Are Vietnamese the Most Interesting Asians?

are Vietnamese Americans actually the most interesting Asians in America there's a case to make for it and we're here with a Vietnamese comedian to talk about it Alex Young in the building good to see you brother uh VI gang yeah what are you doing in New York City because you you live in LA right yeah I live in LA uh I flew out for blue blood on CBS you know with Tom celic Donnie wallberg the goats household names and I got a bunch of shows around town so hey and I'm glad to stop by hang out with you guys I was just sitting at home trying to finish watching brother son hey Tom celic though that's a name I remember from watching like the staying home from school when I was like in fifth grade watching all the daytime television yeah my M my mom and my sister was were watching young and restless and that's the first time I saw a mustache you know I was just like yo that's a mustache that's it was crazy yo you were like yo that's something I'll never get yeah I'm not trying to Hype Alex too much and I did I just learned how to say your last name today I I just call you Alex dong for your whole life everybody in their Mas right uh well it to be fair it is spelled that way yeah but uh the DS off no pun intended you know cuz I stay hard you know that's funny Alex dong you are one of the funniest Asian comedians that nobody knows appreciate that man appreciate that I'll take it I'll take yo what do you think about that title hey I'll take it better than the other way around like oh everybody knows you but you whack you know I'd rather be o uh underpaid and over rated you know what I mean but you know what I I feel comfortable saying that now because you on the CBS show you're on the come up your name is getting out there you got some viral Clips you know through Instagram and things like that and you know what I always respect about you man is you never shot away from your V culture like you you have a lot of jokes about the war or your dad and Stories being Viet so you are repping like you're you're not just doing comedy and then just saying you're Vietnamese you do literal a lot of a good amount of via jokes you you got to cuz uh I can't afford therapy so I'm just I got to talk about on stage we're more than the war we got to explore our culture our entire culture doesn't do therapy so I'm going to give you these Vietnamese jokes it's for the people for my Vietnamese people it's our way of doing therapy is that we pay for entertainment we get food and everything you can't bring like hotot into like a therapist office like you got to eat something I can't be there for an hour not eat something David so I guess what what are we talking about today well first off let's talk about Asian-American representation you know we're always talking about in this channel Southeast Asian need to get more opportunity more windows that they can shoot the Gap through when is it going to happen or is it happening it's happening right now I mean you got Ali Wong who's you know she represents for Southeast Asians she's doing her thing just swept award season she's going to keep sweeping award season one of the nicest people when when did she become Southeast Asian though you know what I mean Hey listen we got because we we when we talk about Ally to me yes she is half MH but I don't know I mean I guess what is so Vietnamese about her she speaks Vietnamese to me when we when she's at the comedy store oh she does yeah she speaks Vietnamese we speak Vietnamese to each other I test her cuz like if you say Vietnamese I'm going to test you right because the blur the lines between Cantonese and Vietnamese get very blurry sometimes that's true right sure I so this is news to me that Ali Wong speaks conversational or fluent Vietnamese fluent yeah all right so I she speaks vietnames to me when she a comedy story she gets the pretty Viet thing to do is to speak Vietnamese and she's got an Emmy so you know she's got is it an Emmy or ammy Emy Emmy for M uh Emy for M yeah yeah yeah so I guess you know for a long time we we're just in this cycle right people ask that question but you're on the inside and obviously you're going to benefit from when Southeast Asians get their chance is it is it coming or is it just you're like Gran Torino number two I'm waiting for it hey I'm I'm waiting for every opportunity I would love to be in the room for every opportunity but that it just can't just because there's only so many amount of seats but a seat at the table I want my own table you know so we're busy making our own table whether it be on social media or whether it be wherever else I don't know then maybe it can translate over to the mainstream but I'm you know mainstream that happens to you know be underground as well in the Vietnamese Community but also I can flip over and do shows like Blue Bloods I can do all American shows I could be the only uh East Asian guy on a comedy show I can do that I mean the opportunities are there it's just the money ain't right yet opportunities are there the money ain't right yet and the money needs to be right and it has to be the right show for Vietnamese people to represent it's really hard to get us out the house let's talk about some of the recent Vietnamese projects that did get shine okay there was a pilot that did not get pick picked up AKA guys they filmed one episode and you know nobody decided to pick up but it was called Asian BB girl and that was based in the St Gabriel Valley uh chinese vietnamese you know Vietnamese abgs essentially that was the story it didn't get picked up there was also uh who was the uh that one movie with Robert Downey Jr uh uh the sympathizer sympathizer that was a big production yeah huge production I went in like eight times for that thing I didn't get I didn't get it but I know the people who did get it and they're welld deserved like these guys are like the real deal like like juliar level like trained [ __ ] that are Vietnamese right they were just they were just waiting for the window of opportunity they were they were ready though they were sharp as a knife did you like those projects how do you feel about those things do you just do you think Vietnamese deserve more stories yeah absolutely even beyond the war like there's one recent project that I went in for smaller project short film Union but it's a Vietnamese remake of the the old school movie Mannequin where a stay-at-home father loses his mind and slowly uh his wife who's a tailor uh has a mannequin at home for like tailoring needs or whatever he starts to lose his mind and then he starts to like kind of see her as a human being to help with a baby and everything cuz he's like gone B my reps were like ah I don't know I don't know about this it's kind of like almost beneath you the pay is isn't great it's it's a sag Ultra lowbudget agreement short film they're like what are you doing I was like I see Vietnamese in the dialogue I want to do it any chance I get to speak Vietnamese I'm going to do it because vietnames okay I just said what do you want from me oh then it it did make sense right mhm all right cool for sure hey no we got a we just had a convo that's what's up I'm just kidding yeah hey you got your VI pass too now you guys got your V pass G I always wanted my viit pass yeah ever since I've seen that Chucky a Ken song from back in the day who you never seen that oh you uh you got beef oh yeah yeah okay I just didn't know the artist I I would grew up in the same neighborhood as the guys who wrote Got Rice [ __ ] like in Texas they're from Richardson you know them yo you got to blow this up hold up hold up nobody knows these guys wait so I heard they were from La I heard there where are they from and tell us what they're doing now they're from Dallas Texas these two really skinny tall lanky guys they're from Dallas Texas they wrote got rice and that's that's their claim to fame but we shout them out who are they I don't even remember their names now man it's been in [ __ ] it it's been since like what are you talking about he he did uh Asian pride the song Asian pride the You Got Rice You Got Rice you got food got soup got Spice that one that's them it's not from La it's not from La unless you correct me and correct me if I'm wrong but those guys were the ones that were in the studio right that song yo I I kind of like how uh this history is so debated about where this song comes from because nobody has seen these people it's it's always like oh la taste makers oh New York which is fine there like rightfully so but there's also all sorts of talent coming from all over the country man there's vienamese people deep in the South right heavy like not even just Houston but like Dallas there's like a huge Vietnamese population out there right right right Alex can I tell you that David has had this uh I guess it's a hot take that Vietnamese are low-key the most interesting Asians in America because they're because there's such a range and yes there's like people of mixed blood or whether they're Chinese or they Viet or whether from the North or the South The Winning Side the Los it's like there there's such a recent tumultuous and interesting history you know I I mean obviously there it's a lot of bad with the interestingness but a lot of struggle but would you agree and would you make the case that Vietnamese stories need to be talked about more cuz they're very very interesting they're incredibly complicated and I think that's what makes for a great story if it's just like beginning middle end okay next uh what else are we watching but Vietnamese culture is so insane just even before the war how like how Vietnam used to be a part of China then the tribes like broke off because they wanted to do their own thing and then China tried to attack and take it back and they're like no no no no we're like the we're like the 300 of China that is that the is that the trunk sisters trunk sisters y yep I know I know I know um stay stay well yeah yeah yeah I guess like where do you think what do you think are some stories that could get made right now what are some Southeast Asian stories that need to get told like we said it's unfortunate you know like Mong people they only got Grant Torino as representation like you said a lot of Vietnamese stuff does center around the war MH but I think a lot of stories that can be told is like the the migration and like the integrated into society like all the business businesses that get remade and everything of course then you you bring in like the whole Hollywood storytelling uh the things like the the amount of people who've been killed just migrating over to America and then trying to start a life and then they get killed again and the gang violence like yo we have our own Sopranos happening in our backyard yeah that's a real talk yeah it's it's much more uh almost like a sicilian that Sicilian American hon of Asia if the Sicilians got all these Mafia stories I feel like viets should have their own I mean in a way that every time I talk to my Viet friends about their backgrounds and at least what they know of what their parents went through or what their older brothers and sisters went through is some crazy I mean I don't I don't want to downplay obviously cambodians too they got stories too but viit in the sense that because there's a larger number and they come here and they just set up shop right away they just get into it they're like hey man we come here with Just Nails boom boom boom yeah what we got what do we have now House of ho oh wow oh shiny houses you already got the cars you already got the girls and now you want to go sober that's the big story of the show got here how did you get here dog how did you get here where you from let me hear a realing story instead of you driving around in a [ __ ] McLaren commercial I can give a [ __ ] less about that can we please get some more interesting what you what did you give house a ho out of 10 on a trash scale like a freaking 8 n it's reality TV it's supposed to be like gudy and just uh freaking overthe toop it's fine oh look at all these like sweeping Landscapes of a 12p person dinner yo I fine sure wealth porn that's what a lot of people want from Asians yeah yeah they just want to see all the Louis they just want to see like Welcome to My Crib type energy like how how you ball and how you live in sure that's fine but that's not all of us that's not the majority of do you think in a way it's almost like the stories are almost I obviously I would like to see them but maybe for Hollywood it almost feels too real so for example for brother Sun they have these like Triad story lines but that stuff actually goes down into via community how it does in the brother Sun show but they don't want to talk about that they but it's fake you know what I'm saying for the Chinese Community well I I don't want to say it never happened for the Chinese Community but it definitely nowadays it's a lot less right like but I would say man if you know if you know V in the urban areas like yeah stuff stuff's going down the struggle for power happened like I all throughout my childhood me just seeing like Vietnamese gangs my sister used to date like one of the captains of like little sagon hoodlums and he solid [ __ ] dude but also took me on a driveby like my first drive by I was like okay cool uh I'm polishing bullets he's like yeah use this red bandan to clean these bullets real quick we're taking fingerprints off um bullets for an Uzi and he's he's having us loaded up I'm and we're having fun we're having fun we're like oh we're loading this extended oh this is cool see this is the vest story I needed to hear today oh we're going to go hop in the Prelude S drop drop down widebody baby blue oh cool yeah we're going to hop in that oh we're going to roll around and [ __ ] bang Alex what was the license plate again could you recite it uh no comment no comment but uh but yeah no see that's funny uh I mean well that's I guess you could say that's sad but I mean that's something that it's fascinating it's fascinating it's fascinating you know what it is I just thought of the pilot Vietnamese Jeweler MH he's like uh got two sides of his family one's more proper one's more street right Street side yeah but he's in the middle because he sells custom ice outy pieces obviously you still have to interface a lot with the street say the joke David So this so this is the story of Johnny D or what and then yeah one sister goes to Yale yeah and his other brother goes to jail and that's the that's that's Spectrum Alex real talk I literally I don't know about the Yale part but I've met families viit families that you literally got somebody going to jail you got somebody getting their master's degree yeah in the same family and that is just not that common in other groups because vets have that range is what I'm saying like like everybody every group first of all has sent people to the Ivy Leagues right there's ivy league from everybody but I'm saying within one single family to have like a Ivy leager and then like a mhm jail leager like you know what I mean like a prison League I got I got Brothers in prison I got sisters that own nail salon I got a sister that runs a gas shop I'm like I'm in entertainment it it's how did this happen we're all supposed to just be we're all supposed to just stay in the same neighborhood and run the same like three to five businesses but then I got a brother in Switzerland who works for like the watch industry you got people like and I got people All Surrounded all around Vietnam like family members that I've never met kind of don't want to at at the moment but you know it's just cuz it's complicated again it's complicated I just I don't want to be seen as a GoFundMe every time you walk into Vietnam as a vietnames American they look at you as like a GoFundMe link you're like ah no I don't no I'm I'm good I I think I'm just going to enjoy the beautiful countryside I think I'm going to do that so yeah it's it's complicated man I think that's the that's what stories need to be told about you know maybe an Americanized uh Vietnamese person goes over to Vietnam to like about a funeral and then they end up meeting all this family from like North and South crazy layered story exactly those stories are not being told instead we get what house of ho MH that's what we get as our entry point our introduction to America but do you think some people they want to see the house of hoes to be like oh I wouldn't have wanted to see that about street life I want to see like the people who own the plaza and little Saigon's life you know what I'm saying like that's youring fault for not acknowledging the flaws in our community that's what makes you oh stuff like that makes me so mad because a big part of why the Vietnamese culture is struggling so much is cuz we refuse to talk about our flaws like when I'm talking about my [ __ ] on stage people just like people can't even look me in the eye they're uncomfortable they're uncomfortable cuz you know they're just like oh well we're trying to like clean up and everything I'm like yeah but you haven't talked about what makes you tick you haven't talked about that you're just covering it with degrees and businesses and lexuses you're going to cover that but theing bottom part is so goddamn fragile you can't even talk about it and you're drinking like cavasier all day just to like drown it out even further so so what would you say is some of the things that typically make viit tick I guess what are you referring to just to be specific I guess it it starts I mean it starts at the same place most Asian cultures start at it's the war it's like shame it's the loss of like so many of your friends and foes throughout the life through the migration through people that like through addiction huge addiction problem in the Vietnamese Community but it's like decorated with parties oh yeah we're having a party oh he just gets wasted no the guy drinks morning noon and night he's not celebrating anything he's depressed right got to talk about it got to address it got to make a movie about it you know got to talk about addiction why can't we have our Shameless sham R that's funny uh I it took me a second to get it so I guess when you see like the Hennessy memes on IG Jack etc etc funny not funny or you're like cool start but we need to get we need to go deeper than this yeah I see it as funny but let's talk about the flaws let's talk about why that is our meme why is Hennessy like our our biggest freaking Flagship alcohol now is it because it's a it's a French liquor too did you the French I think it was uh yeah absolutely because of that and it's like the hardest liquor of all so you know [ __ ] you're a man you better drink Hennessy grow some hair in your chest little boy Tupac was talking about Hennessy exactly GR hair in your chest you got to you got to be a man sorry I keep cursing no it's all good at this point man we we just got I might have to do the V vocab search Premier get AI just to I mean listen let's just talk about the shows that are out right now brother son what do you give it out of 10 oh man about a seven about a seven a solid seven I just think the show is um more the same it's cool you know Brothers how many times can you make that improv joke really we're do that's every every episode we're doing the Improv joke oh he does improv you going to improv Vis him to death I like I groaned every time I heard it action sequences like oh you got Michelle yo on your cast and these are the choreo choreography like that's it's weak I mean one of the cool scenes the guys the Red Ribbon guys coming out of the rocks that was hard as [ __ ] that was cool I that was really hard episode four I think but honestly casting was all off I didn't like it I I think it it could have been a little more gritty was it lacking some authenticity in your mind like you just can't believe that these guys are connected to any game no I they all look like like they they they tutor people at Kuman like that's these are your dangsters fine you got a couple like big ball like freaking buff guys I I believe them but when uh what's his name cherle brought in his boys from Taiwan I'm like what Fast and Furious rejects are these right here they look like a a Taiwanese boy band these are your gangsters it it just wasn't believable and when Michelle yo got kidnapped and that little that little non-binary looking kid that she woke up to and I'm like that's your guy that's the guy calling the moves hey I'm not there yet you're ruin in the season for me spoiler alert's like Michelle yo you need to give me all these names and all the people that had all the Triads I'm like yo the guy doesn't even have a driver's license that's your guy it was like they tried to portray something because the studio said this is the script and they just try to fit their homies in a role sure yeah youing Andrew what you give it out of 10 Andrew he said but all that being said you still gave it a seven I'm surprised you said that seven I thought it was pretty high considering what you your feedback about it ah I would I would give it honestly a 7.5 I thought the I think everybody should watch the first episode and then decide if they want to watch the rest of the episodes but I think it's worth watching the first one why can't we get any real abgs to audition for that show ABG they got canel on ABC where are all you know what I want to to say what I want to say here's what I want to say all the real Southeast Asians I know they're popping on social anything from IG to Tik Tok let's be honest I'm going keep it real here o yeah okay they're popping right crazy magnetism but nowhere near the mainstream mainstream would have no idea who they are so when they want to cast a Southeast Asian it's going to be somebody who's like so all outside of that aen experience they don't know anything be like British or something yeah yeah that's what I'm saying I'm saying but uh why is that I think we I think a lot of those people they were like not those people but like a lot of the ABG types aren't concerned about Network television they're not they don't audition they get everything in life for the most part they don't have to try you're saying like get money let's say for examp and this is the most stereotypical example you're a bottle girl yeah you're hot you're making a ton of money cash flow why why go out to audition in in Sunset right why pay taxes right why pay taxes give me a bag of cash at the end of my work shift they just they walk around they get their bag cool I respect that I respect get in the bag and saying you to Uncle Sam but it's so hard to find like Asian Talent just because of how hard they have made it for us just to get in we have to like go through auditions hundreds of auditions you make us memorize pages and pages and pages of scripts for free right for something you will never get cast in something you'll never never get casted in and they'll continually and they'll continually to exploit the artist always no matter what so I guess do you understand the mindset from people who are like man I'm just going to go chill back to the aen world whether that's OC Houston etc etc it's the last thing on our minds that they've already got the whips they've already got everything you want they're not concerned about The Prestige of and I know I said like a kind of a up term to use but they're not concerned with the prestige it is that comes with being a well-respected Entertainer it's just not something maybe with Ali Wong's success maybe that changes maybe they're like oh man look she's one of the people that understand Prestige yeah you I think I think one thing preventing a lot of people from joining the industry and maybe this is in particular like a lot of Southeast Asians is that they don't know if they can be themselves and make it you know like you said like the whole process they don't even know themselves yeah the whole process of getting in into the industry to get your face in front of a casting director you have to fit all these different roles and it's like get agent maybe you just like having cash in your hand like I think cash is something that like Vietnamese people really like like I know that sounds weird but like they like the the money all my friends the F of money give me cash all day every day forget all this digital currency I'm I'm about cash put cash in my hand I will dance for you you know what I mean but with the vietamese culture too it's just like we're we're not great with relationships so to speak so in the industry you have to make a lot of relationships you got to know people you got to just like talk to them shake hands kiss babies it's it's exhausting it's very much for kind of like private school kids to do to be honest like a lot of the actors they come from private schools good families there's nothing wrong with that but that is how the industry runs and it is like a private club so obviously if you come from a background completely opposite from that trying to adapt to that is just tough yeah it's a nightmare I've had to read so many books about it it is how to talk to white people chapter one it's a lot of smoing a lot of grooving and smoing and things like that that may not be organically developed from a lot of like commonly immigrant backgrounds yeah it's it's rough because it's not a common skill set what I'm saying is like your parents are not going to give you those skill sets that you're going to need to navigate that particular board game yeah and in vietamese culture the good thing is that you're always being watched you're always being judged harshly so that prepped me for do to work in entertainment cuz I'm like thick skin yeah I was like oh you're going to tell me that I'm not going to be successful because I look like every other Asian person i' a white guy background extra told that to me while I was a principal I was a principal on a commercial National and he was like H you know you kind of look like most like Asian dudes you I don't think you're going to be successful I'm like oh I got to go rehearse my lines real quick and you come here and you're always being watched not so they can take care of you so they can see if they can work with you or not so I'm just like H you got to be very careful about that too what what gave you the mindset that's so different where you do want to put in all this unseen work to achieve this like very lofty goal that a lot of people would just be like man that takes too long you know what I'm saying like what makes you different you were saying it's cuz you're the youngest child what allowed you to have I guess a more like uh narrative driven or philosophical or idealistic driven vision for what success is like rather than just getting racks and racks and racks and bread mental illness bro mental illness sociopathy the need to be liked as the youngest kid you know we're always like trying to be liked right so I'm like uh and you also don't get picked on when you're like a funny guy so Me growing up in the hood getting picked on every day of my life by like you know Mexican people black people that they picked on me because I was the only Asian kid so I was like oh if I'm funny and entertaining I won't get picked on so I come out here and you got these people that can either make or break your whole career if I can make them laugh okay at least I'll be in good standing you know so it's kind of like a survival thing almost when you're going through it couple times I've wanted to quit move back home and just go like Stack Up run some small run some small cash only businesses cash only businesses dry cleaning launder money whatever I need to do just to make that cash as soon as I am almost going to move the universe is like here's another thing that'll pay your bills for a whole year and I'm like ah fine all right right oh representation now when they started talking about representation and when you know stop a hate started bubbling up I'm like okay people actually care people actually care about us this is this is nice this is nice that people actually care about our wellbeing and then mental illness still isn't talked about in like the Asian Community we will I know I talk about it on stage like how mentally ill like a lot of Asian cultures or especially Vietnamese people because we got so much healing to do and I'm GNA do that through these jokes that's that's the only way I can do it and I I just I love what I do man all right just to switch gears real quick what are the most underrated via dishes that people don't know about cuz everybody knows at this point everybody know you know what I mean the tipical bunes spring rolls people know spring rolls I love spring rolls I would say probably like some deep give me some deep cut ones where I'm like cuz I I I know a lot about food so I I may or might not know salty wings with fish sauce okay I have only had it a few times that's I mean are those Nook mom Wings what do we yeah Noom Wings Nook mom wings are getting a little bit big rice that's really good uh I would say caramelized pig intestines have you had that ooh I haven't had it caramelized Pig and is like the the catfish too the CH yeah it's cooked like the catfish but but not catfish right it's it's like cleaned three to five times over and water and vinegar and everything just to get all that stuff out of there and then you you chop it up and you sauté it it is tasty Andrew is more in the intestines than how how do you say it uh it would it's called G what so you would just say u g s yeah g sa uh like the shortest I was going to say I was like you're not saying it I thought I thought it was like gu something but it's just gu like when you go like T that means caramel T then you got which is uh so tasty oh yeah I I got another that fan real quick because we were talking about we that fan comedian that winner of America's Last Comic Standing uh long time ago I'm not going to lie the first time he I saw him I couldn't breathe it was funny it was funny sure sure uh a flash in the the pan no pun intended but wait you Pro or against him I'm indifferent I can care less I would say at this point I'm against to him just because bro what are you doing you had the golden ticket does he do anything for other uh commedians as far as you know like other vits like is he no he does not he don't reach back to the community he does not reach back to the community he's busy with his white girlfriend which hey praise to him go ahead do your thing but I'm just I'm looking as a young guy uh that had to pick myself up by my own sandals okay like I had to work my way make my own path which is great that's great that cuz it's it's it's a foundation that cannot be Shook at all but it would have been nice to have somebody to be like hey you know you know you got like a handful of comedians that are not Vietnamese that help out the Vietnamese comedians hats off to them they they've taken care of me through the way I I agree with you Andrew it's true Andrew that fan did not Joe Koy it you know how Joe Koy got the squad of Filipino comedians that he's like sort of nurturing that Nest but it's it's hard to like lift people up when you ain't got an hour you know he can't do an hour so that's the true test of a comedian can do you got bars for an hour do you got a special if you can't even fill a 30 minute special uh Comedy Central presents back in the day then I'm indifferent I could care less but I ain't going to root for you dog I I yeah you did your thing sure he got bread sure he got bread yeah he got bread so he's all good he'll be fine he'll be fine I could care less about him he's he's not in my on my vietn there is no Vietnamese like Rush m Russ you messing with uh keshi keshi is uh he's like a Vietnamese like Indie singer like but he's like real viby with Gen Z like j z he's from Dallas really yeah I haven't I I've been out of the loop well he's like super young like 202 years old old that' be funny if I did know him I'm like oh man yeah no you just like I just know him but I don't know his music I just know him from the TR I haven't come across him yet unfortunately but I I'm sure if he's vibing he's doing his things that's a really hard like Market the crack is the genen Z like music Market it's insane he he's it he's the one uh I I guess uh yeah I would put him as a groundbreaking Vietnamese artist CU I I think that a lot of people don't know he's viit Killy killy's part Viet kly was part VI Killy ki's doing better than Killy though okay K's doing better than K I'm have to [ __ ] I'm Johnny D Johnny D my guy I know uh what what is it let's we'll we'll wrap Rich Lee too we got a shout out to Richie Lee Rich uh what does it mean to be Vietnamese moving forward man like is it Vietnamese American or is it the viets from Vietnam right now who are coming over like I know some International viets that are coming over now more are do they more represent Vietnam like you know there's always a rift between the American experience and and the yeah VQ versus Vietnamese that's a real big thing well you see like the rich Viet fobs dripped out in Balenciaga looking like how Chinese fobs used to look 10 years ago now H it's it's it's not a good look man you wearing seven different brand names all at once like you got to relax on that man the art is in subtlety my guys and gals but I think Vietnamese is having a hard time to crack cuz our language is so harsh but you know how like Chinese people have softened the language a little bit for American digestion Korean people have like softened their language just for digestion they made it a little more catchy I think we're having uh a challenge right now with making Vietnamese entertainment Vietnam in particular to be catchy right what about you can't sing on any courses you did you hear that Viet trap song though when that dude yeah that guy with the backpack yeah yeah that's a banger that's a banger right there all right how can you do an impression of a smooth Vietnamese accent and then one that people think it sounds like which is like the harsh one so if you were saying like uh how are you doing today like oh like are you doing well today you would be like uh that doesn't sound bad that sounds easy this is the harsh one yeah that's the one yeah well that's the one I heard growing up yeah yeah yeah oh [Music] yeah that's like our our brains aren't registered like we're not evolved enough so are you all right are you pushing for some type of movement to beautify or smooth out the Vietnamese accent a little bit because you understand listen I'm not saying accents aren't authentic to where you come from right they usually are but you're but you're making the point that hey at some point we do need the Vietnamese to sound a little bit better to go beyond uh to go beyond uh underground I think we have to smooth it out a little bit make it a little more catchy I've had so many conversations with Vietnamese creators about it cuz uh I'm like so American eyes and they're like so there and they got great beats they got great video videography talking about like boy or something like that like which ones suboy I don't know she's a girl rapper yet now so some people that I've spoken to VI I'm suboy hasn't reached out to me uh but like couple of them who like represent like artists over there that we're like we talking I just reach out to them cuz I'm like oh you're venies you're doing numbers you you you like prolific this is cool um just like shouting out or whatever and they like they'll reach out to me on the same token to be like oh cool it's really great to see enemies people representing so on and so forth and I'm like I listen to their stuff on YouTube and it's just it's it's hard to catch on I'm like yo this beat slaps but I can't sing along I need those four Master is is that just like a country versus City thing cuz you know how back in the day in America I think all accents have been standardized in 2024 but let's go back 50 60 years ago in the continental US people used to talk like this you know I mean when we're out when you get outside the city people talk like this it's not true anymore but it was true that's that those accents are funny Asian accents are hilarious for the sake of Comedy but if you want to move beyond that I think you got to soften it down yo we can't just use it for comedy we got to use it for romance now yeah we got to use yo push for sexy Vietnamese let's say some sexy Vietnamese man last question last question what do you think about the social media um comedians where it's like they do the Viet accent but it's like uh who's the dude 50 50 dong you don't talking about the 50 cent no I haven't seen like the sub or you know what I mean like there's so many guys out there andw who else do you watch we watch everybody you know that pops up yeah I think uh that's fine but it has it has a uh a timer on it has a timer on you're going to get your 15 and then uh next you know you go to be talking about some real [ __ ] you see on social media people get their little 15 minutes it's cool they pop up they get the views which we don't get paid for by the way you're doing this for free do a little ABG Club event in Houston sure you you do a little popup you get what a a th000 a rack for that appearance you know how many hours you put in for that ,000 just to show up at a little club and pop some bottles that ain't enough dog you need to go beyond that the road's a lot rougher than that and it requires a lot of [ __ ] money so how how we going to get the back we got we got to go mainstream we got to appeal to a broader customer base you can't just be a little fish in your own little you know Koi pond or whatever but I I think it starts that way but I I would encourage all those guys and shout out to sub dog 50 dong I know you everybody got their own hustles on the side like but like they could grow it or at least sit down with somebody to Think Through the possibility there there's so many opportunities out there especially with us now like connecting through social media that we can support each other we can combine all the resources and everything that's what fla culture has been doing with Little Saigon with subd dog like all those guys hang out together they're homies like we hung out at at a couple like Vietnamese parties together all cool super talented now we're now we're getting it we're we're understanding that we got to combine get rid of all this Fu North South versus [ __ ] like we we have to combine all the resource cuz if you go down to any Vietnamese like Community you see 27 shops that sell the same thing yo we let's share the bag it's a bigger bag if we share and you combine all those forces into this like conglomerate it can be so so much bigger so much better more hands make light work dog hey man that's a perfect point to end on Alex I known you for 10 years and man you coming up I'm happy to see it check us out stuff out social media very funny guy see him on Blue Bloods all around town when does this drop in a week in a week in four days oh four days February 17th if you're in Orange County we got embarrassed by night coming down there it's gonna be a sold out show at the Circle Shout Out toar by night that sounds like a V it's a VH comedy show that's yeah my boys Andy and Fred they came up with a a monster brand and we're going to take it to a new level this upcoming uh you know th it's going to be a good time oh for the new year for the new year you're the dragon B Chuck m n Moy uh yo I just thought of this uh play on Cafe Dand what if it was Cafe D they got that merch already oh they already got that we're we're we're very inventive folks man Vietnamese people have so many ideas like we were the first people to turn a Sony Walkman into like a PlayStation 4 they got that out there we're the first ones to do it they got that in Vietnam incredibly inventive send me the send me the photo so we can pop that up oh absolutely but yeah shout out to ham Choy out in uh Houston too shout out to everybody man all right you guys let us know what you thinking of uh this in the comments section below dopee discussion until next time we the hot pop boys we out peace big gang