[MADtv] Bobby Lee

[ef_7]

Originally posted by Scorpiogrrl2003
after reading that I couldn't help but notice how that article made everyone else seem like asses and uptight high and mighties, and made Bobby seem like the happy go lucky nothing bothers him person.


That's just sad......

Where'd you get that?

[ef_7]

I'm pretty sure Mike was only kidding

[Scorpiogrrl4405]

Originally posted by ef_7

Where'd you get that?

Here:

Lee chatted with McDonald, who barely acknowledged him. "Bobby, when are you going to fix your hair like an adult?" said McDonald, "you're into your 30s, well into your 30s."

& Here:

Director Bruce Leddy was shouting as the cast crowded into a working fountain, getting wet. Lee splashed water, irritating the others. "Everyone miserable but Bobby," bellowed Leddy

[MysterE]

Director Bruce Leddy was shouting as the cast crowded into a working fountain, getting wet. Lee splashed water, irritating the others. "Everyone miserable but Bobby," bellowed Leddy

This was just a sketch.

[Dartanian]

http://www.orion-online.net/vnews/di.../4150cb7409209

'MADtv' comic stands up to odds, keeps laughing
Cherre Stoneham
Assistant Entertainment Editor
September 22, 2004


Underneath the Korean woman disguise, and Jackie Chan and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il impressions, MADtv's Bobby Lee is just a guy who overcame a struggle and achieved a dream.

Lee got an itch to be a stand-up comic back in '94 after watching comedians perform at the La Jolla Comedy Store in San Diego.

"I kept telling myself, 'These people aren't funny; I can do much better than that,'" Lee said.

He's inspired by comedians like Bernie Mac, who knows how to keep it real and make people feel where he's coming from.

"This man has lived through the struggle," Lee said. "You can see it in his eyes, his face and hear it in his voice."

Lee said if you don't like comedians who are afraid to push the envelope like Jerry Seinfeld, but who are vulgar and raunchy like Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor, then come see him shake it up at Comedy Night with Jimmy Dore and Rich Brown at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Bell Memorial Union Auditorium.

Trying to make a few laughs didn't always come easy for Lee. It took him a couple of months to finally work up the nerve to get on stage. He had no prior experience and didn't know what he was getting himself into.

"People just stared at me," Lee said. "I got more boos than laughs."

A year after the La Jolla Comedy Store stint, he was spotted on stage by Pauly Shore, who asked to open for him in Las Vegas. That night he met Shore's mother, Mitzi, and she asked him to perform at her comedy store in San Diego called Mitzi Shore.

Lee jumped at the opportunity. Every time he would perform, he kept doing what he called "trial and error." Whenever there wasn't a response from the crowd, Lee said he would just smile.

"It's all about repetition and learning to stay comfortable so you can be yourself," Lee said. "The more you fail, the better you'll become."

To this day, Lee said he never practice jokes before going on stage.

"I'll write a word on a piece of paper like 'hot dogs' and think of all the funny takes on hot dogs," Lee said. "Ninety percent of the time it actually works."

At age 23, Lee said he was depressed, because he had nothing going for him. Growing up, his parents were hard on him because he struggled in school with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

He was a D-student in high school and, unlike some of his fellow classmates, he had no ambition to go to college.

"I had no friends, no girlfriend," Lee said. "I thought my life was over and felt like a complete loser."

He said that unlike his father, he didn't want to be the guy always in the background; he wanted to take control of his own life and not afraid to be a risk taker.

"My father isn't a failure, but he never really saw much of the world," Lee said. "Now he's living life through my eyes."

Life was a complete struggle for Lee. He had to live out of his truck for four months and grab any blue-collar job that came his way, even if that meant degrading himself.

"People treat you like **** when you're a doorman or a busboy," Lee said. "I licked envelopes for eight hours a day for this management company and cried half the time I was there while the managers were on the phone working."

Growing up as a Korean American, Lee said his family wasn't afraid to submerge itself into the American culture.

He would watch American movies with his family and rock out to The Beatles and Marvin Gaye. Lee said he refuses to bow down to social expectations people have about minority groups, such as Koreans.

"Society often labels Koreans as studious, liquor-store owners, mathematical, hardworking; and I'm just the opposite of that," Lee said. "I've been to juvenile, rehab, jail and I've done drugs."

He had to go through about 10 interviews before the producers of MADtv asked him to be on the show. Now, seven months out of the year Lee works on MADtv and has two more years left on the show.

"I'm just so grateful, especially to be one of the only two Asian actors on TV," Lee said.

He said some days he's on the MADtv set for an hour and other days it's 17 hours. He gets one week off a month. Before the show lost some of its senior cast members, Lee was rehearsing only one to two sketches a week, now he's doing three to four sketches a week

Although he wouldn't tell how much money he's making, compared to sitcom actors and actresses, he said MADtv stars get bottom-of-the-barrel money.

"Our pay is really low in the world of TV," Lee said. "But I can pay my bills, invest and I'm not starving."

He said shows like "Last Comic Standing" puts comedians in a bad light.

"Comedy isn't a competition, it's an art form and it's different for everyone," Lee said. "It's like you can't compare Van Gogh to Picasso, because it's two different styles of paintings."

He said life is ever changing and unstable.

"Who knows, three years from now I could be working in my father's clothing store in Phoenix," Lee said.

He's happy he went through all of the things he went through, because he's doing all of the things he thought he would never do.

"Overcoming struggles teaches you to be strong," Lee said. "It makes you proud that you stuck it through all of your sacrifices."

Cherre Stoneham can be reached at

cstoneham@orion-online.net

[HiVolt]

Nice article about Bobby. Its nice to see that he struggled hard thru life and actually made it. Since mid Season 8 I think he really improved.

[2ndCiti]

God bless this man. It warms my heart to read something so inspiring (to me, personally).

[Pizzotty]

A lot of people have to struggle to get to where they wanna be especially in hollywood. Except Paris Hilton lol.

[MysterE]

Lee humps his way to comedy gold

Coreen Larson
Staff Writer
October 06, 2004

Raunchy, immature humor hit the stage at the Bell Memorial Union Auditorium Tuesday night when Bobby Lee of MADtv headlined an evening of comedy with Rich Brown and Jimmy Dore.

The most notable performance came from Dore; his act lasted almost an hour. He was clearly the most polished and professional of the group. With material for the masses, the whole crowd -- men and women alike -- enjoyed his set. He discussed everything from college to his family to the Olympics -- with a few "dick jokes" thrown in. Labeling something a "dick joke" is apparently a new term comedians use to keep from offending the women in the crowd.

Dore threw jabs at fraternities. He told the audience he could've been in a fraternity "if only I'd held that egg in my ass for seven more seconds," Dore said. The audience roared.


He made fun of "speed students," those students that get through college by taking all of their classes in the first three years. "Four year degree-Three years," Dore imitated. He replied to this phenomenon with: "You don't get a prize when you graduate college first, you get a boss and a job -- YOU LOSE!" The crowd laughed and clapped at this remark.

Dore was calm and funny, relating to the audience with his stories and observations. He stalled for time when Lee wasn't ready to come onstage, and even off-the-cuff he was able to keep the crowd laughing and warmed up for Lee.

The entire show started 40 minutes late. A generic announcement was made 10 minutes after the 8 p.m. show time. "Technical difficulties" were blamed for the delay, leaving the audience wondering what kind of technical difficulties there could be with just one microphone on a stage. About 15 minutes later the truth came out: "The comedians are not actually here," reported Ryan Taylor, one of the many people in charge that night.


Taylor assured the 2/3-full auditorium that they would be arriving soon and to please remain calm and patient. The crowd stayed put, with the exception of a few groups who dared to try to defy the "no in-and-out" rule the BMU has for all events. The first comedian, Rich Brown, had the shortest act. He was on stage for about 20 minutes. His jokes were standard for the 18-to-25 demographic. He talked about masturbation, excessive drinking and pot.

After the long wait and sitting through two other comedians, the crowd remaining to watch Lee had thinned out to about half full.

Lee bounded on stage wearing a Franz Ferdinand T-shirt with jeans and wildly spiked black hair.

His performance was much more animated than the other two performers. He moved back and forth on stage, lifting his shirt to expose his gut to the crowd. He got the crowd going by making jokes about himself. He joked about how short he was, he referred to cowboys in Texas coming up to him saying, "Look honey, it's a Pokemon."

Race was a big topic for Lee. He is Korean American and he told stories of photo shoots he's done for MADtv where the photographer asked for more expression in his eyes. "I'm Korean!" he shouted. "There is no expression; they just open and close." The crowd loved it.

Lee has no problem making an ass of himself for a laugh. He continued to show off his jiggle-belly and make strange, loud electronic sounding noises in the microphone when he was transitioning from one joke to another. The easy-to-please audience was there to laugh and kept it up despite the delays.

When Lee found a couple of women in the audience celebrating a birthday, he proceeded to perform a strip show for the ladies, which was the crescendo of his performance. Bumping and grinding on stage to the audience's delight wrapped up an uneven night of comedy.

Coreen Larson can be reached at

clarson@orion-online.net


MADtv's Bobby Lee uses his body as a comedic prop, stripping for a birthday girl during his headlining stint at the Bell Memorial Union Auditorium on Tuesday night. Comedians Jimmy Dore and Rick Brown also performed.



http://www.orion-online.net/vnews/di.../416343d3dc838

[Pizzotty]

In the words of Ms. Leona Campbell, "Oh my goodness."

[Dartanian]

Recurring Characters:
Haideke (Average Asian), Johnny Woo, Bae Sung

Celebrity Impressions:
Jackie Chan, Connie Chung, Pat Morita, Bobby Trendy, Kim Jong-Il, Soon-Yi Previn, SuChin Pak, Donnie D., A.J. Maclean, Michelle Kwan, Beni Hana, Satan, Vern Yip, Jai Rodriguez, Keiko Agena, William Hung, Vili Fualaau

[MysterE]

MADtv Webcast with Bobby Lee! (10.05.04)

[MysterE]

Korean King of Comedy: Bobby Lee

by APA A/V Team

APA catches Bobby Lee in a candid, spur-of-the-moment interview, before he took the stage for a comedy show at UCLA. See clips of his act in our A/V streaming video.

Interviewed by Carl Wakamoto

Article by Ada Tseng



Growing up in San Diego, Bobby Lee knew early on that his calling would be in comedy. "It was kind of hard growing up," he says, "because I’m small and weak. And that’s always been my body, so it’s always hard to survive when you’re like that." Apparently, tackling stand-up was his way of rising like a phoenix from the ashes of small-bodied dejection, and rise he did. After a stint at La Jolla's Comedy Store, the one and only Pauly Shore took him under his wing, made Lee his opening act in Vegas baby Vegas, and convinced him to pack up for Los Angeles.

Exposure on Late Friday, Premium Blend and The Tonight Show led him to his current gig on Mad TV, where he's become known for his unique antics and memorable characters, such as Connie Chung and of course, Kim Jong-Il.

"I like playing him because it's like my dad. I don't know what Kim Jong-Il sounds like, so I just do my dad and it works out. I like it because it's an impression that's kind of odd. It's not your standard impression. You'd think that an Asian guy would play Jackie Chan or something, but I don't like playing him. I like playing people that are kind of weirder."

In addition to impersonating those hilarious North Korean leaders, Bobby Lee also specializes in oddball characteers like the interpreter Bae Song: "It's an original character that I play, and basically he's not from any ethnic land. He's from a different planet, but people don't know that."

While many Asian-Americans point out the unfortunate struggles that come in this industry, not Bobby Lee. Apparently comedy is comedy, what's funny is funny, and overanalyzing why there aren't more Asian comedians is just not his style.

"I don’t think it’s Hollywood's fault. I think it’s the people’s choice. Like me, I didn’t go to college, and I just decided to do this at an early age and made it my life commitment. And I’m sure if more people wanted to do it, I’m sure they could work and survive. It’s just a choice I made, really."

"I happen to be Asian, and people watch me, and if they happen to be Asian, then cool," says Lee. "But I mean, I never did comedy for a cause. I just did it because I didn’t know what else to do with my life."

As for any desire to visit Korea, Lee kind of shrugs. "I’ve never been there. And I don’t think anything I’ve ever been in is aired there. So I don’t think they would know me."

"I went to Tokyo three years ago. It was a job though," he recalls. "I did an ad campaign for IBM, so they flew me out there to take pictures of me. It was IBM Global. It went to Australia, France, London, all over the world." "But I think the ad campaign was a failure," he jokes. "Because of me."

Well, those ineffectual but travel-friendly ad campaigns were in the past and Lee now gets the chance to channel his manic energy into entertainment, most recently making us laugh as the painfully awkward Kenneth Park in Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. Well, what can we say: Lee's self-insisted, so-called aimlessness which allegedly led him to this particular life committment to comedy -- "I just decided to do it out of boredom" -- may, like his tendency for casual self-deprecation, be an act, but it is this special impishness that becomes the elusive-but-loyal Mad TV audience's distinct gain. Anything for a laugh. Bobby Lee, everyone.



10th Season of Mad TV. Saturday 11/10 Central. FOX. www.madtv.com.



Date Posted: 2/3/2005

http://www.asiaarts.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=20262

See clips of his act in our A/V streaming video.

I couldn't find the clips. Can someone else find them?

[elscorcho]

6 QUESTIONS WITH BOBBY LEE

1.What's the one thing that makes you laugh without fail?
Stephnie Weir.

2.Who is the one person you consider a genius?
Stephnie Weir.

3.What type of career do you secretly desire but would never pursue?
Ninja.

4.Who do you wish you looked more like?
Stephnie Weir.

5.What pisses you off the most?
Seeing a zit inside my nose (a Hermitzit).

6. What's your favorite bad movie?
Mr. Destiny.



Now it's SIX questions??

[crushonmary]

[I_Love_Nicole_P]

Here's the million dollar question... Why is he always dressed like a woman?

[crushonmary]

Originally posted by I_Love_Nicole_P
Here's the million dollar question... Why is he always dressed like a woman?

good question...

[Princess PeachC]

Originally posted by I_Love_Nicole_P
Here's the million dollar question... Why is he always dressed like a woman?

Well, he dresses like a woman on the show, but I highly doubt in real life. Most actors will do things they don't normally do, just for the money.

[BocajApache]

CAN ANYBODY PLEASE EMAIL ME THE EPISODE OF TANK OUTSIDE THE CLUB? OR IF YOU KNOW WHERE I CAN SAVE IT TO MY COMPUTER!! I LOVE THAT EPISODE! IT'S HILARIOUS!!! HELP ME OUT PLEEEAAAASSEEE!!

THANKS



bocajapache@hotmail.com