Originally published in Audrey magazine
Feb/Mar 2009 

Projekt NewSpeak is blowing away the competition, whether at sketch comedy competitions or on YouTube. The funniest part about them is that rather on relying on Asian stereotypes and humor, they rely on something more profound - talent.

Enter Toyo, a spiky-haired teenager wearing a bright blue vest, red pants and aviator goggles. When he complains (“Waahhh!”), his shoulders bob up and down dramatically and two large blue streams of tears run down his face. When he asks a girl to the school dance, a flurry of little red hearts pops up above his head. With his exaggerated actions and tendency to flash the audience a peace sign, Toyo looks like an anime character.

That’s because he is an anime character – the personification of one, at least – in “Anime Club,” a hilarious sketch crafted by Projekt NewSpeak’s Sketch Comedy Show. Two ninjas in black accompany Toyo (played by cast member Kris Clemente), stealthily popping up oversized paper graphics behind the fervent anime lover’s head.

One of these ninjas is Eddie Kim, a comedian, Spoken Word artist and founder of Projekt NewSpeak. Over the past few years Kim has managed to bring this pet project to the forefront of the Asian American arts community, turning a one-time poetry slam into a multifaceted production company that is well on its way to the big time.

In late 2004, the UC Berkeley grad and a few friends – fellow artists, poets and performers – decided that they would put together a poetry and music showcase. Nothing big, just a modest show somewhere in Los Angeles where they and other artists could display their talents.

“We wanted to do something for the community that we don’t see too much of,” says Kim, a lanky California native with a toothy grin and quiet sense of determination.

By April of the following year, they made it happen, and with overwhelmingly positive results. The NewSpeak Slam ended up selling out, and the standing-room-only show forced the venue owner to tell Kim that the crowd was breaking fire hazard code and he would have to start turning people away. From there, Projekt NewSpeak took off and never quite stopped for breath.

Since the sold-out 2005 slam, Eddie Kim has recruited dozens more to contribute their time and energy to the cause, following up with more annual slams and creating additional branches of the group. The production company now includes the NewSpeak Slam, NewSpeak TV, and the award-winning flagship, The Sketch Comedy Show. A little bit like Russell Simmons’ Def Jam, which spurred poetry and comedy derivatives on HBO, Projekt NewSpeak aims to take one community’s arts scene and blast it into the mainstream.

“Russell Simmons did for black arts what not a lot of people have done: he took black arts into the mainstream media,” says Kim. “One of the things I really want to be able to do with this organization is take API arts and really get it into the mainstream, to make it American, because a lot of people don’t look at Asian Americans as American.”

Onstage, Kim is likable and energetic, veiling a surprisingly serious demeanor offstage, one that seems to be rooted in a deep belief in what he’s doing. Prior to founding Projekt NewSpeak, he worked for a series of Asian American nonprofits in LA, followed by four or five years in politics, working for various members of Congress and the Democratic National Committee until he “got sick and tired of government.” One gets the sense that Eddie Kim won’t work for something he doesn’t believe in.

But it is exceedingly clear that Kim believes in this organization. Projekt NewSpeak’s official mission, “to empower the Asian American community and impact the mainstream media,” is only a peek into his larger vision. “I want Projekt NewSpeak to become a machine where artists can come and create work and get paid,” he says. “I want it to become a viable outlet for people who want to make careers out of doing art.”

It’s an ambitious goal, and one still tucked away in the horizon. Sitting down with Projekt NewSpeak staffers and the Sketch Comedy Show cast on a unusually damp Monday night in LA, it soon becomes apparent that being part of this nearly-nonprofit – they just submitted their application to become a 501(c)(3) – is no one’s full-time career.

When asked what their day jobs are, “crackwhore” is volunteered, and the whole room bursts into laughter as members of the cast reluctantly offer up occupational titles in a way that makes it clear this is their first love. They are performers, regardless of where they get their income, and it almost seems inappropriate to label them otherwise.

What else would you call cast member Surina Jindal, a pre-med college grad from North Carolina who refused to take the MCAT, moved to LA, joined several East Indian dance troupes, spent time in New York working in advertising, moved back to LA, went to fashion school, and is now entering the teeth whitening business? A comedienne, that’s what. (“Your life is a sketch,” another cast mate tells Surina.)

Other members of Projekt NewSpeak’s Sketch Comedy Show include Earl Baylon, Jeremy Lalas, Susane Lee, Jason Owsley, Jeena Yi, and John Wrot, martial arts instructor and the “token white guy.” (Perhaps ironically, he is the only one in the group who knows martial arts.) They are a cheerful, chummy group, and silly banter comes easily to them. Though the ages range from early twenties to mid-thirties, and some members have been part of the group longer than others, it’d be easy to think they were all college buddies. Says Wrot, “The communication in the group is really solid.”

The 12-person Sketch Comedy Show is a mixed bag of personalities and senses of humor, a trait that contributes to the group’s broad appeal and is reflected in their creative process. “We all have a hand in it, and we all wear many hats,” says SCS member Kris Clemente (of Toyo fame). “We’re all writers here. When we finally get our finished product on stage, it’s not just one person’s own thing, it’s all of ours.”

“We have writers, but we all write; we have a director, but we all direct; we have volunteers, but we all show up early to help set up the place,” adds Davis Choh. One of the few members of Sketch Comedy Show over 30, Choh is an improv veteran who has performed in over 500 shows with various comedy groups over the years. Most of the SCS cast is young, still dipping their toes into the possibility of maintaining a serious career in the entertainment industry, and there’s a reason for that.

“They were trying to find people without a lot of experience, without a lot of ego,” says Choh of the initial auditions. ”And I think part of that ignorance has [contributed to] the bliss of making this so successful, because they don’t know any better – when to stop or how big a theatre is supposed to be – and it’s pretty amazing, what’s happened because of that. They [just] have a goal and they want to reach it. They don’t know how tough it is out there.”

And that blind determination is what led them to victory – twice – first at the iOWest Sketch Match, and again two weeks later at the Third Annual International Sketch Comedy Competition held at the Laugh Factory. Formulating new sketches just days before each competition and beating out dozens of other improv groups, the Projekt NewSpeak crew found themselves 2-0 this year after the only two competitions they’ve ever participated in.

“What’s really impressive about the organization are the people involved,” says Justin Quizon, a more recent addition and the only one who works offstage as a writer. “When I look around at the people involved, how many of them are passionate about what they’re doing – it’s very rare for people to stick around and be committed.”

Along with Sketch Comedy Show Director Brian Corpuz, Quizon is the only offstage of the sketch group whose sole function is to write, but he is hardly the only Projekt NewSpeak member who works behind-the-scenes. Ten other staffers volunteer their time as marketing and advertising coordinators, talent coordinators and producers, working to usher in press and recruit new fans.

“If you look at our audience, the demographics have expanded, and at our last show it was pretty multiethnic,” says Jessica Ku, director of community outreach. “The fact that we’re able to evolve like that in a year and a half is a testament to the type of comedy that we’re able to perform.”

Despite instant classics like “Anime Club,” exceedingly few of the group’s sketches are Asian-centric. Some sketches, like “Early 80s Opera,” entail musical tributes to “Thundercats” and “Transformers,” while others enact the disaster of dating someone who’s a just a bit too obsessive about his Disney collection.

Their brand of comedy has not gone unnoticed by their peers. NewSpeak TV, the arm of Projekt NewSpeak directed by Brian Corpuz and Eddie Kim, is an assorted series of short comedic clips and convention coverage that has garnered hundreds of thousands of hits on YouTube. (Their segments covering Comic Con, Anime Expo and Power MorphiCon – a Power Rangers convention – have created an international fan base that carries spirited debates in the comments section of their uploaded videos.)

NewSpeak TV has even collaborated with other familiar faces in the Asian American arts community, like Dante Basco (“Hook,” “The Debut”), Roger Fan (“Finishing the Game”) and Karin Anna Cheung (“Better Luck Tomorrow”). All three make cameos in the group’s latest clip, “Two Robbers,” in which two inept crooks, played by Kim and Davis Choh, attempt to break into random houses and get starstruck (and beaten up) each time. Kim wrote the script and approached its various guest stars to be in the film.

“Talking to Eddie, it was really refreshing to meet people who are so excited to be doing what they do. They’re so passionate about it, and they’re really funny guys,” says Cheung. In the clip, her character is the middle of afternoon tea with her stuffed animals when robbers break into her house, and she sets her ferocious teddies loose on the goons. “There’s a huge amount of outtakes with me just cracking up.”

Projekt NewSpeak’s audience is growing with every new show and YouTube video, steadily forging their way into the mainstream. Their comedy segments have even attracted the attention of “Heroes” co-star James Kyson Lee, who has hinted at a collaboration effort with NewSpeak TV.

“I think their sketches and songs are hilarious,” says Lee. “Eddie and I are talking about doing a web series featuring two journeyman from a very unexpected background… I can’t reveal any more for now, but keep your eyes open.” (Think Amish Asians.)

Following the win at the International Sketchy Comedy Competition, the group was given the chance to pitch to mainstream sketch show MAD TV, hopeful that perhaps it was looking to cast new members after the departure of MAD TV veteran Bobby Lee. But the show was abruptly canceled, and they can only speculate as to what will happen with their submission. Still, it isn’t a damper on their win, and they remain hopeful and determined to break into the mainstream media.

“Every other career seems to have a path, whether it’s doctor, lawyer, engineer. I don’t think there’s a path for arts and entertainment, and really more so for API artists,” says Kim. “But I hope that years to come, Projekt NewSpeak becomes a vehicle that paves a path, and the more people that join this effort can forge this path together.” And the group is well on its way. In 2009, Kim plans to create a film department, send the group on a collegiate tour, and organize the first annual Projekt NewSpeak gala.

“With the amount of passion they have, you can’t help but be engaged,” says “Two Robbers” co-star Cheung. “They have so much positive energy. I think this will be a really good year for them.”