I once attended a sort of seminar on slam poetry in which our leader identified what he thought to be the major stereotypical figures of the art form. The ‘sassy black woman’ and the ‘angry black man’ were mentioned, but my mind lingered on the ‘self-deprecating white guy.’ In the years since that meeting, it seems our culture has become filled to the brim with skinny, kind of ugly guys all too willing to offer up their manhood to gain the approval of whosoever would demand it (Women? Other insecure guys? I don’t know), because to do otherwise would require even the smallest semblance of a spine. I’m thinking Michael Cera. I’m thinking Zach Braff. I’m thinking every loser who’s ever graced the poster of another devastatingly idiotic romantic comedy where some hopeless sap has his life turned upside down by some free-spirited pixie girl who’s into indie music. And now I’m thinking Jo Koy, perhaps the least offensive comedian to ever title a comedy program ‘Don’t Make Him Angry.’ I’m almost worried that he’d cry.
To be fair, Jo Koy is not all white. He’s Filipino, but he still spends the great majority of his time taking on perhaps the easiest targets that a comedian could. He literally opens with Alabama, and then goes on to France, does a fake French accent and talks about how rude they are. Other Dave Barry-safe targets include road rage, his mother, and the way that his son likes to play with his penis (admittedly, when he talks about his son coloring it green-that was pretty funny). It’s all pretty familiar territory for comedians, and though Koy manages to do reasonable impressions and keep his energy up, he doesn’t add anything new to the funny Asian mom bit that Margaret Cho hasn't already done.
All of this would be perfectly fine were it not for a bit that he does at the end. You know how one bit can ruin all that had come before it (imagine if instead of a light-saber battle at the end of The Empire Strikes Back we were treated to a light-hearted chase to the tune of Yakkety Sax)? Towards the end of the show, Koy goes on a long bit about how beautiful women’s vaginas are (he impersonates God crafting the vagina out of clay for what feels like an eternity) and then goes to say that women are the reason that sex is referred to as making love. In one of the DVD’s special features, he repeatedly refers to himself as a bitch, insisting that he wouldn’t know how to begin to fight someone. All of this is done in long stretches of apparent sincerity without any jokes to be seen. Not to make any personal inferences, but I’ve only heard two kinds of guys talk like that, being guys whose lives were completely controlled by their girlfriends and guys who were faking sensitivity in order to get laid. Certainly, a little self-deprecation can work in a comedy act, but after a while you kind of want Mick Jagger to jump in here and talk about how he’s going bang some chick and kick her out as soon as he’s done with her.
DVD Bonus Features
"Comedy Central Presents: Jo Koy" - Another twenty minutes of an entirely different Comedy Central performance, which is all pretty much in the same vein as the rest of the special.
"APL.DE.AP Performance" - A performance by the Hip-Hop group that Jo Koy travels with.
"Interview With Donnie “Crumbs” Counts" and "Interview With Moy Rivas" - interviews with two of the back-up dancers that Jo Koy travels with.
"Horse With Moy Rivas" - Rivas and Koy playing basketball. No idea why this was included.
"Interview With Little Jo" - A few moments on camera with Jo Koy’s son, the one who famously marked his penis green.
"Jo Koy Dance Moves" - Jo Koy dancing.
"Jo Koy - One on One" - Jo Koy riffs on a number of different topics, including his best and worst gigs, things he used to do when he was younger, and all sorts of other things it’s hard to imagine anyone being interested in.
"Jo Koy: Don't Make Him Angry" is on sale May 19, 2009 and is rated NR. Comedy. Directed by Troy Miller. Written by Jo Koy. Starring Jo Koy.
