Simu Liu and Bowen Yang compete to see whose “Asian first” is first
The Shang-Chi and SNL stars want everyone to know that it's no big deal, you guys
TV News Simu Liu
Fellow Canadian-Asian actors Simu Liu and Bowen Yang have a number of things in common, certainly. Both raised in Canada. Both of Chinese descent. Both born around the same time. And both currently dealing with the inevitable and distracting hype of being “Asian firsts,” as depicted in their pre-taped segment from last night’s Liu-hosted Saturday Night Live.
Cast member Yang greets his co-star for the week with an awkward, “What’s up, my fellow yellow fellow?,” before the two confess to being a little tired of constantly being held up as the “first Asian” employed by their respective, historically lily-white entertainment institutions. Yang, with a framed dressing room article touting his role as “First Fully Asian Cast Member On SNL,” holds up a magazine proclaiming the Shang-Chi And The Ten Rings star the “First Asian Marvel Lead,” while the pair commiserate over what a big deal everyone keeps making of it all.
Still, groundbreaking Canadian-Asian actors are still actors, and the duo soon try to out-humblebrag each other concerning the many, many awards they’ve been receiving for being the “first Asian” in various fields. And, okay, diversity is important and no laughing matter, but that doesn’t stop Yang and Liu from shrugging off the praise they’ve received for being (in Yang’s case), the first fully gay Asian cast member to mispronounce a particular word. Or, for Liu, the first Asian snapped being super-casual while hurtling down Splash Mountain. And while it turns out they both got an award for “First Asian To Blow Up A Dragon From The Inside” (whoops, spoilers), Yang notes that his was for “something else.”
Nonchalantly proud they may be about their unasked-for accolades, neither Yang nor Liu could ultimately resist competing for an unclaimed trophy as “First Asian Man To Do A Cher Impression On NBC.” Tough luck, Bowen, although, as he noted in finally trumping Liu’s seemingly insurmountable edge in performatively self-congratulatory corporate representation awards: “Congratulations. But just remember, Simu—whatever first thing you do, I’ll always be gay.” Yang for the win.
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“…I’ll always be gay.” Bowen delivered those lines in such a menacing, threatening way. I didn’t really get why he did that.
Well…that was the punchline immediately following how he said that. They zoomed in and showed that since he is gay and Asian, he will win many of the same awards as Simu, but they will throw “gay” in front of Asian, like another level of specific description.
he was saying no matter how many “first Asian” prizes Simu wins, Bowen will always be able to better him by being “first gay Asian” to do the exact same thing, which in this comedic game of one-upsmanship is just one notch more unique that therefore takes precedence (as represented by the final heightening of the sketch, when his Splash Mountain deadpan replaces Simu’s in the place of prominence at the end)thank you everybody for attending my “This is the deconstructed logic of this joke” seminar
Remember, deconstructing the logic of a joke always makes it funnier!
“Not the pronoun, but rather a player with the unlikely name of “Who” is on first.”
As a Canadian, I’m happy to claim Yang, but I don’t think he actually lived here that long so it’s kind of a weird thing to focus on so much.
Liu, on the other hand, is a Toronto boy, and we’re more than happy to claim him.
SNL clips are always geoblocked for me, so I appreciate you digging this up.
It will be taken down soon, so enjoy it while you can.
As a Canadian, it’s our duty to be weirdly (and perhaps absurdly) patriotic when we find out that people have Canadian roots and/or ties. Like US Open champion Emma Raducanu, who was born in Toronto before moving to the UK. (And is another Asian Canadian!)Or Vladdy Guerrero, Jr, who was born in Montreal and robbed of a unanimous second place result in the AL MVP voting.Or The Rock, whose dad was Canadian. But we should probably claim Ted Cruz as well, just so that we stay humble.
Don’t forget Keanu Reeves!
And yet I feel like we’re happy to forget about Lorne Michaels, right?
Nah, we haven’t forgotten. Just figured I’d highlight some people who don’t necessarily sew a red maple leaf on their backpack (or fanny pack). And that Vladdy got robbed by that Kansas City journalist.
as an American I authorize you NOT to claim Ted Cruz. Canada is cool, but the US deserves his dumb ass if only for the last 5 years. (I mean, if you WANT to claim him then fine, but we still stink of him, why make yourself stink like that too? It never comes out.)
Random source I found says he lived in Canada for 7 years and moved to Colorado when he was 9, so I could totally see that being more than long enough to consider yourself Canadian. It would be the first place he remembers living and the place where he spent the majority of his childhood.
That’s longer than I thought, actually. And of course if he’s a citizen, a Canadian is a Canadian. I moved provinces when I was a young child and I never really felt at one with where I moved, so I sort of get it, too, about maybe holding onto Canada when he moved to Colorado. Especially if he had a hard time in Colorado coming out (I think Colorado is some kind of evangelical base?).
The weird thing about that is that if we don’t count Yang as Canadian, SNL hasn’t had a Canadian cast member since Norm left.
http://www.jlakes.org/ch/web/The-elements-of-style.pdf
I always thought Bowen Yang was Korean. Glad I learned something today.