The Asian Persuasion
Comedy Variety Show
Produced by Lauren Hugh
Sunday, May 26rd, 2024
8 PM
iO Theater
1501 N. Kingsbury St.
Chicago, IL
In celebration of AAPI Heritage Month, iO presents The Asian Persuasion Comedy Variety Showcase in partnership with The Foundation For Asian American Independent Media (FAAIM). This comedy variety show will be the culmination of FAAIM’s film festival happening the week prior at the Gene Siskel Theater.
The show will include your host, Jerry Tran, with improv from Asian Takeout and Stir Friday Night and Sketch from The Second City Victor Wong Fellows of 2024.
Stand-up from William Paik and Sonal Aggarwal.
Music from Shawn Shakya and our headliner Evan Mills (Second City)!
Jerry Tran
Jerry Tran is a Chicago-based comedian who has become a crowd favorite nationwide thanks to his meticulously crafted jokes and endearing stage presence. He has performed at numerous festivals, including SF Sketchfest, Milwaukee Comedy Festival, and the NBC Second City Break Out Comedy Festival. In 2019, Cold Tea Collective listed him as one of the Eight North American Asian Comedians To Watch Out For. Jerry also hosts a comedy show at First Sip Café in Chicago.
Instagram: @jrrytrn.
Stir Friday Night
Based in Chicago, Illinois, we are one of the nation’s premier Asian-American comedy troupes. Having worked with such renowned companies such as The Second City and iO (formerly known as Improv Olympic), Stir-Friday Night! has become a fixture in Chicago’s comedy scene.
Evan Mills
Evan Mills is a Chicago-based actor, writer, lyricist, comedian and musician. Evan has captivated audiences with Second City (SC) shows including at the Kennedy Center in “Generation Gap,” performing with TourCo, and continuing on to write “Queer Eye: The Musical Parody” he now has three SC Mainstage Revues under his belt (109th’s “Together at Last,” 110th’s “Do The Right Thing, No Worries If Not,” and the current 111th’s “Don’t Quit Your Daydream”). His brilliance also hasn’t gone unnoticed by critics, earning a spot among the ‘Ten Best Theater Performances of 2022’ by the Chicago Tribune and a 2023 Jeff Award for ‘Outstanding Performer in a Revue’. He also was selected for JFL New Faces 2023 and the CBS Showcase 2023. Evan is also the director of the 2024 Victor Wong Showcase. You can check out his original music and songs on Spotify and all his original content @awkvanmills on all social media platforms.
IG: @Awkvanmills
Sonal Aggarwal
Former international street performer turned emcee, Sonal Aggarwal has brought her talents to Chicago as an actor, comedian, producer and movement artist. Her one woman show The Alchemy of Bliss played for a sold out weekend at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater and you can see her on Netflix’s Easy as well as the short A Period Piece which debuted at SXSW 2020. She is a regular host of the Moth.
Instagram: @sonalmedia
Asian Takeout
Asian Takeout is Chicago’s newest all-Asian improv team! The team consists of your favorite improvisers and comedians from around Chicago – Soph Hubeny, Lauren Hugh, Philip Guison, Saloni Nahar, Japo Parcero, Fahim Sheikh, Courtney Sullivan Wu, Abbas Tayebali, Rohan Tripathi, Eric Wang and Emily Zhang!
Instagram: @asiantakeoutimprov
Shawn Shakya
Shawn Shakya often surprises people with his stunning voice and then again with unexpected comedic turns inside of beautiful soulful songs. Originally from Annapolis, Maryland, Shawn has lived in Chicago for 1 year, has used a bidet for 5 years, and thinks it’s funny that everyone usually writes these types of bio’s themselves but in third person..
There has never been a more gorgeous voice making comedy music in the entire world. He’s also just like a really good guy and craaazy hot too, but not like in an unapproachable way.
Instagram @shawngetoffmylawn.
William Paik
William Paik is a Chicago-based comedian. He has a friendly, relatable and energetic style with observational jokes about sexual development, popular culture, and family relations across cultures. He has performed in Seoul, South Korea on a Fulbright studying Seoul's stand up comedy scene. He’s also performed at the Asian Comedy Festival in New York City, the Milwaukee Comedy festival, and he produces and East of California West of New York at the Lincoln Lodge in Chicago.
Instagram @williampaik8.
The Victor Wong Fellowship
The Victor Wong Fellowship is an intensive program at The Second City that mentors & trains talented Asian / Asian American identifying artists. Through a generous endowment by Peng Zhao, CEO of Citadel Securities, and his wife, Cherry Chen, the Fellowship focuses on improvisation, sketch comedy writing, acting & musical direction. This is the inaugural year of the Victor Wong Fellowship, named after The Second City's first Asian American performer, and upon completion of the program, the Fellows shall present a showcase event in May.
https://www.secondcity.com/network/the-second-city-launches-victor-wong-fellowship-for-aapi-voices-in-comedy/