Eastfist

Here we go again. I’ve been keeping an eye on them for years. Let’s see what the mass media expert thinks of them now.

It could be a consensus that YouTube is an “Asian American” dominated Internet phenomenon, yet that’d be hard to believe just by seeing its frontpage. So you might have to do a little more digging to find the most popular Asian American channels. Here is a list of my favorites, or rather, those chosen by the YouTube viewing audience mainly by view count and popularity (that’s how I found them). Some are destined for huge stardom, some might be confined to a YouTube career, some are outright mediocre, but here they are, in no particular order:

Just Kidding Films – Bart Kwan and Joe G comedy duo/troupe
www.youtube.com/justkiddingfilms
Appeals to urban, poor, youth demographic with humor regarding race, socioeconomic status, and other urban-related issues.

Timothy Delaghetto – Tim Delagato and Co.
www.youtube.com/timothydelaghetto2
Appeals to urban, hipster, youth demographic with humor regarding race, relationships, sex, hip hop. Specializes in “black American” style humor. Has broader appeal because of mastery of it. Great asset in promoting interracial harmony. Looks to be getting commercial exposure.

David So Comedy – David So
www.youtube.com/davidsocomedy
Appeals to general youth demographic with humor regarding self-image issues (particular overweight), race, Pop Culture. Specializes in “black American” style humor. Greatest asset is in his energetic speech and delivery. Destined for stand-up.

Wong Fu Productions – Philip Wang, Wesley Chan, Ted Fu
www.youtube.com/wongfuproductions
Appeals to general Asian American young female demographic with humor regarding sappy soap-opera style dramas, lifestyle, fashion, kitsch and other trendy stuff.

KevJumba – Kevin Wu
www.youtube.com/kevjumba
Appeals to general audience with humor regarding his personal life as a young man, including sex, relationships, his relationship with his popular co-star father, peer pressure, Pop Culture, school, acting. Has a very broad appeal because he has pleasant looks and a very charismatic personality. Possible sitcom material.

NigaHiga – Ryan Niga and Co.
www.youtube.com/nigahiga
Appeals to general audience, but mostly young girls, with humor regarding Pop Culture, rants, parodies, in nonsensical, fast-cut delivery. Best asset may be he is the best-looking of the bunch, but material doesn’t mature with audience.

Foreigners that aren’t too bad

MyChonny – ???
www.youtube.com/mychonny
Australian FOB with humor regarding life as an Asian in Australia, or Asian family issues in general.

Peter Chao – Davin Tong
www.youtube.com/pyrobooby
Canadian FOB with humor regarding Pop Culture, technology, relationships, cooking, satire, Asian culture.

Honorable Mentions, simply because these guys are already mainstream, but still don’t have the same clout in the entertainment industry:
Eliot Chang
KT Tatara
Bobby Lee

So, it might not be fair to pick and choose which I think are the best. Each team has their strong and weak traits. However, this diverse group of Asian American comedians does paint a very interesting variety of tones and portraits of Asian Americans, or modern Asians, in general, through the eyes of youth and innocence. Are they really breaking any stereotypes? Not necessarily, but at the least, they don’t conform completely with the stereotypes.

Thus, I end it. That’s the A-Team for now. Let’s see how far they can go.

Tags: american, asian, bart kwan, best, case study, channel, comedian, comedy, delagato, funny, humor, joe g, justkiddingfilms, kevin wu, kevjumba, nigahiga, opinion, ryan higa, satire, style, timothy delaghetto, youtube

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 7th, 2013 at 3:43 pm and is filed under Pop Culture/Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.