a number of memorable characters. "Spermy" is a one-eyed, "nice guy" gamete who is determined to be the first to reach "Eggy" to consummate the love-making process and also win the egg's heart in the process. "Uncle Grover" is a Chinese American supremacist who blatantly attempts to bring out the Asian side of his hapa niece while protecting the earth from alien tourists. "Zing Zing" is a six-foot tall Amazonia South East Asian tribeswoman who is just looking to make some friends in a stereotypical Asian American sorority.

While most of the sketches contained some context to being Asian American such as in "Night of the Living Dead" in which the relationship between a young man and his over-protective Korean mother is spoofed, the overall storytelling relied on some universal aspect to the human condition such as love, acceptance and overcoming life obstacles.

In "Xenophobes," the cast pokes fun at our fears of other races. Courtesy of APA

"Fertilizing Eggy and Other Stories" is the sophomore effort of the people who put together a show called "Achievers." But their roots go back to the days when they were really sophomores as undergrads at UCLA. Director David Lee, Producer Naoya Imanishi and Randy Park are three of the founding members of L.C.C., a student-run Asian American theatre ensemble at UCLA. Many of the "Fertilizing Eggy" cast members and production staff are actually L.C.C. alumni.

The collegiate experience only whet Park's appetite for more. According to the writer, who in addition performs stand up comedy and sings for a band called "Ill Again," he helped build a small theater with some friends in a backyard where they would perform skits for each other just for kicks. That led to the first show, "Achievers." And now a year and a half later, the current show.

Park downplayed his role as a writer by saying that what he wrote was nothing new and the messages, cliche. But he failed to mention the importance of writing his own material that tells the stories that he wants to tell. The consensus among critics of the lack of diversity on television is that if the networks won't tell Asian American stories, we have to do it ourselves.

One of the non-L.C.C. alums to join in the latest production was Eddie Shin, a regular on the short-lived "That 80's Show" on FOX and one of the few cast members with network experience.

"What we are doing speaks to a generation of Asian Americans that wants to express themselves. We wanted to create a sense of home, a sign that we are visible, that we are a part of society," said the Chicago native following the performance.

The meaning of sisterhood is examined in "The Pledges of Allegiance." Courtesy of propergander.net

So maybe the networks won't notice the fine work being created by these young and talented individuals. And if you missed the show, well, the producers aren't sure when they'll be able to do another one because they are not a theater company like OPM or Cold Tofu. So what motivates these young thespians to put all the hard work into making their own show? In spending a little time with the cast and crew after the show, it was easy to see that everyone loved what they were doing. As the director, Lee told me, "It's so fun to see Asians up there." And with any luck, we'll see more of this young group of Asians up there for years to come.

For more information, visit propergander.net.

November 7, 2003