If you're interested in finding out the history, evolution, and how much more we have to do, this is a busy read. It is books like this that work particularly well as audiobooks I think. The tone of voice and emphasis the author adds in reading brings an added dimension that would be missing in the written word. And, while with fiction I’m happy for my imagination to fill in the gaps, in non-fiction it helps to get all the additional information I can. This is quite a comprehensive coffee-table book on the history of Asian – and specifically (mainly) East, Southeast and South Asian – Americans, and it's full of essays about what happened in the "culture" during the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s, with a big segment on time before 1990s and a teeny section on what should be taken into consideration in the 2020s and beyond. I’m not usually a non-fiction reader! I struggle with taking it in and staying focused when it’s on paper but I thoroughly enjoyed this! I think I’ll choose to listen to memoirs/non-fiction books from now on! I loved the way that Phil was able to use his comedy expertise to inject some fun into his narration of the book. I’m not sure some of the jokes would have come across as well on paper. If Malay is like learning to ride a bike, then Chinese is like having to memorise the names of everyone who has ever ridden a bike."

Phil Wang - Sidesplitter: How To Be From Two Worlds At Once

I thought, ‘This will get a few hundred retweets,’” he says. “But the mad thing is it’s probably the most anyone has seen of any of my work. That one Sunday I spent writing, filming and editing that little clip was more exposure than all these TV shows. It’s just such a strange world now. There are times when I think, ‘What am I doing, doing standup? I should just be making videos every Sunday.’” This article was amended on 16 August 2021 to make it clear in the body of the text that Philly Philly Wang Wang is now on Netflix.Incidentally, Wang also confesses to leaning into the British psyche: ‘a sort of apologetic arrogance, a bumbling and shy sense of absolute superiority’– as you can tell from his self-deprecating, but ultimately high-status - tone.

Phil Wang: ‘How would I like to be remembered? As the man who Phil Wang: ‘How would I like to be remembered? As the man who

With the blurb and introduction indicating that this was more essays than memoir, I'd hoped that Wang would have some funny and interesting things to say. And as it turned out, he had some interesting things to say, with autobiographical elements adding colour to the topics he explored and how they affected him as a mixed-race person. Wong, Gabby (2 March 2017). "INTERVIEW: Phil Wang – The comedian who isn't afraid to make you laugh about race". Resonate . Retrieved 12 June 2020. This story was updated on 15th March to change the venue for where Wang will record his Netflix special. A lot of comedians are into food. It might be because we have a lot of free time and we travel, so we can get into food in a way that people with nine-to-fives probably have less time to do. And we’re hedonists really. Our work is based on pleasure and so we really appreciate pleasure and weare always chasing pleasure. My favourite things Hachette imprint Hodder Studio recently published Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith's Inside No 9: The Scripts, Tom Allen's memoir No Shame and last week put out Pippa Evans's self-help book based around improvisation, Improv Your Life. Titles from Ellie Taylor and Sukh Ojla are due out later this year.

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The British approach to food and alcohol is boom and bust. Like, you don’t drink anything in the week and then the weekend you drink so much you potentially commit a crime. And most of the week you eat very plain, gentle food, and on a Friday you eat a vindaloo and ruin your night. I think about race a lot because I have no choice. The child of a white woman and an Asian man, the subject of race has always been a part of my life and it always will be." You’d be forgiven for thinking that all we talk about is race at the moment,” says Wang. “But this surge over the last year is only because we’ve suppressed it for so long. It’s erupted. And you should talk about it. The longer you suppress it, the more negative emotions fester and bubble and boil. It breeds a poisonous subculture. It’s something that people are always aware of, but never really talk about, which is usually fertile ground for comedy, right?” Chinese is like the Marvel Cinematic Universe... It has too many characters and I just don't have the time." It is an ignorant person who proudly declares a disinterest in the different life experiences of others."

Phil Wang review – an irresistible set of smart and silly Phil Wang review – an irresistible set of smart and silly

Race is something people are always aware of, but never really talk about, which is fertile ground for comedy’: Phil Wang. Photograph: Netflix Gil, Natalie (14 September 2015). "Learn from our mistakes: freshers' week regrets". The Guardian. London . Retrieved 19 March 2018. Phil Wang is trying to think of a comedian who isn’t an introvert. When he’s really pondering a subject hard his eyes typically roll upwards, his pupils almost disappearing into his eyelids, like he had written the answer to the riddle on the ceiling above him earlier. Eventually he alights upon one candidate, but doesn’t want to name him in case the comedian would take offence at being called an extrovert.This, for Wang, is what he loves about standup. One time, after a gig in London, a white middle-class couple from Essex came up to him – and the comedians Pierre Novellie and Nish Kumar – and said they had enjoyed the show in the main, “but enough of the race stuff, eh?” Wang found the comment, and the ensuing discussion, enlightening. In Malaysia, everyone had talked about race all the time: that’s what happens in a country that is highly racially diverse, where the largest ethnic group – the Malays – make up only half the population. In the UK, where 80% of the population is white British, the subject can remain more of a taboo. I know now not to eat before a standup gig or TV show . Your brain’s not working as fast after you eat. I’m slower, more tired. It’s similar to how you feel post-coital, right? Postprandial and post-coital are very similar because, as far as your body is concerned, it’s mission accomplished for today. Nothing else needs to be achieved: you’ve eaten and you’ve procreated – you’re smashing this! Go to bed, you’ve earned it. Of course, as a comedian, that’s when the working day starts, but your body doesn’t know. Phil Wang is a clever and funny guy. He did go to Cambridge University after all and he is a successful comedian. These two attributes come together nicely here as Wang presents his thoughts and experiences on the challenges and delights of being a child (and adult) of two cultures.

Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now

Although I was sent a physical copy of this book in exchange for a review, I actually bought the audiobook since it is narrated by the author himself. I am so pleased that I read this via audio because you get the emphasis of funny moments and the tone required in more serious moments. This is also my first encounter with Phil Wang and so it was a really good way to get to know him through him reading to me in my car on my commute. The audio narration was fantastic and well-paced. The authors are all notables in Asian American pop culture: Philip Wang is part of the trio who founded Wong Fu Productions, an early mainstay on Youtube; Jeff Yang is a journalist with decades of experience and father of Hudson Yang, star of Fresh Off the Boat; and Phil Yu runs Angry Asian Man, a longrunning blog connecting Asian America (and for me growing up from enclaves, a life line into the diaspora). Highly recommend all their work, especially Jeff & Phil's podcast They Call Us Bruce. It is at times a funny read and there were several times I laughed out loud at various situations he described. Phil has a really nice calming tone to his writing; you can tell this hasn’t been ghost written as his voice shines through. Phil Wang has been asked this question so many times he's lost count. So, finally, he decided to write a book about it. About how to be from two places at once.

It has something for everyone, politics, music, movies, tv, sports and FOOD. Anything related to the intersection of pop culture and being an Asian American in this country.