Mixed Plate

A stunning, hilarious memoir from Jo Koy, star of the major motion picture Easter Sunday, creator of the Netflix specials In His Elements and Coming in Hot and ?far and away one of the funniest people out there? (Chelsea Handler). Mixed Plate illuminates the burning drive, celebration of his Filipino heritage and the brilliant comedic talent that make Jo Koy one of the world's most successful comedians. Includes never-before-seen photos.

In a memoir that is both surprising in its honesty and not surprising all for being laugh out loud ridiculous, Jo Koy delivers his life story for fans, and for anyone who has defied the expectations of their family and maybe even themselves. If you've ever seen Jo Koy's standup, you know that his road to success has been...well...bumpy. As a half-Filipino, half-white kid with a mom who didn't think much of his comedy career goals, Jo had a lot to prove. Add in the realities of the immigrant experience, alcoholism, poverty and mental illness and you can understand why Jo Koy found solace in the VHS tapes he made of Eddie Murphy and George Carlin specials. In the end, Mixed Plate is his path to achieving his version of the American Dream, one that he lives out loud today while celebrating his heritage, the life he's been able to provide for his son Joe, Jr., and all the wonderful craziness of his great big Filipino family ...that also happen to be universal.

Just like Hawaii's favorite lunch, the mixed plate, this book takes a little bit of this, a little bit of that from a few cultures and creates a delicious whole.

Auteur

Jo Koy, one of today's premiere comedians, entertains audiences across the world and inspires them with his infectious energy. His 2017 Netflix special, Jo Koy: Live from Seattle, was so successful that he released a follow-up sequel in June 2019, and his 2017 Break the Mold tour sold out tens of thousands of seats from New York City to Sydney to Amsterdam. In July 2018, he was named Stand-Up Comedian of the Year at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival. He lives in Los Angeles.

Texte du rabat

A stunning, hilarious memoir from beloved comedian Jo Koy, "far and away one of the funniest people out there” (Chelsea Handler). Mixed Plate illuminates the burning drive and unique humor that make Jo Koy one of today's most successful comedians. Includes never-before-seen photos.

Well guys, here it is—my story. A funny, sad, at times pathetic but also kick-ass tale of how a half-Filipino, half-white kid whose mom thought (and still thinks) his career goal was to become a clown became a success. Not an overnight success, because that would have made for a really short read, but an All-American success who could give my immigrant mom the kind of life she hoped for when she came to this country, and my son the kind of life I wished I'd had as a kid. With all the details of what it felt like to get the doors closed in my face, to grind it out on the road with my arsenal of dick jokes, and how my career finally took off once I embraced the craziness of my family, which I always thought was uniquely Filipino but turns out is as universal as it gets.

In this book, I'll take you behind the mic, behind the curtain—OK, way behind it. From growing up with a mom who made me dance like Michael Jackson at the Knights of Columbus, to some real dark stuff, the stuff we don't talk about often enough as immigrants. Mental health, poverty, drinking. And show you the path to my American Dream. Which was paved with a lot of failure, department store raffle tickets to win free color televisions, bad jokes, old VHS tapes, a motorcycle my mom probably still hates, the only college final I aced (wasn't math), and getting my first laugh on stage. There's photo evidence of it all here, too.

In this book, I get serious about my funny. And I want to make you laugh a little while I do it. I'm like Hawaii's favorite lunch—the mixed plate. Little bit of this, a little bit of that. My book Mixed Plate is too.