Daily Archives: January 5, 2009

Jo Koy on Comedy Central

Filipino-American comic Jo Koy’s new special “Jo Koy: Don’t Make Him Angry” is airing on Comedy Central. It premiered yesterday. Here’s a couple excerpts from his stand up act.

Jo Koy – Wii

Jo Koy – Jo’s son

More about Jo Koy

With his catchy phrase, “I Love Orange Chicken”, Filipino-American stand-up comic Jo Koy (aka Joseph Glenn Herbert) continues to embark on a comedy career that transcends his goals.

Recently named as one of the “10 comics to watch” of 2007 by Daily Variety, comedian Jo Koy continues to raise his fame and stature in the comedy and entertainment world. His dynamic energy on stage yet charismatic and approachable persona off it has fans hailing him as “a comic for the people”. While on stage, he mixes a lively physical presence with full energy, sharp observational humor, and inspirational-family-based laughs. His unique energetic stand up comedy performance is a big hit with fans of all ages and racial backgrounds.

In 2005, Jo Koy received his highest honor after his performance on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show. That night, Koy became one of only a select few ever to receive a standing ovation in the history of the show. In 2006, Koy was part of Carlos Mencia’s “Punisher Tour” performing stand-up comedy in front of fans filling 10,000-seat arenas across the country. He also has performed on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show, and Last Call with Carson Daly.

Born in Tacoma , a suburb of Washington, Koy has been performing and entertaining audiences since he was young child. Koy credits his mother for his comedic and acting talents. From an early age, his mother encouraged him and his sister (a singer in Las Vegas ) to take part in school talent shows and impromptu performances in front of family and friends.

Koy is now far removed from the young-aspiring comedian who officially started comedy in 1994 on an open mic-night in a Las Vegas coffee house.

During the past ten years, he has starred in several TV stand-up specials from BET Comic View to Jamie Foxx Presents: Laffapalooza! He has won the Showtime at the Apollo, has performed in front of troops in the USO Tour, can be seen on various VH1 I Love the 70’s, 80’s or 90’s episodes, AMP’D Mobile Phone commercials and has also received a second invite to the Montreal comedy festival – Just for Laughs.

He is currently working on a 30-minute stand up special and TV show for Comedy Central. He is a regular featured comedian at the world famous Laugh Factory, tours the college circuit nationwide and performs in comedy clubs in Canada and the US. He lives in Los Angeles.

The Story of India on PBS

The world’s largest democracy and a rising economic giant, India is now as well known across the globe for its mastery of computer technology as it is for its many-armed gods and its famous spiritual traditions. But India is also the world’s most ancient surviving civilization, with unbroken continuity back into prehistory.

Like other great civilizations—Greece or Egypt, for example—over the millennia it has enjoyed not just one but several brilliant golden ages in art and culture. Its great thinkers and religious leaders have permanently changed the face of the globe. But while the glories of Rome, Egypt, and Greece, have all been the subject of TV portraits, as yet there has been no television story of India on our screens. This series sets out for the first time to do that: to show a world audience the wonders of India; the incredible richness and diversity of its peoples, cultures and landscapes; and the intense drama of its past, including some of the most momentous, exciting and moving events in world history.

India’s history is a five thousand year epic. For half of that time, over two millennia, India has been at the center of world history. It has seen successive invasions from Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan to Tamburlaine and the British, all of whom left their mark but all of whom succumbed, in the end, to India herself. For all that time India has been famous for its spiritual traditions; it gave birth to two world religions, one of which—Buddhism—had a profound impact on all of East Asia, China, Japan and Korea, and in modern times has found root even in the US and Europe. The subcontinent is home to one of the world’s greatest—and least understood—artistic traditions and to an extraordinary spectrum of music, dance and literature. India was also, and still is, a great center for technology and science, inventing—for example—the decimal system with zero, which is the basis of all modern science, mathematics and economics. India gave birth to some of the most remarkable characters in world history, including the Buddha, the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, and the Moghul emperor Akbar the Great, not to mention the likes of Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi.

Now, in the era of globalization, India has once again become a leading player in the world. Home to more than one billion people it is a land of amazing contrasts: it contains both the high tech brilliance of Bangalore’s Silicon Valley and the archaic splendour of the Kumbh Mela festival, where 25 million pilgrims come to bathe in the sacred river Ganges on a single night. While moving at high speed into the 3rd millennium, India alone, of all the civilizations on the face of the earth, is still in touch with her ancient past.

In this landmark six-part series for PBS and the BBC, Michael Wood will embark on a dazzling and exciting journey through today’s India, “seeking in the present for clues to her past, and in the past for clues to her future”.

PBS Airdate: Monday 5th, 12th and 19th January 2009 at 9pm (check local listings)
More info at http://www.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/

The Story of India on PBS (excerpt form episode 1)