Living and growing up in two or more cultures requires one to develop a unique balance in between them, finding one's own blend of heritage and personal experience. Asian Canadians experience diverse culture; they are often challenged to balance some of the cultural aspects they understand and can relate to themselves and the other cultures that are more foreign to them.
This became evident when we interviewed the Asian Canadian actors of ‘SFUU MAN CHU’ who have taken part in the Etch-Your-Sketchoff!#$%!! competition at VACT for the past four years. They incorporate their versions of Asian themed material in to their sketch comedy routines, but at the same time, they try to avoid making stereotypical jokes about the stereotypical aspects of being Asian.
Some of the obstacles Asian Canadians face is that they are not fully connected to their Asian backgrounds because they grew up in Canada. After all, stereotypical Asian jokes lose their flavor after being used over and over. To keep their show more fun and creative, they try to come up with original material, still keeping with Asian themes. For SFUU MAN CHU, their primary goal is to connect with the crowd by putting on a show, and breaking all rules because they no longer care about winning competitions.
Asian stereotypes are easy to poke fun at, but we challenged SFUU MAN CHU and the other groups we interviewed to perhaps consider putting in some material from the Canadian half of being Asian Canadian into their routines.
*Photographs: Top photo: SFU MAN CHU @ Sketchoff!#$%!! 2009, courtesy of VACT
Bottom photo: SFU MAN CHU during interview, April 2010. L-R Josette Jorge, Fiona Walsh, Darlyne Dolap, Ric Lee (Not present: Nigel Wakita, Tricia Collins)
Some of the obstacles Asian Canadians face is that they are not fully connected to their Asian backgrounds because they grew up in Canada. After all, stereotypical Asian jokes lose their flavor after being used over and over. To keep their show more fun and creative, they try to come up with original material, still keeping with Asian themes. For SFUU MAN CHU, their primary goal is to connect with the crowd by putting on a show, and breaking all rules because they no longer care about winning competitions.
Asian stereotypes are easy to poke fun at, but we challenged SFUU MAN CHU and the other groups we interviewed to perhaps consider putting in some material from the Canadian half of being Asian Canadian into their routines.
*Photographs: Top photo: SFU MAN CHU @ Sketchoff!#$%!! 2009, courtesy of VACT
Bottom photo: SFU MAN CHU during interview, April 2010. L-R Josette Jorge, Fiona Walsh, Darlyne Dolap, Ric Lee (Not present: Nigel Wakita, Tricia Collins)
