Ken Choy

Ken Choy is an American writer of Chinese-Hawaiian descent. He also is a performance artist and actor and owns and operates a shopping business in Southern California.

Choy received a Jerome Fellowship from the Playwright's Center in Minnesota in 1992. Upon arriving in the Twin Cities, Choy immediately involved himself in the Asian American Renaissance, an Asian American arts organization. He taught classes and hosted AARGH, the Asian American Cabaret with poet and performance artist David Mura.

In 1993, Choy along with Juliana Pegues staged a protest at the Minnesota Opera performance of Madama Butterfly. Choy and Pegues protested inside the theater during the performance and were arrested for disorderly conduct. Although Choy was dressed in women's clothing, erroneous press accounts stated that he was naked. The two were ordered to pay a $25 fine. [Michael Anothony Minneapolis Star Tribune "2 Face Charges in Opera Disruption."] [http://www.geocities.com/kenmikec/Banned.html]

Choy founded and was co-chair of PAVE (Pan Asian Voices for Equality) and the Miss Saigon Protest Committee with Rita Nakashima Brock. [http://books.google.com/books?id=WhTm0uQvmnUC&pg=PA205&dq=ken+choy+performance+artist&sig=ACfU3U2mX2QP0IadVWDN0KGdS9PmRhlhEA]

In 1992, Choy toured his one man show "Buzz Off Butterfly" around the country. He also directed and organized the large scale Asian American performance presentation at the Walker Art Center, "Miss Appropriated." He is discussed in Dorinne Kondo's "About Face," [About Face: Performing Race in Fashion and Theater - Page 238] and Linda Frye Burnham's "High Performance" [http://books.google.com/books?id=wehUAAAAMAAJ&dq=ken+choy+burnham+linda] as well as David A Schlossman's "Actors and Activists." [Actors and Activists: Page 238] [http://books.google.com/books?id=WhTm0uQvmnUC&pg=PT220&lpg=PT220&dq=ken+choy+schlossman&source=web&ots=tjguN4s3-2&sig=MSxnKgufeIUIvFiGZpNu6i8kvi8&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result]

Choy was the subject of a two-part series on KCBS-TV Los Angeles that featured his book, "Make Money Shopping," his web site, [www.makemoneyshopping.org] , and his shopping and mystery shopping business. [http://cbs2.com/video/?id=[e-mail]] [http://cbs2.com/video/?id=[e-mail]] [http://www.youtube.com/user/krunch5000]

Choy is the author of the novel "My Loveable Combustible Asian American Nuclear Family."

His screenplay "Lazy Susan" won first place in the Boulder Asian Film Festival in 2005. [http://www.coloradotheatreguild.org/default.asp]

Notable Theater Works

* Sticky Substances
* Buzz off Butterfly
* Miss Appropriated

References