Top 60 Jimmy O. Yang Quotes

A lot of people go on this journey of finding themselves and then eventually realize that their true self wasn’t on the outside but it’s always been there.

My publicist actually told me about the book. She’s half-Indian, half-Dutch, and she was like, ‘You’ve got to do this book. It’s called ‘Crazy Rich Asians.”

I was competitive ping-pong player. I played in youth tournaments, under the age of 13.

I was always pretty good with making deals. When I was in sixth grade, when Pokemon cards were hot, I might have started with, like, three or four cards, and then at the end of the year, through trading with my friends and everything, I ended up with the biggest card collection in my school.

Nate Dogg is my favorite artist. I cried more when he passed than when Michael Jackson did.

I tried my hardest to be the opposite of a stereotypical Asian student.

I have some scripts, I’m putting a couple of projects together with people I want to work with. I think that’s the most exciting part, when you can hopefully create your own content and find the people that you love that you get to work with.

When a Spanish actor does an accent, that’s sexy. When Peter Sellers did a French accent in ‘Pink Panther,’ that’s funny – he got nominated for a Golden Globe. How come whenever an Asian actor does an accent, he’s stereotyping?

I think in China they have a camera for every street corner, and if you jaywalk, they don’t give you a ticket. They put you on the big TV screen to shame you.

I tried to be a rapper. I tried to make beats before I got into comedy, and that’s still one of my hobbies.

Usually when you’re Asian and you’re on set, you’re the only Asian there. Either you’re the token Asian or you’re the Asian sidekick.

I just want to keep working and have a roof over my head.

Whatever ethnicity you are, yes, absolutely you have to be proud of who you are man. I am really really proud to be Asian, I got to say.

When I came to America, it was Dave Chappelle and a lot of comedians on ComicView. That was my first exposure to stand up comedy, actually.

Immigrant characters now are getting much more well-rounded, and they have personalities, which is important because we do need to portray immigrants in a humanizing way.

It’s a fine line between hack and good comedy.

I went to college as an economics major because that was the easiest major that could still please your Asian parents, and then, much to their dismay, I became a stand-up comedian.

I spoke English when I moved to the U.S.A. but I had an accent. To get rid of it, I watched a lot of TV-shows and tried to repeat after the tv-hosts. I liked shows about hip-hop.

I’ve learned to not have expectations. I think the first movie I did, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m going to win an Oscar!’ You can’t do that, you’re going to let yourself down.

I remember the first couple of TV things I did, I was really nervous.

When ‘Chappelle’s Show’ came out, if you didn’t watch it on Wednesday night, you had nothing to talk about in high school the next day.

Nico Santos I’ve known from Bay Area stand-up, and he lives right by me so we hang out all the time.

When I was graduating college with an economics degree, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I was kind of scared. So I was just trying everything.

My mom worked as a manager at a high-end fashion place, so she was always a pretty stylish woman.

I studied economics and thought I wanted to play with the stock market – my dad was a financial adviser – and I was going to go down that path. I was an intern at Smith Barney.

I’m a big Clippers fan. I have season tickets to the Clippers. That’s the only team I really root for in any sport.

I’m generally pretty excited about new gadgets, new tech, A.I., stuff like that.

When you’re 1 out of 5 Asian people on TV, all the pressure is on you and you have to represent.

To get noticed you need to work a lot and have a bit of luck. And I’m here to say that it’s possible.

It’s maybe a better thought to change the perception of an accent than to avoid it all together.

I obeyed my parents’ rules inside our Chinese household while I pursued my dreams in the American world outside.

Certain stories, like my mom leaving when I was 15-years-old to go back to China because she didn’t quite assimilate like we did, that was a moment that was very sad in my life.

When I became an American citizen, nothing’s changed because I’m still Asian.

Maybe my job on this planet is to make the Asian accent sexy.

I guess I’ve lived my whole life as an outsider.

Look, to be honest, when certain movies like ‘Ninja Assassin’ came out, that had a sexy, sexy Asian man with a six-pack, that made some people think, ‘Maybe I should go out there and date an Asian dude.’ And that did pretty good for us in a way of representation.

With a lot of pop music, they just have one song and a good beat, but there’s not necessarily that much talent.

My job is to go into that audition and be good enough of an Asian actor – or an actor in general – to land that role so they don’t have to go out and hire a white guy. My job is to make sure I capitalize on these opportunities that other people created.

If you think about writing a book, or when I did, it seems daunting, but when I began writing, it just started flowing.

I was first introduced to Kiesza when I saw her perform ‘Hideaway’ on Jimmy Kimmel’s show. It was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.

One of the hard things coming from an immigrant family – or any family that doesn’t believe in the arts – is that you have to disappoint your parents. That’s hard for people to do if you’re a good kid.

That’s what’s great about standup comedy: the instant feedback. You get up on stage, you tell a joke, if it doesn’t work, come back the next day with a better version of it.

When I quit my internship and started doing standup to pursue my dreams and do that full time – I feel like that’s when I ‘Americaned.’

I’m just a quirky, funny dude.

Growing up, my dad was ‘get a real job, don’t go pursuing your dreams, that’s how you become homeless.’ So, do I pick my family or do I pick my own happiness, and how much does my own happiness depend on my family?

The great thing about the comedy world is that everybody is somewhat of an outsider. That’s the community where outsiders feel like they’re insiders.

I know Asian actors out there won’t even audition for a role that have an accent. But for me, I was the kid with an accent. I still have an accent to some degree.

As far as stand-up, a lot of Asians and Chinese are not as apt to stand-up, especially the older generation since they don’t even know what stand-up is.

I went to school for economics, and especially in Asian culture it’s not really a viable job for my family to be an artist.

Silicon Valley,’ I mean, the comedy is amazing, and it’s one of the best-written shows with some of the best talent. I’m really happy to be a part of it.

Comedy and drama are like two different sports; they both require athleticism but they’re different.

When you are in America, at least for me, as an immigrant, I try to be as Americanized as I could. I just want to be an actor, I don’t just want to be an Asian actor necessarily.

I tried a bunch of things, like Jiu Jitsu boxing classes. I don’t know why, but I did.

I was actually fairly athletic and coordinated, but I never played any organized sports.

If you want to do standup, you have to go on stage. That’s the only way to get good – stage times.

Just because I don’t speak English with an accent anymore doesn’t mean that I’m better than the people who do.

My dad played my dad in ‘Patriots Day’ and that’s why he thinks that’s a good movie.

My Chinese name is Man Shing which means ‘ten thousand success.’ It’s a name that’s sure to set me up for failure.

Other Asian actors, especially American-born actors, sometimes shy away from immigrant roles.

Mother always tries to buy things for a reasonable price. I was never allowed to buy things at full price. Probably, it’s rooted in the Chinese mentality. We are very thrifty.