Refusing to conform

As a student, Tina Kim used to sleep on a green bench in the Suzzallo Library women's bathroom between classes and pick up random students at bus stops just so she could park on campus for free. Today, the UW alumna jokes about it during her stand-up comedy shows around the country.

When one thinks of Asian-American women in the entertainment business, stand-up comedy isn't the first thing that comes to mind. It was the same for Kim.

While in high school, Kim, who had always loved theater and live performance, found solace in drama productions. Her biggest goal, however, was to act on the small screen.

"I never thought that I could pursue [television] being an Asian woman," she said. "I never grew up thinking, 'I can be anything I want to be,' because me growing up especially, there was nothing. Nobody that I saw [that I could] aspire to be."

As an undergrad at the UW, she majored in broadcast journalism.

"As an Asian girl you're like, okay, I guess that's what I'm gonna do too, because I want to be on TV," she said. "That's the reason why I did it, because that's the only thing I saw [with Asian women] on TV."

In 1990, Kim saw fellow Korean Margaret Cho on television for the first time. Cho's girl-power humor had an extraordinary effect on Kim -- watching her perform, Kim recalled being amazed, surprised and enlightened. She had never seen an Asian woman do anything "so bold, and so outspoken," she said. After that, a light bulb lit up in her head, she said, because she knew this was something she could do.

But Kim didn't pursue being a comic right away. After graduating from the UW in 1994, she worked at local news stations in small towns, first in Yakima, Wash., then in Missoula, Mont. But by 1997, she had realized that working in small towns just didn't suit her "big dreams."

So Kim did something drastic -- she sold her car and moved to New York City.

During her first year in the Big Apple, Kim struggled, working full time at various jobs she got through temp agencies while taking comedy classes and putting in an additional 20 hours a week of "slave labor" at comedy clubs. It wasn't a great experience.

"It opened my eyes to how people take advantage of people and their dreams," she said.

Now she knows better. When people ask Kim for advice on becoming a stand-up comic, she advises them not to take classes.

"Nobody can teach you to be yourself," she said.

Kim has followed her own advice since 1998. She is in complete control of her career, doing everything from producing her own shows to writing her own material and press releases.

"What makes me different as a comic is I'm actually putting my own show together," she said.

Kim's stand-up material stems from her life and observations of the world around her. She's constantly developing new material. "I just got home a couple days ago...and I have some new ideas," said Kim, who now lives in Los Angeles, and proceeds to go into a hilarious story about her parents, their caller ID and solicitors.

At her Seattle show on July 13, it's not much different. Kim's act seems more about her talking with the audience rather than at them. Watching her is like listening to a conversation between a woman and her girlfriends. Her jokes make the audience laugh because they're based on life experiences everyone can relate to.

"I'm just looking for a guy who will call me back. When I was younger I used to wait around for the guy to call me and everything, but now that I'm older five years is my limit," said Kim to the audience at the Comedy Underground, recounting her experiences as a single Korean woman in the dating world.

Kim's success hasn't changed her view comedy as a profession. She's still aware that audiences don't expect a woman to be up at the microphone cracking sardonic jokes.

"As a woman in stand up, there's less opportunities. It's a guy's thing," she said bluntly.

If family support was what she needed, she didn't get it at first. Once, when Kim was being interviewed by Seattle's KIRO-7 News, she was asked how her parents, particularly her mother, reacted to her career choice.

"My mother thinks I'm a loser and I should go kill myself," Kim told the reporter. It's a story she often includes in her act.

It wouldn't have been surprising if Kim had given up. Instead, she decided to include her struggles in her act, using comedy as an outlet for her anger and transforming it into something positive. "I have anger too, but I'm not bitter," she said.

Kim still has big dreams. She said that she's not going to stop at stand-up, though after this year she'll be slowing down and only doing shows in New York and Los Angeles because she wants to have a family. But she's determined not to let anything stop her from achieving her goals.

"Stand-up is only the opening for me," she said.

Kim also wants to have her own sitcom and talk show as well. "I want my HBO special, my hour of Tina Kim comedy special on HBO. I don't want no Comedy Central. I want my HBO."