Comedienne Jiaoying Summers shoots from both the hip and the heart.
In just four short years, the rising comedienne accumulated 1.5 million followers on TikTok speaking her mind in a hilarious and uncensored manner.
She’ll join multi-Emmy Award winning news anchor David Ono of KABC/ABC7 TV for what promises to be a lively and humorous one-on-one conversation at the Japanese American National Museum on October 9 beginning at 7:30 p.m.
The appearance is a benefit for Asian American Media Inc, the non-profit that publishes AsAmNews. Summers will kick off AsAmNews’ Bad Ass Asian Speakers Series.
“My job is to speak the truth and to make them laugh. That’s what I do,” Summers told NHK World – Japan during a recent interview. “My dream is to be that person who can talk about the important issues in the world and make it funny. Once you have this very strong point of view, not mocking people but share what deep insight from my heart and mocking myself, people really relate to me. They love it.”
She gets her comedy from her real-life experiences. She’s not afraid to show her vulnerability and perhaps that’s what her fans like.
It’s not often that you’ll find a comedienne from China who speaks with an accent grace the comedy stage in the United States, but she’s managed to beat the odds. She journeyed to the United States at the age of 18 to attend the University of Kentucky. There she made a friend.
“His name is Billy Bob. Billy Bob is a very nice guy. But sometimes Billy does not respect my boundaries because there’s one time Billy asked me, “What does dog meat taste like? So, I told him, I said Billy, can we respect each other’s boundaries because I never asked you, what does your cousin’s p*ssy taste like.”
She says that’s a really true story and that people think it’s OK to ask questions like that.
At first, she tried her hand at acting, but found the path to Hollywood for an immigrant Chinese girl is lined with sinkholes filled with rejection letters.
Then one day director John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood) saw one of her auditions and suggested she try her hand at comedy.
“I was like, I can’t even make it memorizing a script. How can I make it writing everything, performing everything on stage by myself — in a second language?” she told the Harvard Crimson.
However, she decided to give it a shot. She performed at an open mic.
“I don’t remember what happened, I just remember I wasn’t funny,” Summers said. Walking off stage she recalled hearing someone say ‘She doesn’t even speak English, what’s wrong with this b*tch?’
Tears would quickly begin streaming down her face.
“I went to get a vodka shot. I was crying. I was breast feeding. My milk just started coming out and I had a cup to catch the milk for the baby to have it. ‘They can’t drink this, there’s vodka in the milk.’
“I started dumping it and then I said no, that is White Russian. I should drink it…That’s actually my first good joke. I said hmm. I write it down. I’ll try tomorrow.”
She would then turn to social media to what she described as “to find my voice. To see what relates with my audience.”
Summers takes her life experience with her anytime she’s on stage. She too dark skinned by Chinese beauty standards, she says her mom would remind her.
“I had big cheeks, big jaws, big lips and my mom called me a cage fighter.”
Now she says her mother is learning English.
“That’s great for my material because now she can abuse me in two languages.”
Today she is an inductee into the Asian Hall of Fame.
VIP reserved seating at the Japanese American National Museum are just $50. Anybody with VIP tickets will have the opportunity for a photo and autograph with Summers.
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