[MUSIC PLAYING]
GRETCHEN HOWARD: All
right, welcome, everyone.
I am Gretchen Howard.
I am one of the
partners at CapitalG,
which is Alphabet's growth
equity investing fund.
And I have the privilege
and honor of introducing you
to my friend, Jimmy O. Yang.
Come on down.
[APPLAUSE]
[DOG BARKING]
I'm going to give you a hug.
JIMMY O. YANG: Thank you.
Thank you.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: All right.
[DOG BARKING]
JIMMY O. YANG: Hey, gang.
Thanks for coming
out, everybody.
I appreciate that.
Is there a dog here?
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Yes, there is.
JIMMY O. YANG: Aww.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: So Google
has a dog open-door policy.
So Jimmy wrote a book recently.
It's called "How to American."
We're going to have
a little chat here,
and then we'll open
it up to questions.
And just as a little
incentive, if you
don't have the book already,
those who ask questions
will be the first to get your
very own copy of the book.
JIMMY O. YANG: Ooh!
So exciting.
[LAUGHTER]
And I'll be signing and
taking pictures afterwards.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Exactly.
Yeah.
All right.
So we're going to
start in the beginning.
JIMMY O. YANG: Hi.
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
You're born-- hi.
You're born in Hong Kong.
JIMMY O. YANG: Uh-huh.
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
Tell me about that.
Let's start there.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
I was born in Hong Kong, and
I moved to LA when I was 13.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: In 2000.
JIMMY O. YANG: In 2000.
That was after, like, the
handoff from the British colony
back to China, right?
And I think there was
a lot of worry there.
It's probably one of the reasons
why our family moved here.
And when I first came
here, I couldn't really
speak English very well, kind
of like Jian Yang, you know?
And I just, I've learned
English in Hong Kong
how kids here would
learn Spanish.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Right.
JIMMY O. YANG: So
it's not very well.
And like, I didn't understand
the simplest slangs,
like what's up.
Like, they don't teach
you that in school.
Like, what's up?
You know, right?
And eventually I
learned a lot of English
by watching "BET Rap City."
That was like, my thing.
So yeah.
And then it just
progressed from there.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: But even
before you moved to LA--
let me see if I
get this straight.
Your parents were
originally from Shanghai.
JIMMY O. YANG: That's true.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Did
they spoke Shanghaiese?
JIMMY O. YANG: We spoke-- it was
speaking Shanghaiese back home.
And then I learned
Cantonese from school.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: OK.
JIMMY O. YANG: So I speak
Cantonese in school,
and then I watch
shows in Mandarin.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: So no
wonder you're confused.
JIMMY O. YANG: Very.
Yeah.
And then English
somewhere came along.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: So how did
that even feel as a kid,
even before you got to the US,
not knowing how to speak really
good English, just
being in Hong Kong
but having parents who
came from the mainland?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
I was kind of already the
foreign kid, because whenever
I speak to my parents,
they'll be like, oh, that's
the Shanghai boy right there.
You know, there was like an
internal almost hierarchy,
and a semi-racism
within Chinese people.
Like, Hong Kong
people always think
they're better than other
mainland China people.
And so they always called
me the Shanghai boy.
And so maybe that was
like, my first experience
at assimilation, which
really came in handy later
when I came to America, when I
was actually the foreign kid.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Already sort
of felt like an outsider--
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
--still in Hong Kong.
OK.
So you get to the US.
You're in LA.
JIMMY O. YANG: Mm-hmm.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: What's
your first day in the US?
What happens?
JIMMY O. YANG: It was just
complete culture shock,
because Hong Kong
is like Manhattan.
You've got buildings
25 stories high.
It's a concrete jungle.
And then you came to LA.
The streets are
like six lanes wide.
Everything was just like
a two-story strip mall.
And you walk down the street.
There's nobody in the street.
So it's like, where am I?
It was like, is this "Mad
Max," or what's going on?
[LAUGHTER]
And the first day,
my grandpa took us
to his favorite
American restaurant.
We walked 45 minutes
down the street.
First of all, we
passed by Pizza Hut.
And that was my favorite
restaurant in Hong Kong,
because Pizza Hut in Hong Kong
is like a gourmet restaurant,
with like, seafood, pasta,
and like, real gourmet soups
and stuff.
And then I saw the real,
authentic American version,
and it was just a hole
in the wall with an oven.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm like, what is this?
How is the real version worse
than the foreign version?
I was panicking.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: So where
did Grandpa take you?
JIMMY O. YANG: And then
Grandpa, he was like,
this is my favorite
American restaurant, when
we arrived at this strip mall.
And it was El Pollo Loco.
It was a Mexican
fast food place.
But it was amazing.
And then it was
like the first time
I experienced American freedom
inside of El Pollo Loco,
because if you think about it,
they give you so many choices.
There's dark meat
and white meat,
which my grandpa was like,
don't ever order the white meat.
That's dry and rough.
That's for American idiots, OK?
Get the dark meat.
There's corn tortilla
and flour tortilla.
You get the flour tortilla
because the corn tastes funny.
And then you get
a glass of water,
and you can go to
the soda machine
and get whatever you want.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Not
exactly how it works.
JIMMY O. YANG: And then
you can go to the salsa bar
and just get whatever
you want, you know?
Get some onions and cilantro.
You can go home and saute that
stuff for some dish later.
It's freedom, people.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: All right.
So after you ate your
little chicken taco,
you go to middle school in LA.
And you go to John
Burroughs, right?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yes,
John Burroughs.
It's very-- it's inside of
LA Unified School District,
so it's very diverse.
It's the first time I
ever met a black person,
a white person, a Latino
person in real life,
because in Hong
Kong, obviously all
you had was Chinese
people in my school.
And it was crazy,
because I had seen
these different types
of people on TV,
but I had never met them.
And I was 13.
I was about, I don't
know, like 4' 10"--
really scrawny little
kid with glasses.
And like, I just
remember the first day--
I was pretty good at basketball
back home, in Hong Kong.
[LAUGHTER]
And then when I came here,
I was-- in eighth grade,
this kid, Marquise,
was like, dunking.
And I'm like, yo, like, this
is what America is about.
Like, it was crazy to me.
And then I saw this Latino kid.
He had a mustache.
I couldn't grow any
hair at that point.
It was complete culture shock.
And I was just-- you know,
my English wasn't that good,
so I was just trying to fit in.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: I thought
you were a ping pong
star back in Hong Kong, which
is so stereotypical, but like--
JIMMY O. YANG: Back in the day.
I was very stereotypical
growing up in Hong Kong.
I played the violin.
I was pretty good at math.
And I played ping
pong competitively.
But that seems like a stereotype
here, but in Hong Kong,
you're just another dude.
That's just what people do.
It's like playing catch.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Did you
bring your skills, though,
to the middle school?
Did you show them off?
JIMMY O. YANG: No, nobody
cared about ping pong.
[LAUGHTER]
Maybe until college, when it
became like a beer pong game,
but that's a whole different--
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
We're not there yet.
JIMMY O. YANG: --skill set.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: We're
in middle school.
Yeah.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
So middle school,
is this when your BET love
affair with the television
started?
JIMMY O. YANG: I
think it started.
I remember the
first day of school,
people were telling
me to sag my pants.
Like, I'm in the locker room
changing into my PE clothes,
and the kids are like, hey, hey.
Pull your shorts down.
And I'm like, oh my god,
what is going on here in LA?
[LAUGHTER]
And apparently, it's a culture
of sagging your pants, back
in the early 2000s.
You know, that looks cool.
If you pull it all the way up,
they call you John Stockton.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: So how
far did you pull them down?
JIMMY O. YANG: I pulled them
all the way down to my knees.
And they were like, no,
no, no, don't do that.
And even just-- even
underwear, it's just different.
Like, people wear boxers here.
In Hong Kong, we
wear tighty whiteys.
And people made fun of
me for that, you know?
So I learned a lot, not just
by the language, but culture,
from watching BET.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Right.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: And
then how was it--
so you're in middle school.
Then you go to Beverly
Hills High School, right?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
My dad was a genius.
He used a fake
address for me to go.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Jimmy's
dad is right here.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Stand up.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah, he's--
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Say
hi to Jimmy's dad.
[APPLAUSE]
JIMMY O. YANG: Oldest
Googler in the building.
And the subtitle of the book,
it's-- well, the title is,
"How to American--
an Immigrant's Guide at
Disappointing Your Parents."
So here we are.
[LAUGHTER]
GRETCHEN HOWARD: So we're going
to talk about, you're still
not quite in the disappointment
phase in high school, right?
That's more college?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm still the good
Asian kid then.
I got to disappointing
them later.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: So who did you
hang out with in high school?
JIMMY O. YANG: It's
a group of kids.
I wanted to hang out with--
I wanted to find, like,
a group of Chinese kids
I could kind of really
hang on to, you know?
When you don't really
know the language,
you know, you kind of
long for that, something
that reminds you of back home.
But there wasn't really a lot
of Chinese kids in high school.
So I ended up just hanging out
a bunch random misfits, right?
Like, I had a couple
of Persian friends,
a friend from Bangladesh,
and then a friend--
one Chinese friend and then
a Korean immigrant friend.
So it was a great group
of different people.
And we just kind of--
we were never the cool kids,
but we also weren't super lame.
We just kind of never fit in
with any particular group.
We weren't the skaters.
We weren't the athletes
or anything like that.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: But you
started to find your people.
You started--
JIMMY O. YANG: I started
to find my people,
and I started a rap group.
That's what happens when
you watch too much BET.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Can you do a
little of that rap for us now?
JIMMY O. YANG: I can't.
No.
No.
I was horrible.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Just a little?
JIMMY O. YANG: No.
I-- well, what I
did, I eventually--
I knew I was a horrible rapper.
So I recruited my
buddies who can rap,
and I just made the beats.
And that was like, my
first creative outlet.
It was me, my black
friend Julian, and then
my other friend, Yuji, who was
half black and half Japanese.
So it was perfectly one
and a half Asian guys
and one and a half black guys.
And we called the rap
group the Yellow Panthers.
It was very embarrassing.
Yeah.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Did you
ever sell one of your songs?
JIMMY O. YANG: I sold maybe a
couple bootleg CDs in school.
Like, we would just burn CDs.
You guys remember
that, when you burn--
it takes 30 minutes
to burn a CD,
and then you sell it for
like $5 to some kids.
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
There wasn't like,
a porn site that bought one
of your songs or something?
JIMMY O. YANG: What?
What are you talking about?
My first paycheck I really
made in show business
was from a website
called fudgestick.com.
This is true.
OK?
Don't look it up.
[LAUGHTER]
It's not a thing anymore.
It used to be a
site, a porno site.
And I used to post my
beats that I made online.
And this guy called me one day.
He was like, hey,
are you Doc West?
That was my beat maker name.
[LAUGHTER]
Which is like the
wackest name ever, right?
Doc West.
It's like from Dr. Dre and Kanye
West, I just combined the two
and called myself Doc--
it's horribly hacky.
And he called.
He was like, hey, so,
are you Christian?
I'm like, not really.
Why?
What's up?
He was like, well, so I'm in the
adult entertainment business.
And a lot of Christian
people aren't
down with what I'm doing.
And my name's LeRon James.
That was his name.
Not LeBron James--
LeRon James.
[LAUGHTER]
And he was like, I
like one your beats.
And can I use it for a
trailer for one of my pornos?
[LAUGHTER]
So I sold it to him--
my first paycheck.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: All right.
So a little short-lived
music career.
You go to college.
UCSD?
JIMMY O. YANG: UC San Diego.
[CHEERING]
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Ooh, we've
got some in the house.
JIMMY O. YANG: I'm sorry.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm sorry-- one of the most
boring places I've ever been.
Did you like it?
You did like it?
Oh, good.
What did you guys study?
Like, engineering, computer
science, or something?
Good.
Well, at least you guys studied
something you guys liked.
[LAUGHTER]
Economics!
How did you end up here?
[LAUGHTER]
Imposter.
Kidding.
Kidding.
So am I. I studied
economics also.
And here I am.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: But you
didn't-- is that what your dad
wanted you to major in?
JIMMY O. YANG: He wanted me--
like, something
legitimate, right?
What Asian parents would
consider legitimate
is like, engineering, science.
So I went in as a mechanical
engineering major.
And I realized I
would never graduate.
So then I went into
economics, which
is like the easiest
major that is still
approved by Asian parents.
[LAUGHTER]
Right?
He was a financial advisor.
It was like, that's what it is.
And so I did it for five years.
It took me five years to
graduate with my economics
degree, which is very sad.
And I didn't--
GRETCHEN HOWARD: A lot of
extracurricular activities?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah, you know,
smoking a little too much weed
my freshman year.
I was just trying
to not be grouped
in-- because there's so many
Asian people in UCSD, right?
It was like, for the first time
I came to America, that Asian
was the majority once again.
But now, I have a different
identity crisis, because now, I
don't want to be grouped in
as the other kids, because I'm
like, dude, I listen
to Jay-Z, man.
Like, I'm Doc West.
You know what I mean?
Like, I don't--
you know, I'm cool.
So when you're
younger, you don't want
to be grouped in with some--
or when you hit that
age, that college age,
you don't want to be grouped in.
So I tried to do other stuff.
And for some reason, as
twisted as this logic sounds
it kind of made sense to me, was
if you just smoke enough weed,
you would transcend
being just the Asian kid.
[LAUGHTER]
You will be the stoner kid.
You know what I mean?
And for me, in my mind,
somehow that's better.
Sorry, Dad.
[LAUGHTER]
But--
GRETCHEN HOWARD: So
did you not hang out
with any other Asian kids, then?
JIMMY O. YANG: No, no.
I did.
I mean, that's my only option
at UCSD, and it was fine.
But it was like, maybe
other Asian stoner kids.
I didn't know what
I wanted to do.
Like, when I graduated
after five years,
I had no idea what
I wanted to do.
I just know I didn't
want to do economics.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Right.
JIMMY O. YANG: You know, I had
an internship at Smith Barney
that my dad hooked me up with.
It was one of the really
nice financial firms.
I don't know if you
guys know about this.
Smith Barney, I mean, it
just sounds nice, too.
I think it's part of Morgan
Stanley now or something.
But like, I just,
sitting behind a desk,
I was just like, oh
my god, I'm going
to do this for
the next 40 years,
looking at some other
people's mutual funds?
I was having a panic attack.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Yeah.
JIMMY O. YANG: I mean,
that actually sounds
attractive to a lot of people--
like, you know, the safety of
having a nice job like that.
But to me, it just
didn't appeal to me.
So--
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
But that's hard.
I mean, your dad
got you this job.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: And he helped
you go to college, right?
He was there for you.
He really like, raised you a
lot through your teenage years,
right, because your mom
went back to Shanghai?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: So papa over
here, and all of a sudden,
you tell him you don't want
to do the job that he got you.
I mean, what was-- how did you--
JIMMY O. YANG: That's
when I disappointed him.
[LAUGHTER]
GRETCHEN HOWARD: How did you
get up the courage, though,
to have that
conversation with him?
JIMMY O. YANG: It was hard,
man, because you don't ever
want to disappoint your
parents, especially if they've
done so much for you, right?
Like, they came to this country
for you, for your education,
got you in school, right?
Faked an address to get me
into Beverly Hills High School.
I mean, come on.
And then I'm going to tell them
I don't want to do this job,
you know?
And do what?
I don't know.
Like, stand up?
And it was hard.
But I figured it was probably
better to disappoint my parents
for a couple of years
than to disappoint myself
for the rest of my life.
So that's why I just,
I was like, I can't--
Dad, I can't do this.
I don't want to do this job.
And I went through a
journey after that,
of finding what I wanted to do.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Right.
JIMMY O. YANG: I
didn't think stand up
was going to be a career.
It was just something
I found that--
it was a friendship that
I found in stand up,
with other comedians,
and a camaraderie,
and something to do,
even, just a community,
so I don't feel as stuck.
But I tried other things.
You know, I got three
jobs when I graduated.
I sold used cars during the day.
This was all in San Diego.
And then I would go to
work at the Comedy Palace,
working the door,
collecting tickets.
And then in exchange, I
would get a couple minutes
of stage time, doing stand up.
And then at night, I
became a strip club DJ.
[LAUGHTER]
GRETCHEN HOWARD: So let's talk
about that, because your boss'
name was Shooter?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
He was Shooter.
I don't know why.
He probably shot somebody.
Who knows?
It was a very gangster,
seedy strip club.
And when you're like, 22, you
think working at a strip club
is like the coolest
thing, right?
Especially when you watch
too much music videos.
But it wasn't.
It was like-- I soon realized
nobody in that strip club
actually wanted to work there.
They were there because they'd
been to prison a few times
and they have to work there now.
And everybody got
nicknames, like Shooter.
The bouncer's name was Beast.
He used to be in the Aryan
Brotherhood back in prison,
so he probably wasn't too
hot on me working there.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Right, right.
JIMMY O. YANG: And yeah.
It wasn't that great
of an environment.
But I tried to be
professional, you know?
[LAUGHTER]
GRETCHEN HOWARD: That's all
we're going to talk about that.
OK.
But back to your stand up.
It sounded like when you were
taking tickets at the door,
you actually had some people
who became really good friends
and also advisors.
So Sean Kelly?
Was that--
JIMMY O. YANG: Sean Kelly.
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
Talk to me about him.
JIMMY O. YANG: A
good friend of mine.
He kind of became my mentor.
I think that's one of the most
important things, is finding
a good mentor, and not
afraid to ask somebody
to be a mentor, and really--
GRETCHEN HOWARD: How
did you meet him?
Who is he?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
So he was the guy that
started the Comedy Palace.
He was like a businessman
and a comedian.
And everybody in
San Diego was like,
yo, if you want stage time,
you need talk to Sean Kelly.
I'm like, who's Sean Kelly?
They're like, Dave Chappelle's
cousin or something?
Like, I don't know.
And he turned out just to be
like this brilliant businessman
that really helped
me along my career.
And yeah.
He was the one, I guess, in
the beginning, he was like,
man, you know, you've
got such a unique story
of your immigration, you know?
And you're wasting your time
talking about, like, hacky
masturbation jokes.
Don't do that.
Every other comic can do that.
But you have your own story.
You should develop
this material,
eventually write
a book about it.
And then you can do talks.
You can do whatever.
And look.
Look at me.
And he was the one
that talked me out
of working at that strip club.
He was like, yo, Jimmy,
you're funny, man.
You've got to move to LA before
this gets like, into like,
a point of no return.
So yeah.
Yeah, finding that mentor
is extremely important.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: I love that he
pushed you in that direction,
because there's one
part in the book where
Terrell and Guam, who seemed
to be good friends of yours,
who are also--
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah,
they're two comics.
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
They're two comics.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah, yeah.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: But it
sounded like, you know,
they had a more lively sex
life than you did at this time.
JIMMY O. YANG:
Right, right, right.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: And so
they were incorporating all
of that into their stand up.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
And you were like--
JIMMY O. YANG: I
wanted to do that.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Right.
But it wasn't authentic, right?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: So Sean has
somehow saw that in you, not--
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah, yeah.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: And made
you tell your real story.
So how did that
change your comedy?
JIMMY O. YANG: It's great.
I think it's still evolving.
When you first
start as a comedian,
you just try-- you're
not funny, right?
Nobody's funny when
they first start.
You just try to do
jokes that you've
seen on TV and your
own remix of that--
you know, a lot of, like I said,
masturbation jokes, or like--
and then you graduate to some
like, self-deprecating Asian
jokes or something like that.
And then eventually, you are
able to become more vulnerable
and talk about the immigration
stories that I have,
like that I wrote in the book.
And I'm really happy to kind
of use some of that material.
And that's material
people can't even steal,
and it's just your thing, right?
So I think that's what I'm
trying to strive to doing,
because that's what some
my favorite comedians did.
You know, Chappelle--
George Lopez has
great family stories,
and like, him being a
Mexican-American in America.
So I want to do more of that.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Right.
So how did you
then make that jump
from doing stand up to then
going to LA, getting an agent?
Like, talk me
through that shift.
JIMMY O. YANG: Oh, man.
I just wanted to do stand up.
My goal was to get
a college agent.
I could make like $2,000 a week
doing college shows, right?
But then, you know,
things started to unfold.
And I went back to LA.
I was living in this
dude's living room
from Craigslist, for $300,
because I didn't want to move
back to my dad's as a failure.
So I--
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
You're on the couch?
JIMMY O. YANG: It
was a struggle.
I was just trying
to make ends meet.
I was hoping to
book a commercial,
because a commercial,
you can make
like thousands of dollars in
one day of work, with residuals.
So that was what
I was hoping for.
So I signed up, put my head
shots up on all those websites,
like desperately
seeking for an agent.
And then the first agent I
met with, a commercial agent,
I was like, oh,
man, this is great.
I'm going to be great.
This is going to change my life.
And I drove up.
I pulled up.
It was an apartment
rental office.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Oh, jeez.
JIMMY O. YANG: It
wasn't even an agency.
I walked into an
apartment building.
And then he had me read the
Staples commercial, right?
It's like, Staples, where all
the folks, da, da, da, da, da.
And I was so bad, the apartment
rental agency rejected me.
[LAUGHTER]
They were like, ah, we're fine.
We don't need you.
And I was like, almost
about to give up on that.
And then I found another
small agent that kind of
took a chance on me.
And she started sending me out
on auditions that were like,
beyond my goals at
that time, even-- not
just commercials, but
like, "Modern Family,"
just like two lines
here and there.
And I couldn't--
I guess I learned some
timing from doing stand up.
But I had never taken acting
classes, so I wasn't very good.
And then eventually, I spent a
lot of money on acting classes.
And I got my first part
on "Two Broke Girls."
It was just like two lines.
And I thought that was
like the epitome of acting.
Like, it was amazing.
And then from then, you
know, the two-line part.
And then I got
another two-line part,
got a part on "Always Sunny"
with a few more lines.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: And what
type of characters were they,
you getting cast in?
JIMMY O. YANG: It's different.
One of my favorite
parts in the book
is this audition
log I have, right?
It's the 101 auditions
that I went on
before I got my 102nd audition,
which was "Silicon Valley."
So let me see here, if I
can find a good section.
Where is that log?
Oh, here you go.
It was a hundred--
so all these auditions, I used
to meticulously keep a log.
And then I got on "Silicon
Valley" and I'm like, OK, fine.
[LAUGHTER]
But it's a lot of like,
stereotypical roles.
Like, my first few parts
that I auditioned for,
I don't even get it.
It's like, loud Japanese host.
Taiwanese, 20, looks
like 12, computer geek.
Tucker-- ethnic friend.
Right?
It's like these two-line parts.
This is one of my favorite
parts, looking at these parts.
I'm like, oh my god.
Like, I used to dream
about getting these roles.
You know what I mean?
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Right.
JIMMY O. YANG: And really,
"Silicon Valley" started off
as a two-line part also.
It was when Jian
Yang opened the door
and he's like, "This
is Pied Piper."
Like, that was the two lines
that kind of started it.
And then they wrote
the fish scene after,
and then something else.
And then by season 2, I
became a series regular.
It was-- and so like, I felt
like I snuck in the back door.
And it was just amazing.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: So
even that first season,
you were still trying to pay the
rent, trying to make it work?
JIMMY O. YANG: I got
paid $900 per episode.
$900-- that's the
SAG minimum wage, OK?
That's the lowest
they can pay an actor.
And that's what most people
get paid in Hollywood
when you're just starting out.
So I was in three episodes
in the first season,
and I had maybe like
five words total.
And I was paid, what?
Like $2,700-- you know,
with maybe residuals, $3,000
at the end of the day.
And I was still super broke.
I actually drove
Uber between season 1
and season 2 of
"Silicon Valley,"
but nobody recognized me then.
And I used that $2,700 as down
payment for like a 2006 Prius.
And then that's how I
could sustain myself.
And when I got a call to be
a series regular on season 2,
it was life changing.
Like, I knew that
was the moment.
I was like, oh my god,
everything's about to change.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Awesome.
So let's talk about
Mike Judge, then,
because he's obviously been
a big influence on you.
JIMMY O. YANG:
Mike Judge, my guy,
who wrote the
foreword on this book.
Yeah.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: And
the first time you
ever heard him speak was,
besides "Beavis and Butthead"--
JIMMY O. YANG: It was at UCSD.
Mike Judge was my commencement
speaker when I graduated.
How crazy is that?
2009, he was the campus-wide
commencement speaker.
I was very hung over that day.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: But you went.
JIMMY O. YANG: I
almost didn't go.
And then my buddy convinced me.
He's like, oh, come
on, man, just go.
You know, he did, like,
"Beavis and Butthead."
He's the "Beavis
and Butthead" guy
and the "King of the Hill" guy.
I'm like, OK, whatever.
I'll go.
And then his story
really spoke to me,
because I was really
lost at the time.
And he was saying that he
was a physics major in UCSD,
and he was working in Silicon
Valley in the late '80s,
making computer chips for
fighter jets, I believe.
And he said he just
didn't like it, you know?
And eventually, he became
a touring musician.
And then from then, he found his
passion in an animated studio,
and that's how he made
"Beavis and Butthead."
It was an amazing story.
It was a story that I kind of
never allowed myself to have,
growing up in an Asian family.
My dad always told me that
if you pursue your dreams,
that's how you become homeless.
[LAUGHTER]
Artists are homeless people.
So he never-- like, I was
never allowed to kind of have
that dream thing, right?
That's a very American thing.
And that's what a big
theme in the book is.
It's, in Asian culture, you're
supposed to be obedient, follow
the rules, be a good son.
In American culture,
you're supposed
to be an independent man,
go pursue your dreams,
pursue your happiness.
So how do you kind
of-- you know,
I'm sure a lot of
Asian people here could
relate to this, or even anyone.
It's like, how do you--
which side do I go to, because
they're exact polar opposites,
right?
And I think deep
down, I always wanted
to be that artist person.
But you know, I did go
through the route, even
throughout college, of trying
to just be the good son.
Right?
And then the Mike Judge
speech really spoke to me.
I'm like, man, this dude didn't
know anything about Hollywood,
but he was able to make it.
So that kind of gave me
a little extra motivation
to go pursue stand up
and whatever I loved.
And yeah, five years
later-- he had no idea
I was sitting in the audience.
I just went into an audition
for the part and I got the part.
And the first day at
table read, I told him.
I was like, Mike, you were
my commencement speaker, man.
Thanks.
So that was a
pretty cool moment.
And Mike's a very
calm, quiet guy.
He's like, yeah, cool.
Yeah.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: He
majored in economics, too,
and he turned out all right,
so I think you're fine.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah,
yeah, you're fine.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: So OK.
So now you're on "Silicon
Valley" full-time.
How do you reconcile,
you have your own sort
of immigrant story,
and then there's
the story of your character?
How do you think about that?
How do you prepare for that?
What do you draw from
your own experiences?
What do you draw from--
JIMMY O. YANG: Absolutely.
I think it all came
full circle, that I'm
able to kind of use my past
story into building the Jian
Yang character, because he's
basically a version of myself
15 years ago, kind
of wandering around,
kind of can't understand a
lot of things, and in a way,
being kind of bullied by
TJ's character, Erlich.
But he's not stupid.
So he can kind of come back
with some just really deadpan
factual trash talk that
you don't see coming.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Do you have
a favorite comeback line?
JIMMY O. YANG:
Well, I remember--
so when I was younger,
when I first came here,
people would talk
trash to me, right?
And when you're young,
like when you're 13,
people were just like, hey,
your mom's fat, ha ha ha,
or whatever.
And I would be like, no,
she's a skinny Chinese woman.
[LAUGHTER]
That's a very Jian
Yang moment, in a way.
And I think one of my
favorite things in--
I mean, there's so many
favorite moments with me and TJ.
I just love working with him.
One of my favorite
scenes, personally,
is when we walk into
the mansion party,
and we try to get into
the Muir Woods project,
and we just constantly
keep trying to throw
each other under the bus.
We did a ton of
improv there, too.
One of the things was
like, when TJ was like,
can we just go in and
just take one quick lap?
He doesn't even eat.
And I said, yes,
I'm very hungry.
Like, stuff like that.
And then there's another
take where I just
started naming off different
food that I see inside.
I was like, oh, Korean
BBQ, spaghetti, meatballs.
Just so much going
on in that scene.
That was the first
time that me and TJ
had the whole
scene to ourselves,
and the whole
background and setting.
So that was really fun.
And I think that was the day
that we discovered, I was like,
oh, man, we do have something.
Like, there's something
special there.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Yeah.
So in this season,
obviously TJ's not on.
We're not quite
sure where he is.
So how do you find--
JIMMY O. YANG: Smoking
opium in Tibet.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Yeah, exactly.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: How do you
find your rhythm, not having
him to go back and forth with?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
He's one of my best friends.
I think him and Mike are my
two best friends on the show.
So it was really
sad to hear him go.
He called me like at
midnight one night,
and he was like, I'm not coming
back for the next season.
And I was like, shocked.
I'm like, oh my god.
So that means whatever
the last scene we did
was going to be our
last scene together.
So I was like,
really sad about it.
But you know, I
think it turned out
to be kind of a
blessing in disguise.
You know, the writers have to
think of more creative ways
to build out the
show without TJ.
And also, for me,
I get to interact
with some other cool
people, and kind of
be a pain in the ass to other
people, which is really fun.
Yeah.
So I'm--
GRETCHEN HOWARD: You're
running the incubator--
JIMMY O. YANG: I'm excited.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: --now, right?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah, yeah.
You know, I'm trying.
I'm trying.
We'll see how it develops.
And yeah.
I get to interact with
a lot more people,
and even, I think, one of my
favorite actors, Matt Ross,
who plays Gavin Belson.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Yeah.
JIMMY O. YANG: So I get
to do some stuff with him.
And it will be fun.
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
And another cool
project, "Crazy Rich Asians"?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yes.
Are you guys familiar with that?
Have you guys read
the book or anything?
Yeah.
So it was an international
best seller, a book.
It's a satire of billionaires
in Singapore and that culture.
And they turn it into a movie.
And it's the first
studio movie in 25 years,
since "Joy Luck Club," that
features a full Asian cast.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Wow.
JIMMY O. YANG: So this is
like, our "Black Panther."
[LAUGHTER]
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Not
the Yellow Panthers.
Yeah.
JIMMY O. YANG: Not
the Yellow Panthers.
Well, basically the
Yellow Panthers.
Yeah, so we just shot
in Singapore last year.
It's coming out in August.
And it's a really good movie.
And the experience
of that was amazing,
because as Asians
in Hollywood, I
don't know if different
art forms-- like,
a lot of times on any set,
we're the only person on there.
And now there's an
added weight of like,
now the scrutiny's on you to
represent Asian people, right?
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Right.
JIMMY O. YANG: So
and you're always
looked at as the Asian
dude, no matter what.
Right?
It's always Asian
dash something--
Asian leading man, Asian
asshole, Asian funny guy,
or whatever.
Right?
But shooting this
movie was great.
It was in Singapore, where the
most talented, most beautiful,
funniest Asian people
are all in one room
trying to make this movie.
And the pressure is
just kind off of you.
Like, you're not just the
token Asian dude on the set.
You just, you can
do your job, like me
as the funny character,
Constance Wu,
Henry Golding, as like the lead
character, the romantic lead.
And we just kind of
handed off the baton.
And it was the first time in
Hollywood that I felt white.
[LAUGHTER]
And it felt great.
[LAUGHTER]
It felt so good.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Are we OK to
open it up for some questions?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah, for sure.
Let's get to some questions.
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
So we actually have
a mic right there
if you guys want
to get-- we're live
streaming, so we're
going to need you guys
to talk into the mic.
So if you can line
up back there.
And we also have a
Dory, if you guys
want to ask anything
in the Dory as well.
So just state your name,
and then the question.
AUDIENCE: Hey, Jimmy.
I'm Vince.
Thanks for coming out,
and writing that book.
It's awesome hearing that story.
I was curious.
I love your role in
"Silicon Valley."
And there are some
like, cringeworthy,
semi-stereotypical
Asian moments.
I'm wondering how you
reconcile that with yourself,
having lived through that?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
I think it teeters the line of
being a stereotypical character
and then portraying an immigrant
character and humanizing it.
Right?
I know a lot of, especially
American-born Asian actors,
that don't even--
they won't even audition
for a part that has
like an accent or something.
And for me, I kind of
disagree with that,
because I was the
kid that was foreign.
I was the kid with an accent.
So my job is not to judge
that, but to portray them
in a humanizing, funny way,
to make them look better.
I think that's more important
than shunning those people out,
because one of the most painful
things when I first came here
wasn't the fact that, say, black
people, Latino, white people
didn't accept me, because
I was the foreign kid.
I expected that.
But one of the
most painful things
was like, the American-born
Asian people didn't accept me,
because they didn't want to
be grouped in as like a FOB,
as like the fresh
off the boat guy.
You know?
So I kind of feel
pretty strongly
about that, where I want
to make immigrants just
as appealing and just
as sexy and just as
funny as a perfectly
English speaking person.
And I think that's important.
[APPLAUSE]
AUDIENCE: Thanks for
repping the FOBs.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: We're going
to alternate, one live and one
Dory question.
JIMMY O. YANG: OK, cool.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: All right.
The next question is, do you
have any thoughts on effect
arts and artists,
TV included, they
have on the perception of
the immigrant population?
JIMMY O. YANG:
Immigrant population.
That's kind of
the same question.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Especially
modern day-- yeah.
JIMMY O. YANG: Anything else?
What is your relationship like--
GRETCHEN HOWARD: TJ.
JIMMY O. YANG: --with Erlich,
TJ Miller, in real life?
He's a good friend of mine.
And we really got along.
I think we've got the same
sense of humor and stuff.
I felt pretty good about it.
He said I was the first one
he called when he decided
to not do "Silicon Valley."
We hang out every now and then.
He's in New York now, so we
don't get to hang out as much.
But I took him to a
showing of "Patriot's Day,"
a movie I was in.
And--
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Of the Boston--
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah, about
the Boston Marathon bombing.
And then after the movie, TJ
was like, standing up clapping.
And then he just like
announced to the theater.
He was like, guys, this is
my friend, Jimmy O. Yang.
He was the kid in the movie.
Please, everybody clap.
So he's got a big personality.
Like, he is kind of
that guy in real life.
But I love him.
He's awesome.
Yeah.
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
All right, go ahead.
AUDIENCE: Hi.
Thanks for coming out.
JIMMY O. YANG: Hi.
AUDIENCE: As someone
who has navigated
that really complicated
space of kind
of giving up the more
guaranteed regular salaried job
to kind of pursue something that
could be a spectacular failure,
what kind of advice do
you offer, or could you
offer, to someone
trying to decide
whether or not to take
a chance on something
that could not work out?
JIMMY O. YANG: Good question.
I think for me, I just, I
almost couldn't live with myself
not doing what I love.
I always think it's better
to try something and fail
miserably than to have
never tried at all.
So if you sum it up in
that sentence, you know.
And I talked to
some startup people.
I think those guys
are really brave.
And they're artists, too, right?
Because they could be working
somewhere for like $200,000,
but they decided
to take a chance.
And one guy told
me, he was like,
you know, all you
are missing is maybe
two years of opportunity costs.
But you can always go back
to doing something safer.
So yeah.
You're just only losing
a couple of years.
You're fine.
Yeah.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
JIMMY O. YANG: Just pretend
you're in a coma or something,
if it didn't work out.
[LAUGHTER]
GRETCHEN HOWARD: All
right, next question.
Are you experiencing any
reverse culture shock now,
when you go back to--
JIMMY O. YANG: Yes.
Yeah.
When I go back to
Hong Kong, China.
I went back to Hong Kong for
the first time in 17 years
last year, after I shot
"Crazy Rich Asians."
And that kind of--
I couldn't find an
ending for the book.
And that trip gave me the ending
that I needed for the book.
It was culture shock.
I'm so used to LA now.
Now I'm not used to
tall buildings and stuff
like that, right?
And the people, I'm
like, oh my god,
this is so anxiety inducing.
There are just
people everywhere.
But there is still
a part of me that
feels like Hong
Kong is always home,
because when I went
there, there was just--
I don't know.
I felt at peace at
something, because here,
like we talked about, if
I'm playing ping pong or
playing the violin, or
just eating dim sum here,
I'll seem a little
stereotypical.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Do you
still play the violin?
JIMMY O. YANG: I try.
I dabble.
But I would be like the
stereotypical dude here, right?
But if I'm just, if I'm
eating dim sum in Hong Kong,
reading a Chinese newspaper,
I'm just another guy.
I don't have to explain
myself, you know?
So there's some kind of
safety and a peace there.
And I just, it was good
to know that there's
a part of the world
that I can always
feel that way, because
in America-- like,
I just became an American
citizen last year.
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
Congratulations.
JIMMY O. YANG: Thank you.
Still Asian, it's fine.
[LAUGHTER]
Because like, I joke about
that, but it's true, right?
Because nobody in any part of
world-- not America, not Italy,
not anywhere, not even Japan--
would be like, oh, look,
that's an American guy.
No.
No, no, because I don't have
blonde hair and blue eyes
or like, whatever, right?
GRETCHEN HOWARD: I don't either.
JIMMY O. YANG: OK, but you
look way more American--
[LAUGHTER]
--than I do, even though we're
at the same level of American.
So I think, hopefully, with
movies like "Crazy Rich
Asians," more seeing
Asians in media,
and seeing a more homogenized
place, like Google, like this,
people will start seeing
Asians as Americans
more and more in the future.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Great.
AUDIENCE: Hi, Jimmy.
JIMMY O. YANG: Hi.
AUDIENCE: First
off, I wanted to say
it was really freaky
looking over at your dad,
because my dad--
JIMMY O. YANG: Me too.
Yeah, I agree.
[LAUGHTER]
AUDIENCE: My dad is also
a bald Shanghaiese man.
[LAUGHTER]
He wears glasses.
JIMMY O. YANG:
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
AUDIENCE: Who gets up
randomly to take pictures.
So it's great--
JIMMY O. YANG: Yes!
AUDIENCE: --to see him here.
Thank you.
And my other--
JIMMY O. YANG: Does
he also have a photo
shoot whenever he goes
to lunch or dinner?
AUDIENCE: Exactly.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
And my question is
about how you prepared
for your role of Jian Yang.
JIMMY O. YANG: Mm-hmm.
AUDIENCE: I think
some people could
say that you've been preparing
for this role your whole life,
being Chinese,
being an immigrant.
But did you do any
specific immersive research
in this area, for example,
going to Stanford classes
or immersing yourself
in a hacker hostel?
And if not, how did you
best prepare and develop
the idiosyncrasies of this area?
JIMMY O. YANG: Thanks.
So this past
off-season, I actually
made HBO give me like
a tour of everything.
So I talked-- we have a lot of
great consultants on the show
that, you know--
Dick Costollo's one of them.
So--
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Used to be
a PM here, CEO of Twitter.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
And then I visited
Google this past summer.
And I visited Facebook and more
mid-sized companies, like Lyft,
and--
which CapitalG invested in--
and a few places,
and I learned a lot.
And studying the characters
there, it's really cool.
And also, just for Jian
Yang the character,
the immigrant character itself,
whenever I drive to the lot,
I listen to Chinese radio for
like an hour when I'm driving.
You know, 1300 AM, the Mandarin
station in LA, that's my jam.
So it gets me kind of in
that Mandarin mindset.
And
I also, whenever I--
before I do a scene, I always
kind of say this mantra
to myself in Mandarin.
I say [MANDARIN],, which
means, I don't know,
in Mandarin, which I
think it helps me think
in Mandarin, first of all.
But also in a way,
it kind of sums up
who Jian Yang is as a person.
Either he actually doesn't
know about something,
or he doesn't even
care to know about it.
So yeah.
That would be, I guess,
my preparation for it.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
JIMMY O. YANG: Thanks.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: OK.
You've mentioned
before that stand up
isn't really a
thing in Hong Kong.
Do you have any plans to
try doing stand up there,
and are you funny in Chinese?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
Stand up is becoming a
thing in Hong Kong now.
There's a club that opened
up called Takeout Comedy.
That's the actual name of
the stand up comedy club.
So I would want to go
try some stand up out
in Hong Kong, maybe even
in Mandarin or Cantonese
or something.
But it is not as easy as
just literally translating
my English jokes into
a different language.
It's more than that.
It's cultural differences.
They wouldn't understand
a lot of stuff
that we talk about here.
So it would be kind
of a challenge.
But maybe in the future,
I'll be down to explore that.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Does your
dad think you're funny?
JIMMY O. YANG: Do
you think I'm funny?
AUDIENCE: Yeah, he's getting
funnier and funnier day by day.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Funnier
and funnier day by day.
JIMMY O. YANG: Still
keeps me humble.
But you know--
GRETCHEN HOWARD: OK.
Go ahead.
AUDIENCE: Thanks so
much for coming today.
I know you talked a little
bit about your story getting
into Hollywood in
America, but is there
any kind of specific occurrences
that you felt really down,
or you got a lot of pushback,
like racially, or just not
fitting into the role?
And do you still face
that, moving forward today?
JIMMY O. YANG:
Yeah, when I didn't
get the loud Japanese host
part, I was, you know--
I think one of the sadder
things is like a part perfectly
describes you, and you
still don't get it.
It's like, short Asian, Chinese
with glasses and long hair.
And you go and you audition, and
you still don't get the part.
You're like, wow, I'm bad.
[LAUGHTER]
Like, the open ethnicity
part, I get it.
They have plenty of options.
But you know what?
At the end of the
day, I've never
tried to blame it on
the fact that I'm Asian,
even though that might be true,
even though people could be
racist or they are actually
looking for a white guy,
but they have to audition
an Asian guy or something.
But it doesn't
give me benefit me
at all, if I try to blame
that on me being Asian.
So I just try to be
better the next audition.
If I'm not funny on stage,
I try to write better jokes
and come back the
next day and not
use being Asian as a crutch,
even though it might be true
sometimes.
Right?
So yeah.
That's how I look at it.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
JIMMY O. YANG: Thanks.
AUDIENCE: Hi, Jimmy.
I'm actually a really
huge fan of yours.
Other than "Silicon
Valley," I've
actually gone through
all of the videos
I can find of yours on YouTube.
JIMMY O. YANG: Wow, thanks, man.
AUDIENCE: Uh-huh.
Yeah.
I even checked your
YouTube comments.
It's kind of creepy.
[LAUGHTER]
GRETCHEN HOWARD: We'll keep
him a safe distance away.
JIMMY O. YANG: Good guy.
AUDIENCE: So I am super
excited to be here.
My question would be,
further in the future,
would you more look
into continue your path
as a comedian or
doing both a comedian
and being an actor
in the show business?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah, I think
both, and more writing, also,
and creating my own
IP because still,
there's not a lot of material
out there for Asians to do.
You have to come up
with your own stuff.
So hopefully, one of my goals
is turning this into a TV show--
maybe like a version
of "Atlanta,"
but our version of it, right?
And that will probably reach
a more mainstream audience,
because stand up still doesn't
translate to a lot of Asians,
especially.
Like, I never grew
up listening to--
like, knowing what stand up is.
My dad didn't know what
really stand up was.
So I think turning it into
a TV show or something
would reach like a broader,
more mainstream audience.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Didn't he
think you did a talk show?
JIMMY O. YANG: Talk show--
my dad still calls
it a talk show.
I'm like, I'm going to
the Laugh Factory tonight.
He's like, what?
To do talk show?
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
Sorry, one more thing.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah,
sure, go ahead.
AUDIENCE: I also have a
question about the problems
you mentioned, about Asian being
minority in the show business.
As you gain more popularity
and influence to your audience,
is there something you
want to do more about that,
like maybe like
what kind of actions
you would take to
change that, kind
of putting a great actor into
a sort of a stereotypical role
in a TV show?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
I think what I can do is
just creating my own material
and putting myself in it,
and giving myself jobs
that maybe other people
would have given to Scarlett
Johansson or Matt Damon.
You know what I mean?
So I think it's really
important to create and do
what you do best, right?
Whereas it's right,
do stand up, act.
So I always just
try to concentrate
on being the best I can.
When there is an
opportunity, I can nail it,
because there is a lot
of groups out there,
like NAACP, CAPE, that's for
the Asian advancements and stuff
like that.
And they're doing a lot of
ground work in representation
and making sure the
right article comes out
and there's no racist
commercials or anything,
you know, right?
Or whatever, right?
So they are doing their job.
But that's not
necessarily my job, right?
My job is to really
nail the opportunities
that they create for us.
And really, when I go into an
audition room, not just being
the best Asian actor, but being
the best actor in that room
so I can get that role.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: It is
kind of amazing though.
You've gone, in just a
span of a couple of years,
from literally sleeping on the
couch, paying $300 in rent,
scraping it together,
driving Uber,
to now having the weight
of representing all Asians,
and what that means
on TV and in film.
And do you do parts
of the accent or not?
And how do you
create opportunities?
Like, how do you just
deal with that pressure?
JIMMY O. YANG: You try
to not think about it.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Yeah.
So that's why--
JIMMY O. YANG: And then you
have a panic attack at 2:00 AM.
No.
I'm just enjoying it, man.
Like, this is really fun to
see all of you guys show up.
Like, I never imagined this
would happen, you know?
Or I would imagine this
happening in the future.
But it's just great.
I'm just trying to
enjoy the moment.
Like, it's getting
a little busy,
but still, I never try to put
the weight of representing
Asians on my back, because
that doesn't make me better
at my job.
So I just try to entertain.
AUDIENCE: Thank you so much.
JIMMY O. YANG: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: So great
to see you in person.
JIMMY O. YANG: Thank you.
Love this guy.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: You
have to sign his book.
JIMMY O. YANG: I love--
of course.
Of course.
I love this guy.
AUDIENCE: Hi, Jimmy.
So I think your story really
resonates with me because I
dropped out of medical school.
And for like two years, my
mom was like, you know what?
You're never going to get
a girl to want to marry you
if you're not a doctor.
[LAUGHTER]
I was like, under lot of stress.
JIMMY O. YANG: Are
you married now?
AUDIENCE: No, no, no, no, no.
[LAUGHTER]
So maybe she's right.
Maybe she's right.
So I've got two questions.
The first question
is, if you never
got the big break
on "Silicon Valley"
and you ended up being
a miserable failure,
like you said, what do you think
you would have ended up doing?
And my second question is,
so do you have groupies now,
now that you're like,
an Asian celebrity?
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Well, I'd say.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah,
the last guy, I guess.
Yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
If I didn't get
"Silicon Valley,"
I think I would still be working
hard to try to get something,
right?
And I always try to
put like-- you know,
have different things
in the pipeline.
Like, if maybe I never
became a really good actor,
I would have just tried
to concentrate on stand up
or concentrate on writing
or something like that.
But I don't see
there's a world where
I would have went back to Smith
Barney or anything like that.
I think people have
a misconception
of like, Hollywood or the arts.
It's luck or it's nepotism
or something magical
needs to happen for
you to make it happen.
But at the end of the day,
if you work hard enough
and if you're good
enough, it's going
to happen, one way
or another, right?
Especially in the
stand up world--
if you just get good enough, at
least you can do some colleges.
At least you can make
ends meet, right?
You might not be the
next Dave Chappelle.
But you can make it a job.
So I think that's
where the disconnect is
with maybe the older generation,
and also how a lot of people
think of the arts.
Yeah.
Groupies, I don't know.
I still use Bumble sometimes.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
AUDIENCE: Hi, Jimmy.
My name is Zang.
And the other part
of your story really
resonated with me,
the immigrant part.
So as an immigrant
myself who's been living
in the US for
almost two decades,
one question really
trips me up a lot.
And it's, where are you from?
So Jimmy--
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
AUDIENCE: Where are you from?
Like--
JIMMY O. YANG: It depends who
is asking that question, right?
If it's an Uber driver that I
don't really want to talk to,
I'll just say LA, and
that's the end of that.
And a lot of people like
to ask you, no, no, no,
where are you originally from?
And people take offense to that.
And I get it.
Like, I wish we don't
live in a world like that.
But I'm proud of where I'm from.
Like, I'll tell people
I grew up in Hong Kong
and that I came here.
So if they want to hear
the long story of that,
I sell them a book.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Tell
them to buy the book.
Yeah.
JIMMY O. YANG: You know?
[LAUGHTER]
GRETCHEN HOWARD: You, too,
can buy it on Google Play
or at a bookstore
near you, right?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah, exactly.
Anywhere you want.
Yeah.
AUDIENCE: Cool.
Thank you.
JIMMY O. YANG: Thanks, man.
AUDIENCE: Hi, Jimmy.
JIMMY O. YANG: Hi.
AUDIENCE: I was
wondering if you're still
keeping in touch with your high
school friends, the misfits
and other folks who knew
you before "Silicon Valley,"
and what are they up to now?
And do they think you're funny?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
You know what?
They're still some of
my best friends, man.
My buddy Jeremy, Persian guy,
he's in construction now.
And but he wants to be a writer.
So we're actually writing
something together
because he knows my
life as well as I do.
Yeah.
And you know, my friend
who lives in Irvine now,
he came out to support
one of my book signings.
And it was really
sweet to see that.
And yeah, they still live
pretty close to me, and still
some of my best friends.
And it's good to have people
like that to keep you honest,
I think.
Like, they'll check me.
They're like, Jimmy, you're
acting too Hollywood, man.
You know?
Why you going out
to buy a gold chain?
What's wrong with you?
So I stopped at one gold chain.
Thanks.
AUDIENCE: Hey, Jimmy.
My name is Tony.
I'm a big fan of the show.
I'm excited to
check out this book.
Also being the child of
like, immigrant parents,
I'm curious to see how the
conversations or process went
with you talking to your parents
about wanting to leave Smith
Barney, disappointing
your parents, you said,
for a couple of years.
Like, what was that like,
talking to your dad?
And how did that all go?
JIMMY O. YANG:
It's hard, I think.
Also, in an Asian family,
we're not as open, in a way,
like with a Western family.
Like, in an Asian family,
we don't necessarily say,
I love you, or I'm proud
of you, things like that,
on the surface.
Whereas it's a very casual
thing for my American friends
to say, oh, I love you, I
love you, I love you, right?
GRETCHEN HOWARD: I love you.
JIMMY O. YANG: So-- oh, thanks.
[LAUGHTER]
So you know, it's hard, man.
I sought some therapy.
And you know, you have to kind
of just like kind of step up.
You don't want it
to be like a thing
where you don't end up
talking to somebody, right?
So it's like an
ongoing conversation.
I think me and my dad now have a
good communication, where like,
we talk all the time,
even about stuff that--
I make him talk about
stuff he doesn't
want to talk about sometimes,
like stuff from the book.
And he read the book
and stuff like that.
So sometimes it's up
to us to maybe force
that conversation on them.
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
Was there a point that you felt
you had to kind of like, earn
his acceptance at all?
Or was it-- was he kind of--
JIMMY O. YANG: I'm past that.
I'm past that now, I think.
Yeah.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: You got
him to try acting, right?
JIMMY O. YANG: Yes.
He's an actor.
He played my dad
in "Patriot's Day."
He's a pretty good actor.
AUDIENCE: All right.
Thank you.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah, thanks.
AUDIENCE: Hi, Jimmy.
I'm Huang.
And my question is actually kind
of similar to that last one.
But having Asian
parents means that there
are a lot of expectations.
They expect you to go to a
good school, get a good job,
and then get married after
school and have kids before 30.
JIMMY O. YANG: Right.
AUDIENCE: Has your
parents' expectation
changed as your career grow?
And how do you deal with
those expectations, I guess?
JIMMY O. YANG: Huh.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: I think
there's a lot of people feeling
similar pressures in the--
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
Has your expectation
changed, Dad?
Do you want me to
have kids, like, soon?
AUDIENCE: I would like you
to apply for a job in Google.
[LAUGHTER]
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Anyone want
to hire Jimmy at Google?
JIMMY O. YANG: So
there you have it.
Yeah.
I mean, maybe there is, I think.
I don't know.
But I try and not
let it get to me.
AUDIENCE: Thanks.
JIMMY O. YANG: Thanks.
AUDIENCE: Hi, Jimmy.
I'm Xiang Li.
Thanks for sharing
the stories today.
So my question is, now you've
gained lots of popularity
and fame, but at
what point do you
think that you think you are
actually going to be famous
someday from TV show?
And at what point do you
start to actually believe
that you're going to be--
you know what you're
doing and you're
going to be good in
acting and stand up?
JIMMY O. YANG: I think being
an actor and being a stand up,
you're always kind of insecure.
And it's not like an absolute,
like, oh, now I'm a good actor.
I think I'm very
confident in my abilities
now, ever since a few
seasons of "Silicon Valley"
and other stuff I've done.
But it's-- you always try to
just get better, you know?
And not suck.
So I don't know.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Was the process
of doing TV versus a movie
different for you?
JIMMY O. YANG: Not too much,
because "Silicon Valley"
is a single camera, so
it shoots like a movie.
So I think that gave
us a lot of practice.
And you know,
"Silicon Valley" is
like going to school for me,
the acting school I never had.
So that was awesome.
So maybe one day I'll sell out.
I don't know.
We'll see, as the
rappers would say.
AUDIENCE: Were there nights
when you cry in the evenings
because you think
that it's difficult?
JIMMY O. YANG: I
cry in the evenings?
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Do you cry?
[LAUGHTER]
JIMMY O. YANG: I
didn't know that.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Do you cry?
It's a question.
Do you cry?
Have you ever cried from
the pressure or the fear
of not making it?
JIMMY O. YANG: No,
I don't think so.
It wasn't the fear-- like,
I get anxiety from it,
but it's never like, crying.
Like, sometimes I
cry tears of joy
when I realize how blessed I am.
That's when I cry.
AUDIENCE: OK, thanks.
JIMMY O. YANG: Thanks.
AUDIENCE: Hi.
OK.
My question is, actually, I
like Jian Yang, this role,
very much.
But I think it's very
different with other guys
I met in Silicon Valley.
I think, like me, I'm an
Asian guy and software
engineer in Silicon Valley.
But I think most Asian
guys I met are very smart
and they did get things done.
But Jian Yang is totally
different with that.
JIMMY O. YANG: As
to say he's stupid.
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
Do you know that?
Or I know the role is
not decided by you.
It's by a director
or some other guys.
But I mean, do you know
what's the true software
engineer in Silicon Valley,
the Asian software engineer?
GRETCHEN HOWARD: I
think she's inviting
you to do a Google engineering
immersion [INAUDIBLE]..
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
These Chinese folks asks me
the tough questions, right?
I mean, you've got to still
play the comedy of it, right?
Like, if it's just a dude
sitting in front of a computer
making really awesome apps
and really successful,
making hundreds, it's not funny.
[LAUGHTER]
AUDIENCE: OK.
JIMMY O. YANG: So it's, I think,
funny to make it a satire of he
has some of the mannerisms
of the Silicon Valley people,
but he still kind
of has the balls.
And he kind of steps up,
and he's kind of an asshole.
And you know, he's kind of an
opportunist in a way, you know?
I think Jian Yang
can code pretty well.
The Not Hotdog app,
he just made it.
[LAUGHTER]
You know?
AUDIENCE: OK.
Thank you.
JIMMY O. YANG: Thank you.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: Maybe time
for two more questions.
JIMMY O. YANG: Cool.
AUDIENCE: Thank you
for coming, Jimmy.
My name is Vicky.
I'm an ABC,
American-born Chinese.
My parents are from Taipei.
I grew up exactly kind
of the similar path
that you may have been.
And until I got into Google, my
mom was disappointed with me.
JIMMY O. YANG: What
did you do before that?
AUDIENCE: Well, I actually went
through the recruiting program,
university recruiting.
So I actually went to UCSD and
went through the career center,
and actually applied
to work in AdWords.
JIMMY O. YANG: I never stepped
foot in that career center.
[LAUGHTER]
AUDIENCE: So it was my
first job out of college.
It was the only
job I applied for.
And I was like, I
hope this works out.
And my mom was like, you
better hope it works out.
So now to this day, even
my grandparents are like,
don't leave Google.
Whatever you do, don't leave.
And I don't think they
even know what I do.
So it's like, there
is an expectation.
I totally understand what a
lot of us are going through.
The question I had for
you was around children,
your future children.
I have a child now.
And I grew up going
to Chinese school,
doing all the traditional
Chinese things we do.
I find it challenging
to figure out
how to raise my
child in America,
and also instilling the
basic cultural traditions
I grew up with.
And I feel like there's some
responsibility on my end
to do that.
So my question to
you would be, imagine
yourself being your dad one
day, having your own children.
How would you go
about making sure
that your own
children don't lose
their own cultural identity,
given that they're not
from Hong Kong or Shanghai?
JIMMY O. YANG: Do
you speak Mandarin?
Or--
AUDIENCE: I do.
[SPEAKING MANDARIN]
JIMMY O. YANG: Oh, OK.
So do you speak to
your kids in Mandarin?
AUDIENCE: So she's only
one, like 14 months.
JIMMY O. YANG: Well, I
mean, will you, you think?
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
No, I'm planning on sending
her to Chinese school--
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah, I think--
AUDIENCE: --which is
what I am used to.
JIMMY O. YANG:
--that's very cool,
because your kid's
going to learn--
this is what my dad told me.
Like, your kid's going to
learn English in school.
You might as well speak
to him in Mandarin.
Like, I see some of
my relatives, like,
they insist on speaking
maybe English to the kid,
so the kid doesn't--
aren't going to be
foreign like they were.
But that-- the kid
grew up in America.
He's going to speak English.
So I think the language
itself is very important.
I think everyone's trying
to learn Mandarin now.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: BET still--
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah, BET.
Show him some BET.
AUDIENCE: OK.
JIMMY O. YANG: So I think, look.
Like, even people, actors and
people in media, we're trying.
So hopefully, as he
or she-- he or she?
AUDIENCE: She.
JIMMY O. YANG: As
she's growing up,
there will be more material
out there of a positive, cool
Asian representation.
Read her this book.
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
I mean, we only have
[MANDARIN] right now.
But I'm sure there's more
opportunities and things
for her to learn from.
But yeah, I agree.
I think language is
part of it, but also
the traditional sense--
I don't know if you
plan on celebrating
certain holidays with your
future children, and--
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah,
I would love to.
AUDIENCE: --teaching.
OK.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
But I'm not one to
give parenting advice.
Thank you, though.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
You and your dad
could write children's
books though.
That could be a cool thing.
JIMMY O. YANG: No, let's not.
Let's not do that.
Let's not do that.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: All
right, last question.
AUDIENCE: I feel so
incredibly grateful.
I'm the last one,
so like, I made it.
JIMMY O. YANG: This
better be good.
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
It's going to be a long one.
First of all, hi, Dad.
I mean, I didn't get the hot
dog signature on the book,
but that's not a complaint.
JIMMY O. YANG:
There was only one.
AUDIENCE: Right.
Yeah.
Kudos to your comments on
the "Crazy Rich Asians" being
the "Black Panther" for Asians.
I really, I feel
strong about that too.
This is about
thought leadership.
So I'm also 1.5 generation Asian
Canadian, and went to Canada
when I was 14.
My voice might be
shaking right now.
Sorry guys-- too excited.
JIMMY O. YANG: You're good.
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
You're doing great.
AUDIENCE: Yeah,
thought leadership.
I also really liked how you were
saying the difference between
Asian-born Amer--
I mean, ABCs here and
the 1.5 generations.
I see there's a change
of like, ABC tolerating
1.5 generation more, as Asian is
rising, specifically in China,
after 2005.
There's still more to be done.
And the thought
leadership part is,
I don't want to divide
anyone with all these labels.
Like, also, diversity is like
a talk in Google, globally.
But like, how do you
just tell people like,
we're just the same,
and we're all immigrant,
and you should be proud
of who you are without--
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
AUDIENCE: Like, if they
haven't been to your shoes.
JIMMY O. YANG: Yeah.
I think it's hard
to tell people that.
I think even if
you turn on a TV,
like something like
the immigration issue
is so politicized.
There's two sides, and they're
just two people arguing,
and they never get
anywhere, right?
And that's why I kind of wanted
to write a book like this,
where it's just me
telling my story,
and hopefully it humanizes the
immigrant experience, right?
And so maybe people can see
it from my point of view,
in a kind of humorous,
lighthearted way,
and really understand what it
was like to be an immigrant.
It's not always sob
stories, like, oh, whatever.
But in a real way, as if
this is a real person.
So I think that's
important to me.
And it's hard to
convince people.
But sometimes it's easier.
It's like pitching jokes
to the writers' room.
You don't want to
tell them, hey,
this is the joke I want to do.
But you want to kind
of make them think
they came up with that idea.
Right?
You should do that
with your bosses.
You should make them
think it's their idea.
And how do you do that
is maybe by telling them
a story through
different mediums--
stand up, books, or just in
person, telling them a story.
So I think-- and
just showing them
who you are, letting them
know you as an immigrant.
And I think that does more
work than arguing with someone
and shoving a point
down their throat.
GRETCHEN HOWARD:
I think we're all
very lucky that we get to
hear your story, in writing--
JIMMY O. YANG: Thanks, guys.
GRETCHEN HOWARD: --TV,
and in the movie.
[APPLAUSE]
