The Brooklyn native is set to bring the high heat to the Women in Comedy Festival this weekend
While she’s still in disbelief that people think women aren’t funny, Helen Hong is eager to prove the Neanderthalic nay-sayers wrong this weekend at the Women in Comedy Festival.
When she takes the stage at Cambridge’s Brattle Theatre on Saturday (May 4), she’ll be delving into everything from politics to poop, and while she’s looking forward to the opportunity to unleash a brand of comedy that may come as an edgy surprise to those who know her from NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!, the Brooklyn native is eager to spending the weekend around other “kick-ass” women like Jenny Zigrino, Kelly MacFarland, and Phoebe Robinson.
Oh and she’s looking forward to seeing her parents too.
“Believe it or not, my parents actually live in Boston, and I’m pretty sure they are the oldest people in Allston,” Hong tells Vanyaland. “I’m glad I get to visit them while I’m there, but they aren’t allowed to come to my shows, because I want the freedom to be able to talk about a blowjob if I want to without having to look at my father.”
After she has some home cooking, Hong is looking forward to performing for not just any festival crowd, but more specifically, a multi-faceted Boston comedy crowd that includes everyone from those that think “Oriental” is an endearing term, to the “PhD motherfuckers from MIT.”
“I love having the full spectrum of IQ’s at my shows, where I can talk about things happening in the world and I can get political, while also telling jokes about getting into a ‘poop-off’ in a public restroom,” says Hong. “I love that because no matter what I say, someone is going to enjoy it.”
As a self-proclaimed “bawdy bitch from New York,” Hong’s spot at the Women in Comedy Festival means more to her than just telling jokes to a crowd and shed the stereotype of women comedians not being funny.
Empowered by the strength exhibited by women in the #MeToo and #TimesUp Movements, Hong is ecstatic that women are continuing to own their feminism. Not only is she proud to represent women, who are already an underrepresented part of the stand-up scene, but as a Korean-American woman, she’s excited to have the chance to represent an even less represented group of women in the scene.
“Strong women have fucking had it,” Hong says. “We’re not going to take bullshit anymore, and we’re not going to take a backseat in representation anymore. I’m so happy to be apart of this festival, and to be a part of the representation out on the forefront.”
HELEN HONG :: Saturday, May 4 at The Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St. in Cambridge, MA :: 7 p.m., $20 :: Advance tickets :: WICF Event Page