When Theo Von Didn't Know Bobby Lee's Asian Ethnicity....

This Bobby Lee and Theo Vaughn comedy clip is going viral right now but let's break down why. You look at me do you think I'm Chinese I don't know if you are no be honest I don't care if you are I I don't I know I know you I know you don't I know you know I know that you don't care that I am yeah I know that you don't care right I mean I do care but it doesn't matter it doesn't matter to you you're welcome around me I know you love me regardless yeah right but it is information that you should fucking it's information you should fucking memorize because I've known you for 20 fucking year whatever dude the second one chill or not chill right it's about memorize that shit dude because every time I see you dude it's like China China you people in China why do you guys eat this you know me how come you guys run this way how come you fly you don't know how to fly or whatever whatever you're fucking saying is I'd be happy to fucking answer those questions but my bad dude I'm Chinese very seldomly do do clips resonate like this throughout the Asian Americanosphere I mean I guess like the last things I can think of that I would compare to this is like Russell Peters back in the day with like you're gonna get a hurt real bad then Ali Wong with the Asian men's bodies are smooth like dolphins or Ronnie Chang's I hope you get rich this on an internet virality level within the Asian American O's fear I put it on that level yeah and I think there's a couple main discussions coming out of it it's one talking about Bobby Lee and him kind of representing Asians in this comedian podcast sphere because there's not that many Asian comedians that are in that podcast right you're saying that's one of the discussions that sparked off of this yeah I mean even though Ronnie Chang is big obviously Sheng Wang Ali Wong they're not doing the podcast route right and then also another discussion is about like how still to this day to especially people like Theo Vaughn that an Asian looking person or or a Chinese passing person will just be considered Chinese right and Theo Vaughn is from rural Louisiana so it's like he's representing I guess more of like a very middle middle America perspective not this like coastal undergraduate grad school type of vibe right we're gonna be talking about it so please hit that like button check out other episodes of the hot pop boys real quick Smallassauce.com pre-orders are still going on right now although they are ending somewhat soon so get your finishing oil right here made with truffle made in the USA really fun to use goes well on everything smallassauce.com from Sichuan to Sicily real quick I think it was interesting because there was a discussion about Bobby Lee's place in the Asian world re-sparked again because uh I feel like for a while maybe the first 15 years of his career or like 10 years of his career Bobby was kind of considered outside of the Asian world you know what I mean and then more recently with the podcast obviously had an Asian female co-host a Filipino co-host for a long time or actually two Filipino co-hosts it was he sort of sort of re-entered the Asian American consciousness yeah and I think a lot of people who are very very much into comedy if you're just into comedy you're like okay Bobby Lee he's a legend he's still funny he says some crazy stuff he's clearly funny yeah he's clearly funny um but then on the other side if you're more of like the I guess Asian American like proud like a little bit more militant or an activist which those are kind of different but you kind of feel probably the same way about Bobby where you're like ah he's not the best representative of Asians like I wouldn't want him representing Asians I know he's funny but I don't really like his stuff and what he like represent right cuz he also made some jokes against Vietnamese and Filipino people right yeah I mean obviously he gets made fun of a lot like by other comedians because for a number of reasons him being Asian is like part of it but then him like looking a certain way and being fat being a fat baby yeah or like I guess a person who never grew into their 40s like you know what I mean like frozen in freshman year I would say it seems like it appears like within the comedy world amongst the other comedian juggernauts he he takes quite a beating a lot yeah right but sometimes he flips it but I would say overall like 80% he's taken but I'll say this about Bobby Lee as far as representing Asians then we're gonna get on to the conversation about how all Asians just feel Chinese at some point to you know outside people but Bobby to me he's a comedian first and a comedian's job is to make it funny make you laugh make interesting points say interesting things tell interesting stories debate the room right activate the room and just make you laugh entertain you and I think Bobby does that at a very high level so you're saying this the thought in the back of his head when he's making everybody laugh is not like oh am I making Asians look strong or like countering stereotypes that is not his goal he's more like working within the stereotypical frames yes yes yes so I think if you're a comedian first he's doing fine but if he's like if you're looking for a positive male Asian male representation and Asian masculinity no you wouldn't look to Bobby for that yeah I would say though that overwhelmingly in a weird way I felt like 70% of the Asian community used to be against Bobby and 30% supported him but over the past five years with the podcast I want to say it's like 50 50 or maybe even 60 40 pro Bobby Lee yeah he so he shifted it but I think that's also because Asian shifted to I think at a time Asians were more sensitive and now they're like well all right Bobby you know at least you know he's had a career maybe you've met him maybe you've seen a show he's clearly a funny guy he and but and you're just like I guess you're glad that an Asian is out there that famous right in that big I would say maybe it's possible to that he's become more proud too yeah I think so because I remember he was always funny even back in the mad TV days when he was like yeah my dad would tell me you're not funny it was still good but you kind of got he felt too much like you know the one Asian guy was like trying to play to the white gaze too much but now feels like he's more like on his own now I would be 50 I wouldn't put it past that this is kind of the arc for a lot of Asians in media that it's very hard for them to be proud coming up because they didn't feel like Asian supported them or maybe they feel outside about the Asian community the Asian movement hadn't hit yeah the Asian movement was not hitting now it's a lot more beneficial and more comfortable to be Asian he's also more comfortable in himself he made it he's rich now he makes good money so he doesn't have to worry about his career and so yeah now he gets to lean a little bit more into the Asian pride is he ever gonna be a militant Korean you know comedian never and I wouldn't expect it but I think he does care more about being Asian than ever yeah would even being a militant Asian or militant Korean even work no probably not but I bet he is more proud than he was than he ever than ever before possibly so anyway guys again make sure you get the likes up on this video let's get into the comments section somebody said OM FMG because I'm pulling this off the next shark IG someone said another horribly out of context next shark post they are just comedians they are effing around everybody knows Theo obviously knows Bobby is Korean they are just being funny and someone said yes this is a bit so basically some Asians are arguing that some Asians don't understand comedy so do you I've been starting to see this a little bit because like you know how the more westernized Asians they are thinking that they really understand comedy but then some people who are not it's true the more traditional Asians can be more offended by yeah but there's still even thresholds within understanding for sure I mean and not all comedy is the same and especially when you're cutting out podcast clips things can get dicey out of context they did a whole podcast together probably that was probably an hour two hours long and this is just one of the bits inside of it is it completely fake does Theo know that Bobby's Korean I'm sure Theo knew that Bobby was Korean but maybe he just didn't really think I don't I don't think he thinks too much I don't think Bobby sits there and tries to educate the nuances of Asians to Theo yeah but no this is comedy this is comedy anyway run some of the clips Bruce Lee son the crowed died oh yeah he died I remember that yeah he was the first one to do that you know I mean oh wow he's handsome handsome dude this dude was she goes I met someone younger I looked him up that's what he looks like oh man and then you see photos of them like at pool parties and he's ripped no yeah so I was like oh you're more together then you know your body styles no I wouldn't say I wouldn't use the term ripped probably yeah I mean well what else about him no but no what I'm saying though dude is and I like just just sit down a fat I don't think you're fat at all I think you but I'm the opposite of ripped I wouldn't see I would say you're I wouldn't say ripped I would say you're ripe conjoined Oh conjoined yeah or Joe I would say you're there's two people in one body I like a sign like a Siamese twin thing I think we could carve one off of you I have a resentment towards you I just realized yeah yeah yes sir what is it about you think this is not a lie I swear to God I swear to God on my life okay I'm so you know it's real right I don't know but yeah I'm listening what do you mean yeah okay okay whatever yeah I believe three times okay on hinge when I was on it mm-hmm and two times on Raya mm-hmm I matched with the girl and in the direct message they said yo I don't want to hurt your feelings but I'm not really I didn't match with you because I wanted a hook I I want to hook up with the yoke and you set me up damn you didn't set me up how hard would that have been I made that birthday video for you dude oh shit never looked at it that way you know you're out here yeah looking for love oh shit my bad okay and I've always wanted to ask you this do you feel Asian like does it feel Asian when you wake up no that's a funny thing that's a good question dude that's ridiculous is it really yeah cuz I wake up I don't even think about it really yeah this is what the first every time I wake up what time is it and then I go that's what I think where's my phone is the second thing yeah and then the third thing is I gotta pee yeah me too then the fourth thing is I need to get some coffee or something then the fifth thing is am I Asian no no you don't think about even when you look in the mirror you don't go oh I'm Asian the Asian stuff and the way I look is only why people made me aware of that oh wow people like you really yeah because when I was a kid and kids used to come and they do the eye thing they was to stretch their eyes like this and go ching-chong you know and all that kind of stuff that to me too cuz I have really nice yeah I guess it kind of hurt my feet it just made me feel like oh maybe I'll look a little strange no but that's not a strange look I mean look at Asian when you're Polish in Nicaragua it is a wild idea but when you were in Shanghai did anyone go I you have Chinese I think some people looked at me like maybe I knew something yeah you do look like you know something and we got to get to you know how people still feel some type of way about Bobby Lee somebody said unpopular opinion Bobby Lee like Ken Jeong has hurt Asians more than he's actually helped by portraying us as caricatures instead of actual human beings somebody replies back get over it they're comedians did they ruin your life grow a thick skin and someone said oh is this Tijuana story just a joke to a lot of these so called comedians are high-key scumbags low lives and degenerates Bobby just isn't someone you want representing your community and you know and these are all types of Asians it's not like the Koreans are all on his side or all against him either it's like it's split just down the middle no Bobby has all different types of fans for sure um this is interesting though because like we said earlier it just kind of depends on what you're looking at do you just see him as a pure comedian that's able to he's a master of laughter you know he looks funny plus he's got incredible timing and funny jokes that's like an all-star combination well David at what point do you separate okay I think he's a good comedian he makes me laugh versus he is a positive representation of an Asian of Asian male masculinity of coming up in the masculinity ladder I think the tough thing is that those things are separate you would want people to represent both I think ideally every guy in their mind is like okay Russell Peters masculine cool he represented Asian Wells Ronnie Chang good representation you know there's a there's a few are you saying those aren't seem very clear-cut yeah those seem clearly positive and I think Bobby is debatable but again there's the comedy side and then there's the Asian representation side and I think that if you're looking for both maybe he's not the best balance of both yeah right I would say actually him and feel more fit into that like I'm about the last he's straight common even Theo Vaughn I mean he talks about doing drugs and he's very ignorant he plays up his ignorance and it's like they're they're like the no holds bar comedians yeah where I feel like they just adjust to where like these invisible electric fences are of like oh that's kind of like a little hot I can't get like society determines those yeah I will say this adding on to like comedians telling inappropriate stories on podcasts or like somewhat illegal stories or even fake stories right yeah it is tough you don't know what is real and fake anymore so sometimes it sounds like they're admitting to something that is actually wrong that they did potentially highly illegal yeah or yeah whatever highly illegal or immoral or whatever immoral whatever it is and then they just say they're just joking so then you're like is it real or not and it's so hard to judge so I do think that we have to acknowledge that that is a line that is blurred now if they're on stage talking about something generally you think okay it could be fake but if they're on a podcast then you're kind of like I don't know like I expect some stuff to be real here yeah I think one thing that I would want all Asians to understand about comedy is comedy is sort of like there's like this invisible guitar in the room and these strings based on the tension in the room or the characters or the archetypes that are present in the room the strings are like arranged differently like sometimes that's like a guitar or like a harp and it's just like some comedians they're just trying to play those strings by any means necessary like you said using real fake moral immoral stories it's just about the laughter right that is the last the music of laughter somebody said I can never take Bobby Lee seriously he'd go on a tangent about traumatic stuff then he'd joke out of it and then you don't know if you're supposed to have empathy or laugh at him or with him yeah this is that's what makes him such a unique comedian though right yeah I mean I think overall if Bobby Lee is talking just don't take anything he says seriously I think that's that's how you would go about it somebody said oh my gosh this made me laugh so loud he's Korean clearly look at his eyes someone said he totally looks Korean I never would have thought he was Chinese Andrew you actually have the same eyes as Bobby Lee so I mean oddly enough I've been compared to Bobby Lee throughout my time on YouTube in the comment section yes they're very look look they're very cartoon comedic eyes but then somebody said to the untrained eye you all look Chinese to me that is a line from Dave Chappelle and this sort of got into the thing of like have all Asians been called Chinese at some point like we got a Ilocano Filipino friend and he still got called Chinese growing up everybody who's Asian got called Chinese it's so weird I mean you almost have to be like super trained to tell the differences for a non-Asian I think Asians within themselves more no but it's almost like if you ask somebody who doesn't really know anything about trucks to tell the difference between a Ford f-150 and a Toyota Tacoma they cannot nah it's the same truck yeah somebody said this post is gonna trigger a lot of softies especially since this is provided with no context of there being a comedy bit and then good friends what do you think about people getting it confused is it just sophistication and consuming this thing or people are pulling out podcast because because the podcast clip can be taken out of context and the podcast is a comedy podcast and there's probably a lot of untrue and goofy stuff said so yeah I would not take anything that Bobby Lee is in for fact anything that Theo Vaughn is in it is not fact it is comedy and I would just assume that you know what do you think about some people saying that Bobby Lee should have been canceled by now because he had dissed Vietnamese people a long time ago and Filipinos but in a joking way but he was calling them jungle Asians and things like that but then he is he's also been honest on podcast saying that he believes that Koreans are the most racist Asians yeah so I don't know I mean those are all kind of just those are kind of just like those are kind of just basic stereotypes anyway Andrew why do you think this went so viral like I said it Russell Peters with you're gonna get a hurt real bad Ali Wong Asian men's bodies are like slick dolphins and give him a chance because of that Ronnie Chang I hope you get rich maybe Joe Koy out a few moments here and there especially in the Filipino community I remember the Joe Koy didn't what about driving that went really viral saying oh how come they say Asians can't drive even though they make the best cars how come they're only select clips like this one they go super viral even amongst people who do not watch comedy I think it's because there's not that many Asians who are deep in the comedy podcast sphere like very few very few are actually a handful of very very good Asian comedians nowadays but they're not on the podcast circuit like Bobby is so Bobby's the only one really speaking up about Asian topics or jokes specific comedy podcast so he's kind of by default the comedic representation on those popular podcasts right like he's been on Joe Rogan you know what I mean so it like he's on that level you know what I mean no like the a-tier yeah so he kind of represents Asians even though that's why I think some people are a little bit just like uh why is Bobby the only person in this podcast is this sort of like Constance Wu being the only representation in Hollywood I'm not happy with this yeah so some people are unhappy you know um I guess that's I guess it just shows that there needs to be more Asians in that tier or you know I don't know yeah cuz their same lack of care of like everybody's sensitivities or the most sensitive people also probably allowed them to attack to achieve that level too and like we said everybody has a different threshold I'm kind of like of multiple minds about it but I think as we get this whole world of Asian American representation more developed there's more space for it because at the end of the day very very talented comedian I see Bobby as a comedian only and I don't take anything he says even if he's dissing Chinese people Korean people Southeast Asian Filipinos and Vietnamese just anything that comes out of Bobby's mouth just take it as comedy now it's a lot easier to operate that way he is not your number one Asian male masculine right no no no pan Asian bring all the tribes together he's not the uniter he's not the Martin Luther King he's not this he's not like he's not even the Ronny Chang you know like he's just not gonna be that so it's all good so that's his role he's kind of the jester that's fine yeah like we said guys let us know what you think in the comments section below I think there's valid points on all sides keep it civil encouraged debate until next time with a hop-hop boys we out peace