All-Female Asian Comedy Showcase

The XX Factor, an all-female comedy showcase, will feature an all-Asian lineup on Wednesday, Sept. 19, at 10:30 p.m. at Upright Citizens Brigade Sunet, 5419 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles.

Jenny Yang and Helen Hong

Co-produced by Crazy Asians (Kay Kaanapu, Dione Kuraoka and Kaitlyn Tanimoto), the show features Helen Hong, Jenny Yang, Katie Malia, KPop and Keiko Agena.

Kay Kaanapu is a writer and improviser who has trained at UCB-LA since 2013. She writes and performs in UCB’s all-Asian showcases, Asian AF and ScarJo Presents. She’s also a member of the all-female team Number One Son, the all-Asian team Killowatt and the Nerdist House team Cousins. Her work has placed in contests like Final Draft Big Break and Scriptapalooza. And in 2016, she wrote for the CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy Showcase.

Dione Kuraoka is a recent graduate from CCM (University of Cincinnati). She has performed in the 2016 CBS Diversity Showcase and on stage with Duchess Riot. She is super excited to be apart of the UCB family and is thrilled to be surrounded by hilarious people. Want to know more? Go to www.dionekuraoka.com

Kaitlyn Tanimoto is an actor on the Maude Team The New Deal. Hailing from Orange County, she was recently a performer/writer for the 2016 CBS Diversity Showcase. She has a B.A. in political science from UC San Diego, which comes in handy, rarely to never. Before pursuing comedy, she lived in Japan for two years teaching English through the JET Program. She loves crafting and reading about WWII.

Helen Hong is a comedian, actor, host, and chronically single. She has performed standup comedy on “Last Call with Carson Daly,” “The Arsenio Hall Show,” “Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen,” “Wanda Sykes Presents Herlarious,” “Standup in Stilettos,” “Gotham Comedy Live” and the Showtime documentary “Why We Laugh: Funny Women.” She played Janet Fung in the Coen Brothers’ film “Inside Llewyn Davis” and her voice can be heard as Thistle Lady in 20th Century Fox Animation’s “Epic.” Her TV appearances include roles on “Parks and Recreation,” “Bones,” “Pretty Little Liars,” “New Girl,” “The Crazy Ones” and “Inside Amy Schumer.” She channels her own mother as recurring character Mrs. Wong on Nickelodeon’s “The Thundermans.”

Jenny Yang is a standup comedian who has created digital videos at JennyYang.TV and with Buzzfeed, Comedy Central, Fusion, Funny or Die and Cracked.com. Her viral social media commentary has been covered by media outlets including The New York Times, Variety, NBC News, L.A. Times, Perez Hilton, National Public Radio, BBC News, Vice News, Mic.com, Complex magazine, Refinery29, Buzzfeed News and Upworthy. She performs at the UCB-LA and tours colleges and universities throughout the U.S. She has appeared on popular podcasts such as “Lady to Lady,” “Lovett or Leave It,” “Put Your Hands Together,” “Yo! Is this racist?” and “Unhappy Hour with Matt Bellassai.” She is the director of the Disoriented Comedy tour and The Comedy Comedy Festival: A Comedy Festival.

Katie Malia is an “ethnically ambiguous” performer and writer in Los Angeles. She is the creator of the short-form scripted comedy series “Almost Asian” recently featured on Public Radio International’s “The World,” The Washington Post, Fast Company, and The Huffington Post. “Almost Asian” is also an official selection to 13 film festivals including the 2017 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, 2017 Cleveland International Film Festival and 2016 Raindance Film Festival, where she was nominated for outstanding writing. She is an alumna of the 2016 CBS Diversity Comedy Showcase. As an actress, she has been in hundreds of national commercials, and selected TV credits include “The Mindy Project” and “Hawaii Five-0.” She is also a successful dancer and choreographer whose resume is a long list of TV shows, iconic commercials and films.

Keiko Agena is best known for the TV show “Gilmore Girls,” where she played Lane Kim for seven seasons. As a guest star she has appeared on such shows as “Bajillion Dollar Propertie$,” “Shameless,” “Scandal” and “Twisted.” Recently she has been recurring on “Sweet/Vicious,” “Colony” and the new Netflix release “13 Reasons Why.” She is the co-host of the UCB show Asian AF, which has a monthly spot at Sunset. Agena has just released an “artist workbook” titled “No Mistakes” (Tarcher/Perigree, a division of Penguin/Random House). She is a graduate of the UCB and iO West improv programs, has studied at the Groundlings and currently performs with the improv teams Ham Radio, RJP, Totally Heather and the UCB-Mess-Hall-mash-up-team Kilowatt. In 2016 she one of the people chosen for the cover of Entertainment Weekly to advertise the “Gilmore Girls” reunion miniseries.

The XX Factor is a badass monthly show featuring sketches written and performed by the best UCB performers who also happen to carry the XX chromosomes: women. Guys are welcome to watch unless you’re a weirdo creep.

Tickets are $7 plus $1.50 transaction fee. To order online, go to: https://sunset.ucbtheatre.com/performance/64708