SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA—He was supposed to do only one show in San Francisco, he said. But then he got calls from Pinoys: “Can you add one more show, please. I was too late to get tickets.”
So Filipino-American comedian Jo Koy (Joseph Glenn Herbert) added another, and another, and still the calls kept coming, until he had six sold-out shows, setting a record at the Warfield Theatre.
My sister was one of those too late to get a ticket, but she’s patient and persistent—she kept hounding the ticket website until, miraculously, two seats opened up for the 6:00 p.m. show on Sunday (Jan. 14).
We arrived at the Warfield about an hour early, taking our places in a long line that stretched from the middle of the block to the corner. The people beside us were mostly Filipino, with a sprinkling of some other ethnicities.
Once they started letting people in, the line flowed fast and smoothly. Bags were checked and folks passed underneath a scanner. They took away food and water bottles (there were two bars indoors). I heard that afterward there was a huge pile of confiscated Skyflakes and Nagaraya adobo flavor at the entrance.
The Warfield is a regal-looking venue dating back to 1922. Not only does it have great acoustics, its aesthetics hark back to its origins as a vaudeville hall, with red walls and dancers painted across the ceiling. The theater seats 2,300. Do the math—that’s about 13,800 people who came to see Jo Koy in San Francisco alone.
Those who’ve seen Jo Koy’s performances live or on Youtube are familiar with his themes and spiels. There were no surprises here, but the jokes were mostly fresh (I’d heard a couple before, about his son’s hygiene habits, or lack thereof) and quite amusing. My inner cynic was silenced as I laughed almost non-stop for an hour and a half along with the rest of the audience.
I’ve noticed that Jo Koy shies away from political jokes—no laughs at Trump’s expense, for instance – and this was echoed in an article I subsequently read. Written by Mariecar Mendoza, the recent interview with Koy quotes him as saying, “I get involved in the political, but I don’t bring it to the stage because that’s not my style,” he said. “That’s never been my style. It’s not even what I listen to. I do enjoy Dennis Miller, I do enjoy Chris Rock when they do their political humor, but it’s never been my goal. … I love relatable humor.”
Koy, who is half-Caucasian and Pinoy on his mother’s side, was born in Tacoma and draws on his experiences as a Filipino-American for his comedic material. A huge issue for Fil-Ams (for all immigrants, actually) is race, and Jo Koy has a huge repertoire of accents, riffing off on stereotypes of black, white, and Asian folk. “But it’s true!” he protests, and the audience agrees with a roar.
Jo Koy’s standbys, and the crowd favorites, are jokes about how his mother Josie raised him. He mimics her accent—“Josep!”—and that’s become a catchphrase among the Fil-Am community. Much of his material focuses on women – not only his mother, but also his sister Rowena and maternal grandmother “Lola Tina.” Koy also relies on sexual humor, sometimes going to the extreme, to get a rise out of the audience.
He ended the show with a sing-along of iconic ‘90s pop songs, encouraging the audience to belt out the lyrics to boy-band tunes. It was a great way to make viewers feel part of the act.
The show we watched was the fifth of sixth he put on in San Francisco, where he kicked off his “Break the Mold” US and Canada tour. As of now, his shows are sold out in many cities and he’s had to add more shows in some. For instance, his gigs in Irvine on Mar. 16, 17, and 18 have five sold-out shows, and likewise on Mar. 23, 24, and 25.
Koy dropped out of university to pursue a career in comedy, working his way around the comedy club circuit in Las Vegas until he got his break in 2005, appearing on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” where he received a standing ovation.
He was in over 100 episodes of E’s “Chelsea Lately” with Chelsea Handler, had two specials on Comedy Central (“Don’t Make Him Angry” and “Lights Out”), and recently released his third, the Netflix original “Jo Koy: Live from Seattle.”
His success is hard-earned and well-deserved. We look forward to his reaching greater heights in entertainment, spreading laughter along the way.
Dr. Ortuoste is a California-based writer. Facebook and
Twitter: @jennyortuoste