{"id":9914,"date":"2021-12-18T04:37:07","date_gmt":"2021-12-18T14:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/?p=9914"},"modified":"2021-12-18T04:37:11","modified_gmt":"2021-12-18T14:37:11","slug":"book-review-jokoy-mixed-plate-chronicles-of-an-all-american-combo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/2021\/12\/18\/book-review-jokoy-mixed-plate-chronicles-of-an-all-american-combo\/","title":{"rendered":"BOOK REVIEW: Jokoy Mixed Plate \u2013 Chronicles of an All-American Combo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

by Rose Churma<\/em>

<\/strong>On the flap of the book\u2019s cover, Jo Koy notes:

\u201cHere is the path to my American Dream\u2026And I want to make you laugh while I do it. I\u2019m like Hawaii\u2019s favorite lunch \u2013 the mixed plate. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Mixed Plate is too.\u201d

Jo Koy, born Joseph Glen Herbert to a Filipina immigrant mom and white American dad, is one of Hawaii\u2019s favorite stand-up comics, and perhaps, the rest of the world where Filipinos live \u2013 or where folks believe in reaching out for their dreams.

His stand-up comic monologues gained traction with Filipinos when he poked fun at his immigrant experience \u2013 especially when he describes incidents with his Filipina mom.

It resonated with folks who were brought up with a mother I\u2019d call an immigrant \u201cEverymom\u201d trying to acculturate in their new adopted home, and in pursuit of the American dream for themselves and their children.

He has a keen sense of observation and in the retelling of his family\u2019s journey, this book is also a social commentary on what it is to be a Filipino-American during the past 50 years or so, particularly for one who is of mixed parentage.

But this book also chronicles his personal story, of a biracial kid growing up around military bases in white America, a college drop-out who could not fulfill his mother\u2019s dreams of acquiring a salaried, stable and dependable job \u2013 as a nurse, for example.

Although the context of his acts revolves around his Filipino-American upbringing, the story he shares is universal. This is why, in his concerts, the audience is diverse: his stories are relatable, no matter your ethnicity.

His concerts here in Hawaii were mostly sold-out, so that this year\u2019s events were moved from the Blaisdell\u2019s concert hall to the arena \u2013 a larger venue. And even then, they had to add another show.\u00a0It was this added show, on a Sunday evening, that I was finally able to watch Jo Koy in the flesh! I was the third wheel to my daughter\u2019s night out with her beau.

Parts of the concert were very uncomfortable for me \u2013 those jokes that I thought verged on the vulgar, or the constant use of the \u201cF\u2019 word (after all I am a baby-boomer brought up devoutly Catholic).

Although the book is liberally laced with the same words and sounds like him on stage \u2013 but in the printed form, it is a better format for me. It\u2019s like having Jo Koy in your living room, seated at your sofa, sharing his life story and better than watching his Netflix special!

Interestingly, the book also contains several recipes of \u2013 I assume \u2013 Jo Koy\u2019s favorite Filipino dishes:\u00a0lumpia, shirmp sinigang, pancit, chicken wings adobo and halo-halo.

I will try his chicken wings adobo and its boiled egg garnish; the wings are fried first and then baked with the adobo sauce and eaten with freshly steamed rice. Prepare this dish one rainy day, get a copy of this book and enjoy!

The book is available via\u00a0Amazon.com<\/a>\u00a0and other online outlets, new or used (at eBay). Also available at Target or in audio format via\u00a0Audible.com<\/a>.

ROSE CRUZ CHURMA<\/strong>\u00a0is a retired architect who now has the time to do the things she always wanted to do: read books, write about them and encourage others to write. Her online bookstore,\u00a0<\/em>Kalamansi Books and Things<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(<\/em>facebook.com\/kalamansibooks<\/em><\/a>), promotes Filipiniana books and publications by Filipino-Americans. Email her at\u00a0<\/em>kalamansibooks@gmail.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Rose Churma On the flap of the book\u2019s cover, Jo Koy notes: \u201cHere is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,4,12],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?fit=444%2C667",444,667,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?resize=150%2C150",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?fit=200%2C300",200,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?fit=444%2C667",444,667,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?fit=444%2C667",444,667,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?fit=444%2C667",444,667,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?fit=444%2C667",444,667,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?resize=444%2C667",444,667,true],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?resize=444%2C570",444,570,true],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?resize=444%2C667",444,667,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?resize=444%2C600",444,600,true],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?resize=444%2C667",444,667,true],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?resize=444%2C500",444,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?fit=444%2C667",444,667,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?resize=397%2C340",397,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?resize=247%2C250",247,250,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Featured<\/a> Features<\/a> Mainland<\/a>","tag_info":"Mainland","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/BR_JoKoy-color.jpg?fit=444%2C667","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9914"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9914"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9915,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9914\/revisions\/9915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefilipinochronicle.com\/backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}