Self-titled as an “all American immigrant,” Joe Wong came a long way from a rosy-eyed new immigrant to a blossoming comedian. His jokes range from ethnic, personal, political, observational to bizarre. It’s not always easy to categorize his humor, but it is always inspired.

In China, Joe enjoyed watching traditional Chinese standup comedy and sketches. He wrote and starred in two comedy sketches that won accolades from audiences. Continually fascinated by the vibrant American culture, he tried to learn about it through rock music from static-laden radio stations and a limited amount of books and movies.

Joe finally made the leap to the United States in 1994 and ended up at Rice University in Texas. In 1996, Joe honed his writing skills by becoming a columnist for the campus newspaper The Thresher. He was thrilled to find out how much people enjoyed his humor.

Moving to Boston in late 2001 to take advantage of the well-established comedy scene, Joe enrolled in standup, acting and improvisational comedy classes. He quickly became a Boston favorite among comedians and audience members alike. Joe has won the Lizard Lounge weekly comedy contest six times, thus standing out in the comedy club in Cambridge, Massachusetts noted for its smart comedians.

In 2003, Joe wrote and produced the short film, "Joe Huang For President," which won Best Short Film at the 2003 Cambridge Fringe Fest beating out nationwide competition. After the Fringe Fest, he appeared on the local television show Chowdah (Comcast).

Cheered on by his fellow comedians, Joe was a finalist in the 2003 Boston International Comedy Festival, thus making his way to the top eight of some 300 contestants from all over North America. During the competition, scouts from NBC and CBS, as well as reporters from local newspapers took notice. One of his jokes was quoted in the Boston Herald.

In the 2005 Boston Comedy Festival, Joe participated in the David Letterman Showcase show where his performance won rave reviews from the press. Later that year, he was interviewed by WBUR the public radio station who also broadcast part of his live performance.

In 2006 and 2007, Joe performed and headlined in numerous high profile shows such as the Autism Speaks Show, the ACDC Benefit Show and the Ticket to Asia Show. He was featured and interviewed in three newspapers, two magazines and the NECN and ABC TV stations.

Currently, Joe Wong performs regularly in major comedy clubs and colleges throughout the country, as well as benefits and corporate events. His volume of comedy material, his originality, and his "cut-from-a-different-kind-of-mold" character create a persona that audiences can't help but love.

今年39歲的黃西有著典型的中國留學生經(jīng)歷。主修化學、畢業(yè)于吉林大學的他，1994年赴美攻讀博士學位，畢業(yè)后順利找到了一份工作，接著結(jié)婚生子，留在了美國。

1999年，黃西取得得州萊斯大學生化博士學位，2000年開始到馬薩諸塞州一家制藥公司上班。白天，他在實驗室做研究，到了晚上他搖身一變成為搞笑藝人，穿梭在新英格蘭地區(qū)的酒吧、夜總會、俱樂部和大學禮堂，表演他的單口相聲，波士頓是他起家的地方。

還在吉林大學讀本科時，黃西就喜歡寫笑話和講笑話，平時經(jīng)?？疵绹蹲x者文摘》中的笑話集錦。在得州念書時，為排遣學習生活的枯燥，黃西除了繼續(xù)看《讀者文摘》外，開始大量閱讀笑話書，馬克·吐溫和著名導演伍迪·艾倫的作品對他的啟發(fā)很大，讓他了解了更多的美式幽默與美式笑話。

在制藥公司工作后，黃西曾利用業(yè)余時間就讀過當?shù)氐囊粋€“笑話寫作成人教育班”，但他自稱并“沒有真正學到東西”。惟一的收獲是通過這個渠道接觸到了波士頓的一些喜劇團，并開始了自己的表演活動。

黃西首次登臺是在2002年，但相當不容易，“因為人家不愿意提供機會”。不甘放棄的他努力地進行笑話創(chuàng)作，有時寫了100個笑話段子，只有一個是好笑的。他的第一個聽眾是做會計師的太太。功夫不負有心人，2003年，黃西打入了波士頓國際喜劇節(jié)決賽。

2005年，專門為《大衛(wèi)·萊特曼秀》物色人才的節(jié)目制作人布瑞爾在波士頓看了黃西的表演，認為他很有潛力，并著手培養(yǎng)他。經(jīng)過3年的觀察，當布瑞爾去年在波士頓再度觀看黃西的表演后，感到他為萊特曼秀試鏡的時機已經(jīng)成熟。布瑞爾深信，這個中國人一定能夠大紅大紫。

布瑞爾把黃西寫的幾則笑話進行次序上的整理，使其更有節(jié)奏感，同時還指導了他一些講笑話時的技巧。4月17日，黃西在《大衛(wèi)·萊特曼秀》的演出結(jié)束后，主持人萊特曼拉著黃西的手說：“你是個天才。”他還罕見地拉著笑得合不攏嘴的黃西一起謝幕。

作為獨具慧眼的伯樂，布瑞爾認為黃西的表演是自己近幾年來所發(fā)掘到的“最清新、最成功的演出”。黃西在制藥公司實驗室的同事聞訊后都大吃一驚，紛紛跑來道賀，祝他將來名利雙收。

一炮而紅的黃西將于近日在紐約參加“喜劇中心”頻道的試鏡。這將是第一位華人應(yīng)邀在這個全美最熱門的喜劇頻道上演出。對此，黃西異常興奮，但他還是冷靜地表示，“目前這只是副業(yè)，一直到我能確定走這條路的收入充足穩(wěn)定之前，還是要努力上班”。

黃西說，如果講笑話能維持生計的話，他會考慮改行，因為“學術(shù)界不缺我這個中國人”。更重要的是，黃西已對講美式笑話這份職業(yè)，產(chǎn)生了一份使命感。