Longtime readers are probably aware of my professed crush on Ann Curry. I start off each day tuning into NBC to see her co-host the Today show. It's a silly little ritual, but I'm an Ann fan, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. Which is why I was kind of appalled to see her segment on doing standup comedy this morning.
As part of a semi-regular feature about conquering her biggest fears (last time, she bungee-jumped), Ann took up standup comedy. She took a class, consulted with some veteran comedians, wrote some material, which all culminated in her doing a five minute set in front of a live comedy club audience.
Not an easy feat for most people, and Ann isn't necessarily known for being "the funny one" among the Today co-host crew. But I had to hand it to her for trying. She started off okay enough... but then she started venturing into the bad Asian jokes (she's half Japanese) and just got on a roll.
Very groan-worthy. Turns out, the standard can't-fail, fallback strategy for all Asian comics is to make fun of your mother and their wacky accent. Margaret Cho perfected it in the nineties, and since then everything else, to varying degrees, has been a pale imitation. But non-Asians always seem to love it.
Ann totally goes for the wacky Japanese mom thing, and the audience just eats it up (granted, it was a crowd full of NBC ringers). Works every time. Bad accents = cheap laughs. There's not much more to say. One thing's for sure—she's not a comedian. Don't quit your day job, Ann. Watch the segment here: Ann's stand-up routine.
