An Evening of Live Comedy and Animation Shorts - Online

May marks Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and in a nod to its own neighborhood’s thriving diverse Asian population, Flushing Town Hall will close the month with a celebratory presentation of artists. Crazy Talented Asians & Friends launches on Saturday May 30th.

Come join us for an entertaining evening to celebrate as a community with creativity, humor, and resilience, hallmarks of the Asian Pacific American heritage!

• More about the event

  The evening will begin at 6:00 PM with an hour of animated short films and a live panel discussion of seasoned professional animators and the filmmakers. An hour of live stand-up, sketch, and storytelling comedy follows at 8:30 PM with some of New York City’s premier Asian-American talent.           

  The event’s first hour will feature exceptional animation shorts selected from the top four percent of several hundred submitted films. These films showcase wide-ranging Asian animation talents, many from New York-based college animation programs. They were curated based on the quality in art direction, storytelling, animation, production and sound design. The moving stories include a mother and son's struggle to express their love, two painters battling over space to paint in their own style, and another on the ever-present stress of urban living. The selection committee was led by the event’s animation Lead Advisor Ms. Hsiang Chin Moe, the BFA Animation Chair at the School of Visual Arts.

• Jury

  • Ms. Hsiang Chin Moe is an active member of the global animation community, working with animation executives, recruiters and artists to foster talents all over the world. In addition to organizing and moderating an annual talent panel at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, she has made her own documentary, short and animated films that have screened in the United States and abroad, including Japan, Sweden, Taiwan and Thailand. "It is my extreme honor to celebrate the APA Heritage Month with an amazing selection of animated films. Special thanks to all the filmmakers for sharing their stories with our audience and inviting us on a journey of imagination. Their talent is a true representation of how unique and creative the Asian-American filmmakers are, and the celebration is expanded to all the Asian creators in the world." says Hsiang Chin Moe.

  • Michael Cruz Kayne performs, writes, directs, and produces at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (UCB) and recently made a televised appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Michael has also appeared in What I Did For Love, Baby Wants Candy, Improv Everywhere, Funny Or Die, and College Humor. He has written for Nickelodeon, Netflix, the Inner Circle event for Mayor de Blasio, Ben Stiller, Anthony Atamaniuk, Denis O'Hare, and others. 

  • Dylan Adler is a comedian, actor, and musician based in New York City. He has performed musical comedy at the New York Comedy Festival and hosts musical comedy show “Baby Grand” at The Stand. He performs sketch on Maude Night at UCB on his team “Young Douglas” and co-hosts variety show Woke AF at UCB Subcultre. He co-hosts Just Come every Tuesday at the Graham and performs musical improv on People’s Improv Theatre house team “Punch Funk” every Monday. He also cohosts queer mic “Snowflake Mic” at Club Cumming. 

  • Otter Lee is an actor, playwright, comedian, and voiceover artist born and raised in New York City. He produced and co-organized New York City’s First Asian Comedy Festival at the PIT in January 2020. His sketch, standup, and improv have appeared at such venues as the Upright Citizens Brigade, Face-Off Unlimited, Caveat, Union Hall, The Magnet, The Asian American Writer’s Workshop, and Buzzfeed. He co-founded Overstep Comedy which has performed sketch to sold-out venues in Manhattan. Their live performances cover a broad array of relatable Asian American experiences. In partnership with the non-profit Charles B. Wang Community Health Center,  which has provided comprehensive primary medical care since 1971 with over 300,000 annual service visits, Overstep Comedy will also perform a sketch on mental health to help de-stigmatize this important topic in Asian American communities which is even more pressing in this COVID-19 pandemic environment.

• Schedule

  Global Arts for Global Kids

  Teachers and families can access Flushing Town Hall’s growing archive of instructional arts videos with at-home activities for children here: http://www.flushingtownhall.org/fth-at-home-gagk

  THURSDAYS @ 1:00 PM

  Zoom Community Hang

  URL: https://zoom.us/j/444441183 or join by phone: (646) 558-8656

  Meeting ID: 444 441 183

  FRIDAYS @ 5:00 PM

  Zoom Hang for Queens artists

  URL: https://zoom.us/j/283009195 or join by phone: (646) 558-8656

  Meeting ID: 283 009 195

  FRIDAYS @ 7:00 PM

  Live, Facebook Watch Parties

  https://www.facebook.com/flushingtownhall

  May 1: Light & Beat from Korea

  May 8: Gustavo Casenave Quartet - A South American Jazz Tale

  May 15: Joe Kye, Migrants

  May 22: Roberta Piket Sextet featuring Karrin Allyson - Celebrating Marian McPartland

  May 29: A Journey - Bach to Piazzolla

  WEDNESDAY MAY 13 @ 7:00 PM

  Virtual Jazz Jam: Celebrating the Legacy of Louis Armstrong

  To watch live, tune in to Facebook or Zoom.

  To participate, email education@flushingtownhall.org and identify the 3- to 4-minute tune you intend to play.

  THURSDAY MAY 30

  Crazy Talented Asians & Friends: an evening of live comedy & animated shorts

  @ 6:00 PM ANIMATION SHORTS @ 8:30 PM LIVE COMEDY
  http://www.flushingtownhall.org/fth-at-home-ctaf

  Stay tuned to the organization’s website for more details, coming soon