Bobby Lee “Kickin it Old Skool”

Bobby Lee is a hilarious comedian. At the end of April his new movie Kickin’ It Old Skool (with Jamie Kennedy) will premier and audiences around the globe will get a taste of his antics. He has been known as the great sketch comedy artist on Fox’s Mad TV for six long years. His humor pushes the envelope and goes to the extreme, stealing the limelight so many times. He is proud of his representation as a Korean American or Asian American actor, and has many views on the diversity of Hollywood. On this particular day Bobby had already sat for 19 interviews! He is extremely popular with a cult-like following for being so incredibly outrageous. Asiance Magazine was able to see the side of Bobby that many people do not see. During the interview, he was sweet, patient, funny, outspoken, and of course sexy. He is a down-to-earth gentleman.

ASIANCE: Please tell me about your upcoming project Kickin’ It Old Skool. We are so excited for the release.

Bobby:Oh, thank you. It’s a break dancing movie. It’s a comedy, with me, Jamie Kennedy, and a lot of 80s stars are in it like David Hasselhoff, Eric Estrada, and Emmanuel Lewis. It’s basically about this 80’s break-dancing crew in the 80’s that were kids, right? Then Jamie gets in a coma for 20 years and then he wakes up and wants to get his break dancing crew back together. That’s basically the premise of the movie.

ASIANCE: The preview looks so funny!

Bobby: Do you like it really? Aw, cool.

ASIANCE: I was wondering about your role in it, do you feel it’s a great role for you particularly?

Bobby: Well it’s only my second movie. The first movie I did was Harold and Kumar and I had a little part in that. At least in this movie I have a lot of things to chew on. I get to dance. I have a lot more scenes, you know what I mean. Jamie was very happy with my performance and is a big fan of mine and I’m a big, big fan of his. It just worked out man; it was a really fun experience. I just hope the kids like it you know?

For me it’s like I learned a lot and it’s about growth you know it’s a good experience. I’ve been doing Mad TV for six years so any new experience is good.

ASIANCE: Who do you think is the funniest person in the industry aside from yourself?

Bobby: There are a lot of guys I like. Obviously I like Dave Chappelle. I like Dane Cook. I like David Attell. I like a lot of guys you know, Louis CK, Sarah Silverman. They’re all funny. Did you get all that?

ASIANCE: Yes. Now, do you have a girlfriend and what kind of relationship do you look for?

Bobby: I do have a girlfriend right now. I live with her and she happens to be white. She’s from the South. She’s a comic. And she’s crazy like I am. I just like stimulation. She’s a wack. And I like that about her, you know. We really get along as goofballs. We fart on each other, you know. It’s fun. She’s working on her career. She’s newer than I am. Her name is Sara. And she’s funnier than I am. I really do believe that’s she’s very funny. It’s a good relationship.

ASIANCE: Do you feel she is one person who truly appreciates your unique sense of humor?

Bobby: She does, she … first and foremost she loves me. And she also thinks that I’m funny you know what I mean. She’s gotta love me. I mean you’ve seen me on TV. Not much to love, you know, fat, jiggly, if that’s even a word. I have a big head for my body,

ASIANCE: No you don’t.

Bobby: Aw thank you. You think I’m cute?

ASIANCE: Of course! So, what are your favorite pastimes when not shooting?

Bobby: I’m a kid at heart. I like to play Xbox 360. I like to go to the spa. I like going to Korean barbeque and I like to play tennis. And ping-pong. I really do play ping-pong all the time. In fact, I have my own racket, a paddle from China. I take it very seriously. I don’t play it like, “ooh let’s play a game”, but like, “let’s put some money down” kind of game. If I lose I get violent.

ASIANCE: Oh.

Bobby: Not like, I don’t kill people. I just sit on people. Like, “You cheated.”

ASIANCE: Do you get in a lot of fights?

Bobby: I don’t get in a lot of fights. But people beat me up. I’m a coward. (hahah)

ASIANCE: I don’t think so!!!

Bobby: Hahah.

ASIANCE: Do you feel on Mad TV, especially, you are typecast as a stereotypical role?

Bobby: I think like, if they put a black guy on the show he’ll be typecast. I mean everyone is typecast. A guy who’s Jewish, he plays Jewish parts. I mean who am I going to play? Bill Cosby? You know what I mean? I’m not going to play Barack Obama in a sketch, you know. I’m not gonna play Brad Pitt… . I wish I could.

Bobby in a stereotypical role on Mad TV

ASIANCE: You could!

Bobby: I could, but I don’t feel like people would like it.

ASIANCE: Do you think Asians and Asian Americans will become more represented in Hollywood in the future?

Bobby: I think it’s happening now. I mean, listen, 12-15 years ago you would never see the amount of Asians we have on TV. I mean look at who we have. Daniel Dae Kim, the other Asian woman from Lost, I forgot her name. Weird. We have Sandra Oh. We have the little Japanese dude on Heroes, also William Hung. A lot. John Cho doing movies, Sun King doing movies. The list goes on. It’s so good for us now, don’t you think? I mean I’ve been on a show for six years that’s a miracle! Don’t you think?

ASIANCE: I think it’s wonderful!

Bobby: It is wonderful, but if you look back on the past you would never see an Asian being on a show for more than six, seven years. And now we see Sandra, on Grey’s Anatomy and she went from movies, a lot of things. There are a lot of exciting things happening.

ASIANCE: What do you think are the reasons for that?

Bobby: I think people are getting that we’re more acclimated into American society, I think that more and more Americans have Asian friends, you know what I mean. And we’re no longer the punch line. I think people are actually like, respecting us. Man, we’re a very interesting group no matter where you’re from in Asia and we offer so much. We offer more than karate, we offer more than woks, not walks like physically walking, but the actual cooking instrument. We offer more than, you know… we offer a lot of things, like sex and stuff.

ASIANCE:(Giggle.)

Bobby: Asian males are not considered sexy but we still have it. We have sex. I mean there are Asian babies (haha). Right? Are there not Asian babies?? I mean where do they come from, not an egg, like a physical egg like an ostrich. No, there’s some hand-pumping going on, right? We’re Asian men, sexy, sexual, you know what I mean?

Hilarious interview with Bobby on Kickin it Old Skool

ASIANCE: Yes. So, you said, “We have a lot to offer, like sex”… were you ever working as a male gigolo?

Bobby: Hahah! No, but I should be right? No, but I’ve always wanted to be a stripper. Yeah. Be called the yellow munchkin or something like that, give people a lot of options. I think I could make at least pennies right?

ASIANCE: More than that!

Bobby: Oh, you’d give me dollar bills? Wow, thank you.

But, actually I have to run to a radio interview. You can call me anytime you want. Best friends forever right? Ok, one more question.

ASIANCE: Will Kickin’ It Old Skool be your claim to fame and will you get more starring roles?

Bobby: I think it’s going to help. I think the more I do, the better it is. I also have a deal with Comedy Central to do my own show. So I think every year I get more and more opportunities. And you know, I may not be the funniest guy in the world but I’m crazy and I have my own vibe. I don’t think I represent just Asians you know, I think I represent losers. You know, the Asians who aren’t smart, the Asians who are good drivers, the Asians who have big penises, you know what I mean? The Asians who aren’t always good at mathematics… So, I think I represent the losers of the bunch. We need Americans to realize we’re as human and frail as everybody else and you have the losers and winners and I’m going to lead the losers into victory.

ASIANCE: I think you’re a winner.

Bobby: Thank you so much. Call me anytime for whatever questions. Bye!

ASIANCE: Bye!

Shannon Lin is a 22-year old student in New York, graduating in May of 2007 from the New School with a degree in Media Studies. She is originally from Seattle, Washington and is bi-racial. Her father is from Taiwan and her mother is of Scandinavian descent, and raised in America. She considers the embracement of culture very important. She has studied in Taiwan, France and Italy. After attending the University of Washington pursuing International Studies she decided to transfer to the heart of the Big Apple where she could better immerse herself in media and entertainment. She has had a lot of experience even while still in school with media such as production assistance, film directing and editing, and experience in acting for stage as well as camera. She has interned with MTV Logo as well as MTV Chi. After graduation she will work in the industry with production and writing hopefully in New York. Now that she will be out of school she would like to pursue more creative jobs on-camera, and even test out her comedy (she has already performed at Stand Up New York and was asked to return!)… She hopes to soon visit Taiwan and Japan for a long stay and catch up with her relatives. She would also like to explore her Taiwanese heritage and maybe go to Graduate school overseas. Otherwise, she will attend school in Southern California after working in New York for a while because she loves the city. Right now she lives in Brooklyn with her boyfriend Gregory who also attends the New School. Shannon is pleased to work with Asiance Magazine and is delighted about the progressive, stimulating and beautiful nature of the articles as well as the overall idea of the magazine! She is happy.