Jo Koy’s ‘Lights Out’

Remember those parents who had wallet pictures of their kids that fell out in like droves of twelve—you know back when actual pictures were a thing—and somehow they all managed to be a different airbrushed photo of how adorable their child is? And then you thought to yourself, ‘there is no way their kid is that perfect,’ but you never found out because the thought of meeting a kid that was born to those type of people was physically sickening? Jo Koy is proud of his son. But he shows it – how should we say – in an alternative way. Rather than showing off his cute kid’s smile he would rather talk about the way his son plays his penis like a guitar, or as he has dubbed it, his “ting ting.”

Koy got his big break back in ‘05 on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Since then he has toured the nation appearing at a multitude of comedy clubs and college campuses as well as becoming a regular guest on Chelsea Lately and releasing his first stand-up special with Comedy Central in 2009 called Don’t Make Him Angry. His second special entitled Lights Out premiered Sunday on Comedy Central and is now available for sale on iTunes and ComedyCentral.Com.

Far from being the perfect parent Koy does give one piece of advice to the audience. That is to keep the camera rolling. His own personal philosophy is not so much to capture the tender warmhearted moments of childhood innocence, but to stockpile ammunition. “Get everything on tape. Use it against them!”

Rendered with equal measure is Koy’s fond memories of his mother. Being Filipino she took to some unorthodox practices that, as Koy says, “may not be socially acceptable in America.” Regardless, Koy praises her for her persistent work ethic as a single mother playing roles as both mother and father. And while he portrays her as a sweet and loving woman he also points out that the woman had no problem defending her son by verbally assaulting a shoe store sales clerk, her argument culminating in the epiphany, “I live in your country and I speak two languages, English and Tegala. How many do you speak? One. You are stupid.”

Lights Out is a combination of long personal narratives of a man caught between being a father and a son to some strange characters. Whether it’s his mom calling him up, concerned about “ruppies” or Koy passing on insight that he has gained from having a kid—“some parents need to pull out” – Jo’s life is ultimately on stage here. The stories are dysfunctional, loving and just plain weird sometimes. It’s easy to see from his family why Jo grew up to be a comedian.

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