With Spielberg-produced film ‘Easter Sunday’ and a TV series in the works, Jo Koy gets ready to scale greater heights

Trust Jo Koy to spread good cheer just when his fans, Filipino or otherwise, need it most.

Last Tuesday, as we were telling the 49-year-old Filipino-American stand-up comedian how much we enjoyed watching “Jo Koy: In His Elements,” his third Netflix special (after 2017’s “Live From Seattle” and 2019’s “Comin’ In Hot”) that begins streaming today, Jo Koy dropped a bombshell that could have knocked us down with a feather.

He revealed to us that he has been offered a movie deal by Steven Spielberg’s production company Amblin.

“When ‘Comin’ In Hot’ came out last year, Steven watched it and reached out to me soon after,” he said when we asked him during our one-on-one interview what his immediate plans were after the quarantine. “So, I’m happy to announce that I’m developing something exciting with Amblin.

“The movie is based on an idea that I have called ‘Easter Sunday,’ which will highlight a Filipino family during that special holiday—and, of course, it’s going to be very diverse and will feature a majority of Filipinos in the cast. One of the executive producers is Dan Lin (“It,” “Aladdin,” “The Lego Movie” and “Sherlock Holmes”), so we’ve got a powerhouse team behind us, and we’re writing it as we speak. And working with Spielberg and Amblin has been amazing!”

As if that bit of positive news weren’t enough, Jo Koy then went on to tell us that he’s also currently working on a TV deal, with Randall Park and Melvin Mar of “Fresh Off the Boat.” “The work doesn’t stop, man—and I’m grateful!”

Fil-Am stand-up comedian Jo Koy

But first things first. For now, Jo Koy fans have something to celebrate with the release of “Jo Koy: In His Elements,” the hourlong show shot in Solaire during the popular comedian’s three-city Philippine tour in January.

The show doesn’t just feature Jo Koy’s brand of feel-good, laugh-out-loud comedy; it also showcases the humor of three rising Filipino-American stand-up comedians in the United States, namely, Andrew Lopez, Joey Guila and Andrew Arolfo, with the special participation of Grammy-winning Fil-Am producer Illmind and B-boy Ronnie. Along with special guest Iñigo Pascual, their participation in the show is just as exciting—but that’s another story.

When we mentioned to Jo Koy how the show felt like a mentoring of sorts, he explained to us why he needed to provide opportunities for other Fil-Am performers like him.

“Imagine me being 9 or 10 years old in America in the ’80s—no one knew what a Filipino was,” he recalled. “So, I was always like an ambassador, helping others get ‘seen’ and appreciated. Every time someone asked me what I was—because I was half-white and half-Filipino—people would always say, ‘What’s that? What’s Filipino? What kind of food do you eat?’ And I always felt like I was selling something and needed to explain where my mom came from—and that was in 1981.

“It’s now 2020, and I feel like my first two specials have been getting the word out, letting people know about the Filipino culture. I’d like them to say, ‘Oh, you’re Filipino … like that special on Netflix featuring other Filipino guys in the Philippines.’ That would mean everything to me—and if that happens, that’s when I know I’ve done my job well and won.

“It would be wonderful just for people to know the word ‘adobo’ when the special will be shown in 180 countries around the world. They’ll see the kind of food we eat and hear how Tagalog words are spoken—I love the thought!

“If there’s someone in Kansas City who watches the special and goes, ‘Hey, you know what? They actually speak English in the Philippines. Let’s go visit that country. Let’s see what a jeepney is and try that chicken adobo’—that’d make me happy.

“It was important for me to do that special because I initially had a hard time getting on Netflix. I was already in the stand-up comedy circuit for 27 years then, but Netflix kept saying no to me. So, I had to pay for my very first special, ‘Live from Seattle.’ It came out of my pocket, from all of my savings … When you watch it, you’ll see me laughing onstage, but in my head, I was saying, ‘I’m broke! I don’t have any more money!’ So, I didn’t know what I was going to do!

“So, them [Netflix] finally buying the show from me after they already said no, then giving me two more specials, I felt like I certainly knew how hard it would be to get a foot in the door. God bless, Netflix—don’t get me wrong. But if it wasn’t for that moment that I shot ‘Live From Seattle,’ this right now would never have happened. So, I feel like I need to pay it forward and help open the door for others like me.”

Our Q&A with Jo Koy:

Jo Koy (left) with Aunt Ofie at Farmers Market in Cubao

The last time you performed in Manila was three years ago—and now yours has become the hottest ticket in town. What’s your biggest takeaway from that triumphant visit in January?

The most important thing I want to get out of what I do is shine a light on our culture. It’s something I talk about a lot—it’s my life, my livelihood, it’s everything to me. When you grow up half-white and half-Filipino, you struggle with identity. “Who am I?” But when my mom and dad divorced, I gravitated toward my mom’s side, and they embraced me. Those are the stories I like telling onstage and the kind of material that informs my humor.

When those specials came out, it was beautiful to see the reactions of everybody, not just Filipinos, identifying with my mom. They’d tell me, “Hey, your mom’s Filipino—and she’s amazing, just like mine!” People identifying with my stories make me happy, because it’s like you’re talking indirectly about how it is being Filipino without shoving it down people’s throats.

In terms of comedic content, you’ve been championing with great success a whole race, showing off the good things about our culture on the world stage—our quirks, proclivities and endearing eccentricities. As an artist, when does comedy serve its purpose for you?

Comedy is like a form of therapy for me. Everyone goes through hardships and hard times, and we all have family issues to deal with. That’s one of the things I love about my stand-up routine.

I’m able to express some of those emotions onstage. It shines a light on personal issues, but it allows me to laugh about them. And it’s so cool that people relate to my stories—we heal as we laugh together.

How different are homegrown Filipino audiences from others who troop to your shows everywhere you go?

This year alone has been a beautiful thing. This particular tour has been the highlight of my 30-year career in stand-up comedy. Just to be able to play arenas across the world—from Australia and New York to Los Angeles and Manila. But it was the same humor, story and style no matter where I went. I never adjusted anything.

So, to see the many different faces reacting to my brand of comedy is exciting to me, realizing the universal nature of the things I talk about. My comedy isn’t just appreciated by Filipinos; it can also be enjoyed by white people, black people, Latinos and all the Asians who come to my shows just to laugh and have a good time.

Like, 13 years ago, I went to the Philippines with Russell Peters. It was my first time to do a stand-up in Manila, so I was very nervous. I was like, “Are they going to get this? Will they understand my style?”

When I lived in the Philippines from age 6 to 11, I was so used to the humor of “Eat Bulaga” and Tito, Vic and Joey. You don’t have to fully understand it, but the slapstick was funny—the pratfalls and the punching, etc. I related to those.

That was the kind of humor that was big in the Philippines back then. I soon realized it wasn’t all that different from the styles of “The Carol Burnett Show” and Tim Conway—all that “relatable” slapstick.

But when I went there to perform for the first time, I was like, “Oh, wow. YouTube and social media have changed everything. Everyone gets ‘it’ now.’ Everyone understands the words that you think are only hip in America. Every time I perform in the Philippines, it feels like I’m still in Los Angeles!

Jo Koy in a jeepney

Like theater, you can’t start from the top when the gags don’t work. What do you do when that happens?

It’s hard and very humbling—and that’s precisely why I love stand-up comedy so much. You could do these videos all day, but you have to wait for a response. Was it funny? Did they like it? In stand-up, the response is immediate. The minute the joke comes out of my mouth and there’s no laughing or clapping, that only means it sucked (laughs)! It means you might want to rewrite what you just wrote.

It’s like a boxer in the ring. You keep practicing, you keep sparring—and that’s how it is with stand-up. So, I keep trying out the jokes. “Oh, they didn’t like it, all right. Let me try a different version. Oh, they still didn’t like it—OK, let me just drop it and move on. And that’s the whole art, man. Being able to improvise and write—that’s what I do. It keeps me on my toes.

Your teenage son Joe is also part of the show. He can be an artista here when he comes of age. What was that whole experience like for him? How did he touch base with his Filipino roots?

And that wild hair, huh? Oo, gwapo talaga … at ang ganda ng buhok mo … (then corrects himself) n’ya! See? My Tagalog is pretty good, right (laughs)? You know what happened? Taal Volcano erupted while we were taping this show, so after we taped, I couldn’t really experience the Philippines with my son because they locked us in because of the ashfall. And it was my first time in the Philippines with Joe.

Just the same, we did it, man. We got out there. He got to see where my mom’s from. He went there with his mom before that. I also took him to the areas where he got to see the less fortunate, which was important so he could appreciate them as they were. It’s important to open up his eyes to that reality. He was already aware of this, but that’s the beauty of actually visiting the Philippines—it grounds you. He now understands why his father is doing all this, and why I will continue to do this for the motherland and its people.

It isn’t just to raise awareness but also to celebrate the Filipino culture and see what you can give back to the community.

And to be able to walk him out onstage for “In His Elements” was particularly memorable for me. It took me 17 years to make that possible, so I wasn’t going to say good night without my son walking out there!