When Bowen Yang became the first Asian-American performer on Saturday Night Live last year, he’d already been recognized for his standup work, and was a writer for the show.
He's hosting a virtual conversation through Virginia Tech’s Moss Arts Center Wednesday night, launching its ‘Homestage’ series.
Yang started as a writer with ‘SNL’ in 2018 before becoming a cast member. He’s also one of the few openly gay performers in the show’s history. Yang’s other recent credits include the Comedy Central series “Awkwafina is Nora from Queens” and “High Maintenance” on HBO.
Born to Chinese parents, Yang’s childhood included time in Australia, Montreal, and Colorado. He’s now lived in New York for 9 years, the longest of anywhere.
“Anytime I hit a certain year benchmark with where I lived, it sort of put things into perspective,” he said. “Now, my sense of belonging is geographically tied to New York City, which feels nice,” he said.
Before starting a career as a writer and performer, he studied chemistry at New York University.
“The more information that you have floating around in your brain, I think that’s just more fodder for your writing, or your performance,” he said. “Just because you come from a background that doesn’t really seem to have a connection to any creative thing, I think it only enriches your knowledge on what to write about.”
Yang says he doesn’t regret the degree, and especially enjoyed organic chemistry.
He’s passing some of the time from his Brooklyn apartment putting together ‘Las Culturistas’ a pop culture podcast he’s co-hosted with comedian Matt Rogers for the last four years. It recently produced its 200th episode.
“I can’t think about how long I’ve been doing this,” Yang said. “What it nice, is that it’s taught me a lot about keeping something going consistently.”
Yang says the podcast looks at the current pop culture news of the day, but also explores past events, and some serious topics.
“There’s a nice blend between heart and silliness, I think," he said.
Yang expects Wednesday night’s 7:30 p.m. ‘fun and frank’ conversation, moderated by Virginia Tech student Jessica Nguyen, to last roughly one hour, but Yang says he won’t be checking the clock. A recording will be made available to ticket holders for up to seven days following the live event.
Nguyen is a second-generation Vietnamese American, an advocate for the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) community, and president of Virginia Tech’s Asian American Student Union. The Moss Arts Center will also be taking questions from the public prior to the event.
Following the 'Homestage' program, Yang will be part of a private virtual talk with student leaders in the university’s APIDA and LGBTQ+ communities. Yang says he looks forward to an engaging conversation with these groups.
Radio IQ is a service of Virginia Tech.
