Jesus Trejo: How does an Angeleno with deep American roots... Woman: This is my great-grandfather, my great-grandmother, and this is where my grandfather's name is.

Wow.

Jesus, voice-over: use her family's generational stories... Woman: I descend from a long line of strong Asian women who do not tolerate...lactose.

Jesus, voice-over: to debunk stereotypes onstage?

Woman: I never doubted that Asians could be funny because have you met, like, all of my family?

Man: I'm Jesus Trejo, and I do standup comedy, and for me, the stories behind the laughs are way better than the jokes themselves, so I'm hitting the road to understand the roots that bind all comedians together.

[Cheering and applause] [Cheering and applause] I used to be addicted to cupcakes.

I used to eat one every day except Sundays because diabetes.

You got to be careful.

The older I get, I feel like my palate became a lot more refined.

I'm into muffins now.

[Laughter] I feel like muffins are just mature cupcakes.

Right?

Like a cupcake woke up one day, went to the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and said, "You know what?

These sprinkles"... [Laughter] "this frosting.

You're delicious."

Like, yeah, you are.

"Yeah, you are."

Words of affirmation right there.

Jesus, voice-over: For many comics, identity is the currency we trade in, and like a cupcake or muffin, removing the layers can reveal the riches within.

To some people, I'm a standup comic from Los Angeles, which, if you have that and a few bucks, can get you a cupcake or a muffin or one of those fancy doughnuts, but one layer down, I'm an only child of Mexican immigrants from Long Beach, and mining those life experiences pays my way every day I take the stage, and for comedian Sierra Katow, her rich, multifaceted American story provides a wealth of material.

[Cheering and applause] I can't take credit for looking young.

Like, I think it's just-- it's part of the whole Asian don't raisin package that I subscribe to through my ancestors.

I don't know.

And that's, like, a weird-- that's a weird saying.

It's similar to, like, Black don't crack or Brown don't frown.

I'm sure there are other ethnicities that have other weirdly racist rhymes.

I don't know why we keep saying them, right?

Like, it's just a lot of words.

It's a lot of words just to say, uh, white people don't age so well, you know what I mean?

[Laughter] Man: Sierra Katow.

Katow.

Sierra: Like avocado.

Is that how you explain it to white people?

Oh, yeah!

Jesus: She's not just a hilarious comic.

she's also a multihyphenate, as she's an accomplished writer, podcaster, and actor who stars in Max's "Sex Lives of College Girls."

Thought your stuff was funny, so I pushed for you.

Jesus: And she's also a fourth-generation Chinese and Japanese American.

"Crazy Rich Asians" came out.

Remember that?

Hey.

I wasn't in it.

Don't be racist.

Jesus: So after months of being on the road and meeting comedians from around the country, I finally get to talk to a comic in my hometown.

We're back home.

Sierra has two worlds to pull from.

Having a dual identity is really cool.

You have both her Japanese and Chinese side.

Her family has thrived in Los Angeles since the 19th century, and Sierra honors her stories through comedy and her activism.

And it's really cool to see Sierra onstage, like, kind of challenge people's stereotypes.

I got a really good deal for a couch off of Craigslist, right?

I like a little danger, huh?

Sometimes, you can ask the seller to, like, deliver it for you, right?

So not only did I get this couch for, like, a decent price.

I also got a stranger to know where I live, and now--and now I'm too weak to carry a couch, let alone defend myself, right?

Jesus: She's never been just one thing, but all those layers are what makes Sierra the comic she is today.

[Cheering and applause] Jesus: So it's great to see you.

Sierra: Oh, yeah.

Thanks for coming out to Koreatown.

Jesus: We've been on lineups together, but it's one of those things that's, you know, it's, like, we're always in a hustle to, like, -get to the next spot.

-Sure.

I feel like anytime you're on a lineup, I'm like, "Ooh, this is a good show.

-This is"-- -Oh, you're too sweet.

"I'm in the big leagues now."

I'm a fan of your work and just your story and, you know, you doing comedy since you were 16 years old.

That's pretty cool.

I just got my driver's license recently.

[Cheering and applause] Yeah, because I'm 16, and I decided to take advantage of that.

Jesus: I can tell you I was organizing my Pokémon cards by alphabetical order at that time.

Sierra: Hey.

I mean, that could have actually made you probably more money than I made in comedy, so...

I didn't grow up in Koreatown, but I spend a lot of time here, a lot of friends are here and great food obviously.

-Yeah.

My favorite.

-Yeah.

At some point, I was looking for a place to start a show, and it's, like, a really central spot in L.A., and then my friend introduced me to LAces, and... -Perfect.

-so we do it about once a month.

They kind of let us shut down the whole ground floor and do our show.

It's just kind of like the home base right now.

Hell, yeah.

Jesus, voice-over: Having a home base where you can share your story with an audience every month is so important for comedy, so Sierra is taking us to LAces in Koreatown to tell us more about how she got here.

Jesus: Where did you get bit by the bug of "I want to be onstage, I want to tell jokes"?

Sierra: I think I Googled open mics, and I went to Flappers.

I think that was my first one -because they let you go in.

-Oh, nice.

Because they're also a restaurant, you didn't have to be 21, so loophole for the teens.

Who here has ever farted loudly in public?

Show of hands, yes.

I'm definitely a part of that group.

-I think I had a fart joke.

-Nice.

-You know, those always do well.

-They kill.

I might still have one today.

Who knows?

They kill.

And I'm sitting there thinking, "Oh, my gosh.

"Why couldn't I just let it out "in smaller, harmless increments "while I still had it under control?

Now, if I give it an inch, it'll take a mile."

[Laughter] I was a nerd, so I think I did a lot of speaking growing up.

I didn't do theater or anything, but I did a lot of "Hey, I'm running for student class president."

Oh, really?

OK.

I was president a couple of times.

I would give speeches, and I think I learned people like the jokes, and so then when I learned about standup, you could do the jokes without the responsibility after, big fan of that.

I did well in high school.

I was, uh, valedictorian, uh, class president, star athlete, not to brag.

[Laughter] You know, those are just some of the perks of being homeschooled, so...

I knew I was funny, I knew I had things to say.

I was doing standup in college.

I've actually been into, like, a lot of fun facts.

I read one the other day actually that said something about, like, "It takes 3 sheep to knit 1 sweater."

To make one sweater.

I was like, "Whoa!

3 sheep?

I didn't even know they could knit in the first place."

[Laughter] Sierra, voice-over: And there was this humor magazine organization that was called "The Harvard Lampoon," and a lot of comedy writers have come out of that.

I was actually an illustrator, initially and then writer.

I'm also just making a lot of friends.

I'm curious to hear what that was like because, like, "I'm at Harvard."

That's hard to get into, and now it's like, "I'm also telling jokes at Harvard."

Sierra: Ugh.

Yeah.

I was on the computer science side, but I felt a little trapped in that stereotype, so it felt like the perfect way to break out.

It was like, "Oh, you're just immediately making people laugh, you connect on a level."

Of course, when people make me laugh, I immediately would feel like I get them -and they get me, you know?

-Yeah, right.

I actually studied computer science.

Man: Whoo!

Thank you.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to be another Asian computer scientist, right?

[Laughter] That internalized racism cost me millions of dollars, you know?

[Laughter] Jesus: So where do you think you get your comedy from, your sense of humor?

Yeah, I got to--yeah.

I'd probably credit my family.

My parents are both funny.

I think the way that my mom talked about funny people was always in high regard.

That means they're smart, it means, like, that you can connect with them, things that make me want to be funnier.

It's really cool.

Jesus, voice-over: The original home base is the place we grew up, and Sierra's family home in Northeast L.A. is where she first launched with a little help from her folks.

Dad: I remember we dropped her off a couple of times, right?

I just thought, "Someone's got a lot of rocks," you know?

Mom: I remember it's open mic, and there are other comics, and there was one woman that her jokes were so dirty.

-I didn't even understand them.

-Just one woman?

Just one comedian?

I'm like, "Oh, my God.

Sierra's listening to this."

-Oh, I know.

-"She's learning it.

Oh, gosh."

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

-Oh, well.

Jesus, voice-over: Sierra's parents offered the kind of family support most comics only dream about, which starts with just paying attention.

At what point did you know-- it was, like, "Oh, she's funny"?

Well, she was always entertaining.

She would draw these comics, like the monkey who was really good at math.

Jesus: Oh, nice.

Mom: And then started doing it, remember, -for the college newspaper?

-Mm-hmm.

I think I had to turn one in once a week, and I would always, like, leave it to the last minute, and it was like, "Oh, what's happening and topical?"

And then I'd take a picture of it and send it in.

So from a very young age, it sounds like Sierra's very artsy.

-Yes, yes.

-And where did that come from?

So my father was an artist... a watercolorist, and then on the side, he did cartoons for magazines as a hobby.

Sierra: Speaking of cartoons, it's on that pillow.

Oh, yeah.

I just happen to have.

Dad: Here's the... Jesus: Oh, no way.

Is that the cartoon?

Sierra: These are my grandpa's.

-Yeah, these are her dad's.

-Oh, grandpa?

-The grandpa.

-That is so good.

Mom: This was the first one he sold to "The New Yorker," which was, like, a really prestigious... Jesus: Wow!

Look at that.

Mom: feat for him.

he was so happy.

That's so funny.

Hats off to the both of you for being so supportive from the drawing, the cartoon, all the way to standup comedy right now because it's, like--it's that support that is why her star continues to rise.

Jesus, voice-over: Sierra's identity is obviously inspired by so many different places, and her roots run so deep in L.A. that her mom's Chinese American side of the family is featured in many of the displays in the Chinese American Museum downtown.

-After you.

-Thank you.

Thank you.

Jesus: Wow.

Look at this place.

Sierra: Yeah.

Jesus: Wow.

This is my great-grandfather, my great-grandmother.

They are the ones who immigrated to the U.S. -in, I think, 1899.

-1899.

Wow.

My great-grandfather was a successful herbalist.

I feel like the joke is that "Oh, Asian parents always want their kids to be doctors" or whatever, but my great-grandfather covered it for the family, so... -Covered it.

Ha ha ha!

-Ha ha!

I did a show recently for the UCLA medical school.

I was a little bit jealous because, like, they're gonna be doctors soon, right?

Like, they've made it, and they sort of turned it on me.

They're like, "Well, Sierra, when will you know you've made it as a comedian?

Nah nah."

Like, well, I don't really know how to, like, explain this to them, right?

It's, like, you know, comedy is-- it's not as simple as medicine, OK?

This is my grandfather, my mom's dad.

Oh, really?

Jesus, voice-over: Seeing all the laughing faces in this photo, it's clear that the joy that laughter brings is in Sierra's DNA, and that guy doing the bunny ears is her grandfather, who did the "New Yorker" comics.

My grandpa, as you can see, is giving bunny ears to his sister.

It's a classic, signature move of his, you know?

-Yeah.

-Put up those fingers.

Jesus: Ha ha ha!

Just looking at this picture, I mean, you can see the sense of humor, the big smiles.

Sierra: Sense of humor, I mean, it was a great way for them to connect with everyone even if they weren't Chinese.

My grandparents, they were born here in the U.S., they were born in California, but, you know, there's sort of that stereotype of Asian Americans being these perpetual foreigners.

We're always non-American, we're always new to the country, so my grandpa, if people asked him, "Oh, do you speak English?"

He would say, "Indeed I do and a smattering of Cantonese."

Like, he would kind of lean into it and kind of, like, make them laugh.

"OK, OK, we get it.

You speak English," you know?

Jesus: Yeah, it's this idea that family really is where we have our first education.

Sierra: Yeah.

They were just always trying to make us laugh, saying ridiculous things, teasing us, so to keep up was like, "Oh, how do I come up with something funny to say?"

We talk a lot about, oh, you know, "What other comedians did you relate to or other Asian American comedians?"

Sure, there weren't a ton, but I was lucky I had my family.

I never doubted that Asians could be funny or loud or boisterous or whatever because I was like, "Oh.

Well, have you met, like, all of my family?"

Yeah.

Ha ha!

Sierra: I descend from a long line of strong Asian women who do not tolerate...lactose.

Jesus, voice-over: It's already incredible to be able to see one side of your family's history in a museum, but just 10 blocks away from the Chinese American Museum is a full-blown monument that shows how deep Sierra's Japanese American roots are in the U.S., as well.

So my ji-chan, my dad's father, his name is on here, so I'm gonna go find it.

Jesus: Let's go find it.

Sierra: Yeah.

Jesus, voice-over: Another facet of Sierra's multihyphenate career is her activism, as her grandfather's life has inspired her to make sure the real Japanese American story in this country isn't forgotten.

Sierra: Recently, I've been working with the nonprofit Go For Broke National Education Center.

-It's over here.

-OK. Kind of around this side.

Sierra, voice-over: During World War II, a lot of Japanese Americans actually served in the U.S. military and the U.S. side of course because they were American.

There should be a Military Intelligence Service.

Sierra, voice-over: And apparently my grandfather did this.

He was in the intelligence.

So this is where my grandfather's name is, my ji-chan's name-- Takeyuki Katow.

Jesus: Oh, there it is.

Sierra: Yeah.

Dad: My dad graduated from college, I think, in 1940, and soon after that, in 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and the declaration of war, and they took all the Japanese American families, and they shipped them off to the, um, concentration camps, or the, uh, internment camps they called them.

So the family went to a large camp that was in Arizona, Poston.

They were there a couple of years.

Sierra: My grandfather fought in the War to prove that, "Hello, you know, I will still fight "for my country even when my own country is mistreating "and taking the homes from and putting my own family in horse stalls to sleep for the night."

♪ Jesus, voice-over: When people talk about the fabric of our country, it's Americans like Sierra's grandfather that they're talking about, even if a lot of them have never heard this story before.

Jesus: This side of history isn't really showcased in our schooling here in California or in the States at large.

It's like so many things that are left out in our textbooks.

Sierra: Yeah.

I always found it really inspiring, these Americans who were wronged by their country, even though their families and they themselves were incarcerated wrongfully, they still enlisted and fought for the U.S. Army.

World War II veterans who showed that they were American and deserved to be treated like other Americans.

That's kind of why I do standup comedy, to relate, to, like, kind of bring people in and be like, "Hey.

We're just like you," you know?

-Yeah.

-It's the same fight, you know?

I'm certainly not going to war.

I started comedy at 16, and people were like, "Oh, that's so brave," but it's like some of these guys were 16 when they enlisted, but it is a thing of echoing that mission, that we belong here, and I think it's kind of nice to know that you had people fighting for the same thing long ago.

Jesus: Can you speak a little bit to your background of being a Japanese American?

How do you embrace that part of your identity, like, in the everyday but also, like, in comedy?

Yeah, I think it's interesting being Japanese American.

Like, I don't really speak Japanese, and my grandparents deliberately did not teach their kids Japanese, and they deliberately did not name their kids Japanese first names because there was a lot of that, "Hey, listen, we got put in camps because we were Japanese."

Jesus: When I first started, I definitely talked about my identity a lot.

I'm just trying to get laughs, and so I'm definitely guilty of doing more stereotypical jokes, low-hanging fruits that I would go after.

Like, you go to a grocery store and you see a Mexican family, you don't know if it's a kindergarten class on a field trip or a family.

[Laughter] Jesus, voice-over:, You know, in retrospect, it's like, eh, certain jokes that I did early on, it was like, "Oh, man, I wish I hadn't, like, gone in that direction."

Sierra: Me, too.

I used to have a few where, you know, I would explain, "Oh, you know, I don't speak either language."

It's strange, when I go to, like, a Chinese restaurant, right?

You know, they see this eager face.

They come up to me speaking in their tongues, right, and I have to--yeah-- and I have to be like, "Sorry."

You know, "No hablo chingles.

Sorry."

[Laughter] Sierra, voice-over: I think it was funny, but also, by distancing myself from being Asian, I didn't want to come off as, you know, "Internalized racism, she's self-hating, she doesn't want to be like us."

-Right.

-Like, that's also not what I'm trying to go for.

Like, I think they judge me, though.

Like, they think I'm a little less Asian just because I don't speak Asian, and... [Laughter] Sierra, voice-over: That's why history is so important to me.

It's like, "Oh, but, hey, if you could also read "this whole history of my family beforehand, then you'd understand where I'm coming from."

Start with this one, read this one, that one, and you'll understand the 5 minutes of my standup -before you drop a comment.

-Right, exactly.

You know, I think I missed out on a lot of Asian culture things growing up because the name of the game was to assimilate, right?

So for instance, I never took a karate class, which is a bummer because, you know, I would've loved to learn, but at the time, I was kind of like, "Look.

I already got the Asian face "and the Asian body thing going on.

"I don't know if I need to do the whole Asian outfit "and 'Hyah!'

"You know, I think we're good.

It's redundant, you know."

But then I missed out on that, right, and now I'm an adult, and I can't defend myself, and that's on internalized racism, so... ♪ Jesus: Racism is a topic I feel like I've always shied away from, and unfortunately, I did tackle it early on, and I say unfortunately because I wasn't mature enough to do it right.

Is that something you tackle?

Sierra: I have in a few jokes, but I feel like the last couple of years it's started to become way more mainstream to, like, be open and talking about experiences.

It can be scary because I think audiences automatically, no matter who you are, it's a taboo topic, so there's a little bit of that tightening of the body.

The boss, uh, who I worked kind of closely with called me Wendy.

Wendy happened to be the name of the, like, one other Asian woman in the building, so... Sierra, voice-over: Sometimes, people maybe focus too much on me talking about the racism rather than the funny joke that I've crafted and I want them to enjoy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I didn't take it personally, because the real Wendy was way hotter than me, so I was like, "What, me Wendy?

Stop it!"

It was less racist, more sexual harassment really.

I don't think the role of a lot of jokes that I would make about racism are to, like, dunk on the racists.

We get it, the racists bad, bad.

-Right.

-But, you know, let's add some humor to this.

At some point, I would like to kind of tackle that now that I'm more mature as a writer, but what am I gonna contribute to this premise?

So it's like if I'm gonna do it, it has to be something original and something where there's a legitimate, honest, cool payout at the end.

Sierra: Sometimes with those serious things, like, because it gets so far from the funny, like, the payoff can be very big.

-Sure.

-That's a device that I will use sometimes.

It's like, "Oh, yeah, you can kind of really scare everybody," and it's like a gamble.

A couple of years ago as we were coming out of lockdown, there was a lot of anti-Asian sentiment.

During that time, my grandma, she was actually punched.

Um, yeah.

I mean, I--I punched her.

I did.

You guys freaked out on me there.

I did it, OK, because come on.

When the real racists come, right, they're not gonna pull their punches like your granddaughter.

I haven't taken a karate class.

[Laughter] Sierra, voice-over: It doesn't always work, and if I'm telling something that is gonna make the audience feel bad for me, right, like, I think that's a lot of things we try to avoid as a comedian because ultimately, you don't want "Aw"s. You want laughs.

Like, I want it to be funny, I don't want to just be, like, a PSA... -Right.

Sure.

-like, you know.

I actually got to be on a TV show, which was really fun, and they asked if they could film my full rear, which means my butt, OK?

You know, I wasn't sure if I was comfortable with that, but I got to thinking about the importance of representation.

Right?

We're talking racial representation, we're talking queer representation, but what about... flat ass representation?

Jesus: You know, I just want to sincerely thank you.

This has been a really great experience.

I've learned so much.

You've helped me learn more about myself.

-Yeah.

-Now you know me better than most people, but you obviously-- you know, I'm not the only comedian you've met.

You've met with so many.

What has it been like?

Do you have moments that stick out to you or things that are gonna just stay with you for a while?

I think this season has been something very amazing.

[Railroad signal clanging] The experiences I had during the course of these 6 episodes have been like a dream come true.

You know, it's like being a fan of comedy, you know, just meeting other people who are doing what we do at a very high level... Aah aah!

"She pretty, huh?"

Jesus: I realized that this is a once-in-a lifetime experience, and every episode has been really special.

Comedy, food, friends, making meaningful connections is what drives me.

Comedy is my North Star, and I've been able to meet a lot of people following that star.

Jesus, voice-over: My world has always been comedy, but it's been my own humor, my own stories, my own failures or rare triumphs.

-Yeah!

-Yeah!

This is great, man.

Jesus, voice-over: This journey with comics across America has made me see a bigger world... Jesus: Pretty darn beautiful.

Jesus, voice-over: a world where we use jokes to help us with maintaining our mental health...

There is a video game, you're player one, and your objective is to defeat your childhood.

Jesus, voice-over: find true life balance... You come out here, this sort of balances me, and then onstage, I get to, like, be whatever character I decide.

Jesus, voice-over: to debunk misconceptions... Jesus: How far from the border are we right now?

Vanessa Gonzalez: Mexico's right there.

Do you feel safe?

-I do.

I feel safe, yeah, yeah.

-Oh, good.

Jesus, voice-over: or find clarity and purpose... Adam Pasi: Comedy is kind of the first thing with a true goal that I've really stuck with.

It's, like, the best drug I've ever had, basically.

Jesus, voice-over: while also preserving the narratives of past generations.

Tatanka Means: It's a fight for us as Native people because, you know, colonization... -Right.

-and so, it's very, very important to us just to keep those things alive.

-For sure.

-But you know what we all have in common is humor.

-It's comedy.

-Humor, right.

Yeah, it's laughter.

It's always the universal thing that bonds us together.

That's all I've got for you tonight.

I'm Sierra.

Thank you so much.

Jesus, voice-over: and back here in L.A., Sierra represents what it means to take all of the sides of yourself and generations of family history to become something truly unique.

Sierra: That's all I got.

Thanks.

Jesus, voice-over: She has deep American roots, a supportive family, and she's using it all onstage, on screen, in her writing, and her activism.

She's one of the good ones, and I hope to keep meeting more of you out there.

Thanks again.

-Ha ha ha!

-Thank you.

Jesus, voice-over: For now, I'll see you on the road.

e first place you went up?

Jesus: Uh, I went up at a bar in Long Beach.

-Oh, yeah.

-And I wasn't old enough to be there because it was a bar, you know.

Good.

Yeah.

Breaking the law.

And I went there, it was a open mic.

You know, I did it very quickly, I bombed so hard.

I dropped the wireless microphone, -batteries flew out.

-Oh, no.

-Tipped over the mic stand.

-Oh, tech--yeah.

Wow.

I can't believe I got up again after that.

You got to shake it off.

It's like going back in the water if you, like, had a drowning moment.

Jesus: Correct.

The quicker you go up, the better.