I don't know, I watched the clips and checked out the article that you excerpted from and it all struck me as IRONIC. Especially in the piece when she is like: "Is there any guy in here who doesn't have an Asian fetish?"

I've seen her act in person in Boston. There is no social commentary, no subtlety. She really is creating an career around self-racist and Uncle Tom material.

That first clip where she says she's so American that even she's against immigration would definitely be considered social commentary. As is her comment on men not used to seeing an Asian girl with pigtails without punching in their credit card number. I think she's flipping Asian and American stereotypes and perceptions; maybe not with much comedic finesse at this point, but i think her "i don't like being Asian" schtick is just...schtick. Chris Rock has a line about Blacks being able to accumulate wealth if they'd collectively stop buying rims. He's also the one that made a distinction between Blacks and N******s. He's joking about his own race, yet I don't know many people that would label him an Uncle Tom for doing so. And—in my opinion—considering Ku is an inexperienced, young, and attractive Asian female might make her more of a target for being slapped with the racist label than say a male counterpart with the same gimmick.

... watching that clip just makes me feel uncomfortable. and what's up with that face that she makes after every "joke"... it's like, now it's time for you to laugh! or just laugh, because i am so cute! ergh.

I wish Margaret Cho would bitch slap her.

I watched the referred clips as well as her material on The Last Comic Standing. Basically, my Anglo-Take is that she is the female version of Dat Phan for LCS viewers.

There are a LOT of Asian comedians who play off and to the racist stereo-types that are out there and some seem to play to the side of endorsing them, but I am not really sure that is what all are doing...Maybe...Just maybe by playing to the stereotype these comedians are showing the absurdity of such stereotypes?

Bobby Lee on MadTV has played to the racial stereotype as well.

The thing that will help to squelch this sort of comedy or at least use it to help launch other comedians from an Asian heritage is for other voices who do not count on this racial crutch. They (Asian Comedians) need to do material that has to do with topics other than their ethnicity. Talk about the common experience of being a human...it's tough...I'm not real good at it.

Marty I think it's a stretch to say they are showing the absurdity of stereotypes; they seem to be getting laughs going the other way. It's not like Borat style comedy where it's actually social commentary.

I agree with you, it's not just Esther Ku, there are a TON of Asian American comedians right now who make these self racist and self deprecating jokes.

i youtubed some videos and came across kristina wong's first time doing stand up comedy, and she makes a commentary on that as well. how there seems to be a territorial thing when it comes to being asian american and telling "asian jokes" - for example, med school is mine. eating dog is yours. don't try to steal my material. anyway, it's just upsetting that they have to do this to be funny and feel accepted.

I definitely think part of comedy is trying to get people to see the absurdity of prejudice and stereotypes, and at least from the clips that I saw, I think she's trying to do.

I think part of the reason people may not always laugh is because sometimes the topics hit too close to home where they actually believe those stereotypes or have those prejudices themselves and it's tough for them to look in the mirror and go "I might be one of those people she's talking about".

I don't think she's a self-hating racist, and I'm sure she's trying to hone her jokes and craft from the ones she did in '06 until now because I think it's gotta be hard to figure out what works and what doesn't at times.

Marty: While I think really good comedians can talk about anything and make it funny, I think Asian American comedians have the right to talk about race and ethnicity in their comedy just like other comedians do. I don't think it's a racial crutch by any means.

No offense to some of you, but I think that is unfounded wishful thinking, trying to defend her at all costs, it kind of shows how far you'll take your bias on this.

There is no satirical edge or subtle social commentary, the most blatant example is her joke on Asian guys, there is no satire in that.

Face it, she's a completely self hating brainwashed individual. Read that Boston Globe article and her other comedy clips, she's not even close to Borat or Sarah Silverman or Chris Rock in subtle racial comedy.

Slanty said:

" I definitely think part of comedy is trying to get people to see the absurdity of prejudice and stereotypes, and at least from the clips that I saw, I think she's trying to do."

Ku does none of this during her material. Where did you see her trying to highlight the absurdity of her own self hatred??? Personally, I feel sorry for these asian comics like Ku and Phan. To shoot their own race in the foot with cruel demeaning stereotypes to appease their predominantly white audience is tragic. The other acts were original and entertaining. Interestingly, even before Ku came on my sons and I knew that Asian parent bashing was on the menu and Asian men bashing was all but guaranteed.

Shame on you Ku and pity on your mother and father

Thomas: No offense taken whatsoever :)

This is the first time though I've heard of Ku and I don't know her, so there's no reason for me to be pro Ku other than I didn't mind her comedy.

Dan: I don't think she hates herself or Asian/Asian Americans. If you're asking where do I think she's trying to talk about stereotypes and prejudice I'd give up these examples, some already mentioned which I'll reiterate (see Neela's and sylvie's comments).

She asks "who doesn't have an Asian fetish", to me a jab at people who want to date Asian women because they have the submissive/geisha/mysterious/I'll do anything for you stereotype in their minds versus caring about the actual person. She follows it up with the joke about the guy who is surprised to see an Asian woman in pigtails where he isn't punching in his credit card number making a statement on how portions of society only see Asian women as sex objects. She has a joke in her set where she says she's so American she's against immigration, a nod to our xenophobia as a nation. She also has the joke about her grandparents and M.A.S.H which I thought was a poke at the media representation, or lack of, for Korean Americans (that could be a stretch though on my part).

On the Asian male joke - is she making a statement about Asian men in the media and other areas and how they aren't looked at as being sexy and leading men material (like with the hyperbole about Asian men going extinct), or is she just taking a cheap shot at Asian men for a laugh? I think it's the first.

The one thing I did cringe at though was the dog meat joke, because point or not point - it gets old. But overall I liked her stuff I saw in the YouTube clip.

Dan - I hope I answered your question.

Slanty thanks for writing that, it's interesting you interpreted it that way, I'll have to to think about it more, though I remain very skeptical.

I will say that I am biased because I remember her jokes back in Boston and they were far worse than just:

-''I don't really like being Asian, but I'm kind of stuck with it."
-''The only good thing about being Asian, really, is it helps you get into college".
-"People always tell me, 'you don't have Asian eyes'. I say, 'no -- I look like regular people."

I remember other jokes she had before about how all Asian guys were short, or was it ugly (which looks like it evolved into another joke)? I think you are attributing intelligence to her act, when there is none. The emperor does not have any clothes on this one. But I'll look at some more clips to give her the benefit of the doubt.

There's always a fine line between "archetype" and "stereotype," and most comics seem to sail right over it. Haven't seen Ku's whole act, just these excerpts, but it seems like her main problem isn't her offensiveness, but that she's just bad at being funny. Also, I must have missed the part where everyone agreed that Borat was "subtle." Maybe in his next film, Sasha Baren-Cohen will pretend to be Chinese or Thai (or Salvadoran or Mexican, or any other more prominent US minority than Kazakh), and do what he does in Borat: walk around the US with a fake accent, saying things like "Meet my sister; she #4 prostitute in country!" while the audience screams with laughter, and then we'll see how subtle we think his 'comedy' is.

Sanjay the subtlety isn't Borat's over the top caricature of a reporter, but rather the stereotypes and bigotry on Jewish people which comes out in his act, and also in the audience's reaction.

I think there's a difference between using racial humor to point out racism or racial issues from your racial or ethnic group, and just using self-racist and self-deprecating jokes to pander to nonAsian audiences to get laughs.

Who needs white men to oppress Asian men when Asian women will gladly do the work for them?

Sure, it's stereotyping but I think there's an absolute reason why Asian men don't trust Asian women. With this Ku and Gina, it's not surprising that their Korean American either. From what I've seen, Korean American women are more likely to be insecure with their surroundings. Then again, it does make sense when you find that Korean American women are the most likely to be married to white men.

World isn't difficult to figure out. All it takes is some common sense.

"It's not the dress that makes you look fat, it's the fat that makes you look fat."

Pretty much every single Asian woman who makes it on TV are useless garbage. There is not a single Asian woman who puts Asian in a positive light in America. They all hate their fathers and brothers and will do anything at all cost to erase the Asian out of them. The fact of this show you what the media represents.

i don't think that's necessarily true. i mean, a lot of them took the path that they took because of what the media wanted from them. if they wanted to pursue this, they had to suck it up and hope that they could make changes in the future.

however, a lot of them also made progressive changes once they've established themselves. i would say that joan chen is one of them. alice wu is another really great asian american female role model, even though she's not on TV all the time.

it's like that saying, you have to do evil to do good? something's gotta give at one point, but the hope is that you'll turn things around. no?

For those still blindly defending her humor as some sort of satire or any other desperate excuse:

Another clip:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MQZnLw4EnVA

two of her jokes: "ching chong what mom"?

"i don't wanna marry an asian guy, i like regular people"

She knows how to target her audience. I didn't hear anything remotely close to jabbing at stereotpyes. The reason other minority comedians have success with pushing the edge on comedy that infuses racial and ethnic stereotypes is because they counter those stereotypes with balance. This lets the audience know that, hey what I just said was a joke and not true because my other joke just proved it. Chris Rock does this all the time plus he includes other material. Ku, on the other hand just kept piling it on, granted her time on stage was short but it was one stereotypes after another. She may have been slamming non Asians for their fetishes with her jokes but as for her male peers or should we just say Asian men there was no balance on that.

uhmmm...have you heard of gabriel eglasies??
he always played a joke about his size, but its not because he hates himself, its simply because the joke is funny

and although she didnt balance it out, and as a self respecting asian man, i do understand how you believe that she is being self racist, but those jokes are told by asian people to other asian people anyways...

you know, she took time to respond to an email i sent her (rant) and she actually responded back. here's her website: http://www.funnyku.com/

Exactly, Mark! But, that's what makes it even more detrimental...when one of your own perpetrates it. Then, it's all of the sudden, "acceptable" in the eyes (and ears) of non-Asians.

Just want to comment with her comment about Asian guys are left out. We happen to know how to treat women cooking and cleaning is not a hard task for us and we are a race of hard working immigrants just like everyone else or even better than some. I am discusted about Esther Ku, she was also voted off because of her unsocialized skill of not getting along, that is why she deserved to get booted off after tonight, well girlfriend go back to working on bars and comedy clubs making chump change maybe you should've picked up school books instead of comedy because this is clearly not you're talent.

If Esther Ku's comedy sounds and feels like Asian self-loathing it must be. The comedy is just a pandering to the non-white audience to get them to identify with her and to consider her one of "them," a typical American. Ku's rants are what some call piling on the the stereotypes: can't eat with chopsticks, I only date regular guys (non-Asians), saying "Ching-chong...what?" to her mom. Does she want to enter the white Aryan nation or something?

Other non-white comedians will describe their race in the most stereotypical of ways but also describe the beauty in their race as well. Chris Rock and Monique will just go off on black people but later qualify that with "I love me some black man or woman." At which time their monologue preaches "Hey, we're like you too."

If Esther Ku really wants to continue in her comedy I suggest she leaves the "step n' fetch it," "black
face," "Amos n' Andy" stereotype humor all young comedians of different ethnic races use and work harder than getting a cheap laugh. Esther Ku is crossing a fine of being funny and being pathetic.

She's just not funny. Does'nt know how to make a joke work.

I can't stand this ku!! Her entire performance makes me feel awkward. Truly one of the most ignorant people to grace reality television. Just seeing her name on a bill would be enough for me not to show up

I read Esther Ku has been doing comedy 6 years. If that's the best she's been able to come up with maybe a change of career is best. Usually when describing the word "lame" it refers to an injured leg. Esther Ku's comedy act brings a new definition to "lame."
If Ku was to be deported in North or South Korea she would be shot in both countries. Will someone with some comedic experience tell Ku she is alienating an audience in which she is trying to identify with. It's not hip or edgy comedy. This type of comedy is water cooler stuff you tell you're friend in a locked closet. Cheap, pandering comedy. Anyone can do it. Ku has put down the whole Asian culture in her monologues. In the next sad 6 years of her 100 seat suburban comedy club circuit what other cultures can she attack.

There are a number of problems with the tired old “tired old stereotypes” criticisms that everyone keeps repeating about Ku.

First, it’s an utterly hypocritically and transparently false as _comedy_ criticism. Comics do it all the time–loved comics, critically acclaimed and less loved comics, hated and washed up comics. It’s bread and butter in the business. Self-hating schtick? Equally par for the course. Ever hear of Woody Allen? Or Jon Stewart?

More importantly. The real problem with the criticisms is that these are not “tired old” stereotypes. They are ALIVE AND WELL. As an Asian American, I have no qualms affirming 1) they reflect the way the majority of Americans do, at present, see Asians and 2), they reflect, in a distorted fashion, real characteristics of Asian identity and experience.

In effect, Ku’s act acknowledges that her audience shares these racist views and implicitly admits that she, like many Asian-Americans, has internalized them. That’s why it’s painful–that’s what people are finding “unfunny”–the exposure of their own racism. She should NOT move beyond jokes about these stereotypes, it’s what’s unique and powerful about her work. She should continue forcing us, against our will, to recognize that racism against Asians is not only alive and well, but that it has become insidiously disguised, that the rejection of stereotypes has become an excuse to, without penalty, hate real aspects of Asian identity and culture.

My god, when she asks the crowd “who doesn’t have an Asian fetish?” it’s astonishing how much depth that tiny little joke has. First, she’s TELLING her audience they ARE racist, that’s nerve. Second, by claiming she has one too, she’s pointing out that our supposedly post-racial american culture has fetishized her culture to such a degree that an asian can’t be attracted to another asian without it also being a form of pathology. This shit is serious, and I’m deeply disappointed that no one’s seeing it.

She’s ahead of her time. Too early, perhaps–so probably doomed. I really believe that with time people will catch on, maybe other asian comics we catch it and stick for her.

We like to pretend we’re (especially “we” the knowing, included audience) post racial, and her approach requires recognizing we’re not.

The depths some of you will go to defend blatantly self hating AA icons who pander to nonAsian audiences, is embarrassing.

I have seen her act in person and also seen her in a non-performance bar setting. You make it sound like she is this genius deliberately adding in all these layers of subtlety or commentary, when there is none there. Sometimes, an airhead is really just an airhead.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Pete is a White guy. I'd like to hear him insanely defend this video and how it's not just her being a self hater in real life, as opposed to this complex interplay with the audience:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=MQZnLw4EnVA

"Ching chong what mom"?

"I don't wanna marry an Asian guy, i like regular people"