Meeting HBO’s ‘Silicon Valley’ & CRA’s Jimmy O. Yang – One Funny Guy

Season 6 Trailer (Final Season) for ‘Silicon Valley’

When I saw that actor, standup comedian, and writer Jimmy O. Yang was going to be performing Cobb’s Comedy Club in San Francisco, I wanted to see him perform. While waiting for a standby ticket to see the last show, I had heard a lot of positive comments from others on the show, and even one person stating he thought he was funnier than Ken Jeong, who I had also seen at Cobb’s.

I first became aware of Jimmy when he appeared on the hilarious HBO comedy Silicon Valley, which is in its final season.  The show is a hilarous parody of the industry (if you get this, then you know what I mean – I live and work in Silicon Valley, and I’ve worked with engineers like this).   To be honest, at the beginning and for a while, I wasn’t a great fan of Jimmy’s character of Jian-Yang but have come to appreciate the caricature. Even though he didn’t have a ton of screen time in Crazy Rich Asians, I *LOVED* Jimmy as Bernard Tai in the film – he definitely made the most of his time (as did well as his film castmate, Ronny Chieng).

I got a chance to meet Jimmy during an optional ‘meet and greet.’  I had to take a photo with him with my beloved ‘Pied Piper’ t-shirt, the fictional startup in ‘Silicon Valley’ where the protagonists work.

I had blogged about Jimmy also when he appeared on ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,’ and mentioned that I hoped to meet him one day – mission accomplished! When I did meet him, I had mentioned that I was a big fan of ‘Silicon Valley’ and his role in ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ and told him that I even did a “Gold Open” buyout for the film for the San Francisco Bay Area chapters of the Asian America alumni associations of the Ivy League (as well as Duke), which I mentioned in my non-spolier review of the film.

As for his standup comedy routine, I have to say he’s pretty hilarious. I might even agree that he might be funnier than Ken Jeong’s act. Maybe Jimmy should consider jumping out of the trunk of a car naked, like Ken did in ‘The Hangover’ which catapulted Ken into fame. Seriously, Jimmy’s got talent and I hope more people can see him live or on TV. Jimmy, along with comedians like Ali Wong, Ken Jeong, and Asiv Mandi (who I also saw at Cobb’s), shows that Asian Americans can be other than your stereotypical Model Minority.

Jimmy’s recent show in Seattle was taped for an upcoming comedy special.  Wishing the best to Jimmy and I hope you can catch him live!