Esther Ku is cute!

Since the Yahoo media event last December 2008 at Spicy Fingers, Greenbelt 3, I had been exposed to local stand-up comedians. Today, I am even working with a couple of young comedians, Stanley Chi and Mike Unson.

I have seen both Stanley and Mike make their presence felt on stage a few times at Spicy Fingers. And even swapped jokes and lines as part of the writing team of “Front Act,” the newest comedy show on ABC5, aired every Sunday evening at 6pm. Just before "Wow Mali."

Chief and I would appreciate and laugh at the lines thrown by David Letterman, Jay Leno, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. All men. Have not seen, watched or heard a female stand-up comic until I got to watch Esther Ku on Star World a couple of weekends ago.

Who is Esther Ku? Well she is definitely one of the cutest comedians on stage. A Korean-American, she is known for her Asian jokes, which some find racist or offensive.

I first watched her presence at Star World’s “Last Comic Standing” last Saturday, August and I quickly “googled” her name. I read that she had been chosen as one of the ten best comedians for the 2006 NBC Stand-up for Diversity Showcase in New York City and had performed at the Boston International Comedy Festival and the New York Underground Festival.
During an interview, Esther was asked about her comic influences. She said, “My comic influences are the people around me who make me laugh: my mom, my siblings, my teachers, my pastor, etc. My mom has always poked fun at my dad in public, telling all her friends how he used to have hair before we were born. My siblings and I shared everything growing up. We teased each other constantly and incorporated wordplay to outwit each other. I always enjoyed it when my teachers incorporated a sense of humor in class. Whenever the teacher said something funny, I wrote it down in the margins of my notebooks.”

Now am thinking, does someone in my classes also take down my jokes?

Esther says that her most embarrassing moment was back in kindergarden when she decided to pee while in class. She admits, “I learned that day in school that farts are invisible but pee is not! I have not yet fully recovered from that day. I do occasionally release farts in public but never my bladder.”

In today’s tough economy, we could surely use a few laughs from stand-up comedians who dare make their presence felt before a live discriminating audience.
Whether Esther Ku farts or pees in public, her cute presence still stands above the rest of female stand-up comedians. You can check out her website at http://www.funnyku.com/

Stanley Chi, I think she can be number 55?