In this episode, we explore Asian American representation in comedy. Our guest, Donald Chang, is a member of New York City’s Asian AF, a prominent Asian American comedy troupe. We discussed the changing dynamics of Asian American representation in predominantly comedy, as well as acting and voice acting. We found positive trends in the industry for the voice industry for all backgrounds as any voice actor can be cast into a wide variety of roles no matter what the character’s lived experiences are. Comedians and actors are also seeing trends in terms of less stereotyping. Donald expressed getting to play characters regardless of who they are, whereas a decade ago, they may have only been cast to play a character of similar background and race. When he was breaking into the voice acting scene, Donald noticed he was being pursued for roles of Chinese characters and was told to put on an accent. Because of his last name, Chang, he was assumed to be of Chinese descent when he is Korean American. While the trends mentioned earlier are positive, recent strikes in the industry are poised to slow representative projects for the time being. Donald hopes that by pushing for change while the dust settles, the industry will ultimately encompass every voice for every possible role.
Guest: Comedian Donald Chang