PALMER SQUARE — A Midwest showcase for Asian and Asian American comedians is back this week after a yearlong hiatus.
“East of California West of New York” will return 9 p.m. Thursday at Lincoln Lodge, 2040 N. Milwaukee Ave. Each show will feature a host and three comedians performing 20-30 minute sets.
Shows will take place at the Lincoln Lodge on the second Thursday of each month. Tickets are on sale for $15.
Producer and Chicago-based comedian William Paik said his main goal is to showcase Asian and Asian-American performers in the Midwest.
“People are like, New York, L.A., those are the two places where there’s a lot of Asian American comics,” he said. “People don’t really think of Chicago, and so that’s where the whole idea of the show and the theme came about.”
Comedy first piqued Paik’s interest in summer 2019, when the Northwestern University Asian American Studies Program awarded him a grant to work with an improv group. Members “didn’t really know what to do with me,” he said, giving him free rein to find open mics around the city.
He continued building his skills during the COVID-19 pandemic — balancing schoolwork with Zoom open mics. As clubs reopened, Paik developed an interest in performing in longer shows, but there weren’t many spots where he could authentically be himself, he said. Most of the audiences who attended his shows didn’t look like him and couldn’t relate to the experiences he shared, he said.
“The Midwest is never conceived of as an Asian American space, even though there’s Argyle and Devon and all these places where people do live and spend most of their lives,” he said, recalling a lecture from a professor in college. “That was reflected in the stand-up scene.”
Paik created “East of California West of New York” in late 2021, hoping to break barriers between Asian…
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