Ken Choy

Not to be confused with Kenneth Choi or Ken Choi (singer).

Ken Choy
Occupation(s)Performance artist, actor, writer, author, producer
Years active1984–present
Websitehttps://GizmoPorn.com

Ken Choy is an American writer of Chinese-Native Hawaiian ethnicity.[1] He also is a performance artist and actor[2]: 234, 238–240  and owns and operates a shopping business in Southern California.

Choy was the subject of a two-part series on KCBS-TV Los Angeles that featured his book "Make Money Shopping," his website, Makemoneyshopping.org,[3] and his shopping and mystery shopping business.[4]

Theatre and activism

Upon arriving in the Twin Cities, Choy immediately involved himself in the Asian American Renaissance, an Asian American arts organization. He taught classes and hosted AARGH!!, the Asian American Cabaret with poet and performance artist David Mura.

In 1992, Choy toured his one-man show Buzz Off Butterfly nationwide. He also directed and organized the large scale Asian American performance presentation "Miss Appropriated" at the Walker Art Center under the auspices of the performance group he founded, Asian Pacific American Renegades.[5] Choy is discussed in Dorinne K. Kondo's "About Face,"[2]: 234, 237–240, 257–258  Linda Frye Burnham's "High Performance,"[6] David A. Schlossman's "Actors and Activists,"[7] and Deborah Wong's "Speak it Louder".[8]

In 1993, Choy and Juliana Pegues staged a "die-in" protest at the Minnesota Opera performance of Madama Butterfly at St. Paul's Ordway Music Theatre. During the performance, Choy, dressed in women's clothing, and Pegues simulated their deaths by repeatedly falling in front of the orchestra pit while shouting, "No more Butterfly!".[9][2]: 234  They were arrested for disorderly conduct and fined $25 after the charges were reduced to a petty misdemeanor.[2]: 258  Choy stated that the protest was aimed at the offensive portrayal of Asia and Asian people in Madam Butterfly, asserting that it "perpetuates the notion of Asian lives as expendable."[9]

In 1994, Choy received $5,000[10] as part of the Playwright's Center Jerome Fellowship[11] in Minnesota. The program stated that he used the grant "for three months of travel and study in the Hawaiian Islands," researching and interviewing family members and island natives, "focusing on disenfranchisement and the disappearance of island culture due to industrialization, white settlement, tourism and environmental racism."[10]

Choy founded and was co-chair of Pan Asian Voices for Equality (PAVE) and the Miss Saigon Protest Committee with Rita Nakashima Brock.[7]

Writing

Choy is the author of the book My Loveable Combustible Asian American Nuclear Family[12] and the creator of the video blog, From Chaos to Love: My Loveable Combustible Asian American Nuclear Family journey.[13]

He is the creator of the journalistic dialectic, "Living with Bill and Rob," an ongoing research project which explores the link between racism and mental illness and how those both are unflinchingly harnessed as a viable excuse for lack of human and community involvement and participation. Choy traversed those manifestations in a roommate situation with the titular subjects.

His screenplay Lazy Susan won first place in the Boulder Asian Film Festival in 2005.[14]

Festivals and conventions

Choy is the producer and founder of Breaking the Bow: The Independent Asian Pacific Islander Performing Artists and Writers Festival. The 1st festival was held October 22–25, 2009. The festival was produced by Mavericks of Asian Pacific Islander Descent (MAPID).[15][16][17][18] Choy founded MAPID.

Under Choy's direction, MAPID also hosted the Battle of the Pitches and co-presented a short screenplay competition in partnership with the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.[19][20] Battle of the Pitches was a live competition for screenwriters designed to promote and discover creators within the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community who featured strong, prominent, and non-stereotypical API characters and themes.[21] Similarly, MAPID partnered with the Writers Guild of America, West, to identify talented API screenwriters through their short screenplay competition.[20]

In 2010, MAPID launched the first Asian Pacific Islander TV Pilot Shootout in collaboration with Fox Broadcasting. Shootout provided API writers the opportunity to submit a synopsis, logline, sample pilot script pages, and a 2-minute pitch video. The top five entries were paired with directors to create 1-minute teasers. Ultimately, one of the entries secured a pitch meeting with a television executive.[19] In October 2010, Choy co-organized ID Film Fest, which included the Asian American Independent Features Conference, with Quentin Lee and Koji Steven Sakai at the Japanese American National Museum. During this event, MAPID premiered a second Battle of the Pitches competition, in addition to five teasers for API TV Pilot Shootout and a Filmmaker's Crash Course session.[19][21][22]

He has moderated panels at Wondercon[23] and Comic-Con.[24]

Notable Theater Works

  • Charlene Chan in "Me?"
  • Sticky Substances
  • Buzz off Butterfly
  • Miss Appropriated
  • Ken Choy's Theatrical Extravaganza Lazy Susan

References

  1. ^ Choy, Ken (February 22, 2012). "Diverse Review from a Hawai'ian Perspective: "The Descendants" — Indictment and Entitlement | Wide Lantern". widelantern.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d Kondo, Dorinne K. (1997). About Face: Performing Race in Fashion and Theater. New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415911405.
  3. ^ "BREAKING THE BOW: 1st Annual Independent Asian Pacific Islander Performing Artists and Writers Festival". Makemoneyshopping.org. Archived from the original on January 15, 2010. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
  4. ^ "Ken Choy-Professional Shopper". kenchoyandmapid on sites.google.com. Archived from the original on October 7, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  5. ^ "1973-1994 Seasons". Walkerart.org. February 13, 2004. Archived from the original on April 30, 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
  6. ^ Burnham, Linda Frye (1992). High performance. Vol. 15–16. Astro Artz. p. 48.
  7. ^ a b Schlossman, David A. (January 1, 2002). Actors and Activists: Politics, Performance, and Exchange Among Social Worlds (1st ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-8153-3268-8.
  8. ^ Wong, Deborah (2004). Speak it louder: Asian Americans ... – Google Books. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-97040-2. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
  9. ^ a b Anthony, Michael (March 23, 1993). "Performance Artists Protest Madame Butterfly Theme". Minneapolis Star Tribune. pp. 1B. Choy issued a statement Saturday saying that "Madame Butterfly" is "particularly offensive in its portrayal of Asia and Asian people and perpetuates the notion of Asian life as expendable." He also denounced the use of "racist cosmetics on white/non-Asian performers to simulate Asian facial characteristics."...Choy, dressed in female clothing, and Pegues attempted to simulate their own deaths and shouted, "No more 'Butterfly'" in front of the theater's orchestra pit....
  10. ^ a b "Past Grantees: Ken Choy". Jerome Foundation. 1994. Archived from the original on June 9, 2025. Retrieved June 17, 2025.
  11. ^ "Jerome Fellowships". Playwrights' Center. May 5, 2014. Archived from the original on November 14, 2024. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  12. ^ "MyLoveable – 43 – Man – HERMOSA BEACH, California – myspace.com/myloveablecombustible". MySpace. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
  13. ^ "Kanaal van myloveablecombustibl". YouTube. April 6, 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
  14. ^ "Home". coloradotheatreguild.org.
  15. ^ "Pacific Asian American Womens Writers West (PAAWWW) and Mavericks of Asian Pacific Islander Descent (MAPID) present a Ken Choy Production: Breaking the Bow". mapid.us. 2009. Archived from the original on August 30, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  16. ^ "Asian Performing Artists' Cabaret Comes to L.A. Area". text.goldsea.com. September 17, 2009. Archived from the original on June 13, 2025. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  17. ^ "Ten-minute Asian Pacific Islander Play Contest". Angry Asian Man. August 23, 2009. Archived from the original on August 30, 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
  18. ^ "The 1st Annual Independent Asian Pacific Islander Performing Artists and Writers Festival". Chicago Artists Resource. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2010.
  19. ^ a b c Lee, C. N. (April 5, 2010). "Links & Announcements #24 : Asian-Nation : Asian American: The Landscape of Asian America". www.asian-nation.org. Archived from the original on June 25, 2010. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  20. ^ a b "Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Short Screenplay Competition". www.slanteyefortheroundeye.com. March 5, 2010. Archived from the original on June 18, 2010. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  21. ^ a b "Battle of the Pitches returns this fall". Asian American Theatre Revue. 2010. Archived from the original on June 13, 2025. Retrieved June 16, 2025.
  22. ^ "2010 ID Film Fest". www.channelapa.com. September 26, 2010. Archived from the original on September 29, 2010. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  23. ^ WonderCon 2013 Panel: The Disney/ABC's of TV Writing: TV Writers Room (Full). Breaking the Bow Youtube Channel. April 10, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2025 – via YouTube.
  24. ^ Siggard, Alison (July 23, 2019). "UPDATED: Collecting "Harry Potter" at San Diego Comic-Con". MuggleNet. Archived from the original on April 24, 2025. Retrieved June 18, 2025. Writer Ken Choy led an informational and fun-filled panel on collecting in the Harry Potter fandom that offered a look at some of the new collectibles coming soon.
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