His promotional poster said it all. Eliot Chang is “not your ordinary Asian guy.”

In an event sponsored by APSA (Asian Pacific Islander Student Association), stand-up comedian Eliot Chang of Comedy Central performed at Quinnipiac University on September 14. The goal was to promote diversity at Quinnipiac, where the Asian population can often be underrepresented. Approximately 300 students attended, making it a successful event for APSA.

Eliot Chang started his routine with mundane jokes to try and figure out what type of audience he was performing for. He stated a few times that we were selective about what we found funny, and always eager to hear the next joke.

Surprisingly, he was quick to open up. He made jokes about significant events in his life including his experience living in Harlem and his journey from medical school to Wall Street to the stage to be a stand-up comic. He also made jokes about politics, race and homosexuality. As the night went on, his jokes garnered more and more laughter from the audience but he knew that he needed to go further.

And so he did. He told the first sex joke of the night and it was enough to make guys and girls double over from laughter. He had finally figured out what Quinnipiac students find funny. This motivated him to keep making jokes about sex and reveal what his favorite part of the female body is. Overall, his sex jokes were relatively tame compared to other comedians’. He admitted that the reason he held off on the sex jokes was because he thought it would be inappropriate in New England.

He followed his act with a diversity workshop, informing students about the way Asians are portrayed in the media through negative stereotypes. He paid special attention to Asian women noting that they are a double minority – women and Asian – and explained that they must work much harder than most people in order to earn respect. He concluded his act with a Q&A session.

Eliot Chang was worth seeing. He made sure to make his routine both entertaining and educational. His jokes were funny but more importantly, they were fresh and original. His workshop was insightful and offered a wonderful counterbalance to his wild comedy performance. He certainly reached his goal and it seems like APSA reached theirs.