Kate Rigg: Press: CBC Radio Canada

From CBC Radio Canada Broadcast May 4, 2001

Kate Rigg: She's funny that way
Broadcast May 4, 2001

Kate Rigg is a young Canadian comic who is attracting attention with her edgy take on Asian stereotypes: kung fu, kimonos, cameras and all.

Rigg says her quest is to reclaim those stereotypes -- to take away their power to degrade people.

Kate now lives in New York City -- she's back in Canada for a comedy festival called "We're Funny That Way." She spoke with host Shelagh Rogers this morning.

Listen to the discussion.
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Excerpt from the interview:

Kate Rigg: When you grow up bi-racial, I am racialized for being Asian, or Eurasian if you want to be a little more inclusive. People look at me and say Where are you from? whether it's other people of ethnic origin or not. Then when I go to Indonesia [where my mother is from] I'm "the white girl". So every day it's like Who am I? Who am I?

When Whoopi Goldberg did a thing when she was a Valley Girl, she was a black woman going Eow my God, like, I totally went to the beach with my friends and it was radical! Now, she didn't even have to have a radical message in that piece. She could have just like totally talked like this and be a black woman. But that in itself is radical because what's inside this spirit is not necessarily what you see on the outside so don't judge me right away. That's what my show Chink-O-Rama is all about.

Shelagh Rogers: See I can't say that, can I?

Rigg: Chink-O-Rama -- chinkety chink chink! You can say it as much as you want honey! I want you to and I love that we've entered the chink domain now.

Rogers: I can only say "chink" when it's about chains and armour.

Rigg: Let's talk about "chink" because now everyone across Canada is having a conniption fit and I'd like you all to stop. Words are not people. The problem with the word "chink" is that it's nonsense and it doesn't mean anything until someone assigns it as a slur. It has a history of usage that is offensive to people but the word itself is nothing. It is a bunch of letters on a piece of paper.

I am a bi-racial child so I grew up with all of it. The important thing is it sparks a conversation and it's meant to do that. We need to start talking about this again. I love that me saying "chink" just freaks people out! But you know what? It doesn't freak people out after they see the show. Even if people have an issue with me using it in the show and call me Uncle Tommy, they will go home to their white friends and say: I saw this most outrageous show with this girl and she's not even a real chink and she's saying "chink"! How dare she because that's a history of repression that stands 100 years and blah blah blah.

Hey, they've just passed on some knowledge of cultural awareness to another person. So my job's done and I feel really good about that.

Rogers: There are people who say you are just raising up the stereotype but you're not throwing the darts in it.

Rigg: Aha -- but see those people who've said that? They're starting a conversation because of me. That's fantastic. Suddenly we're talking about life in a post-modern world where people have to co-exist with people of all different colours.

Listen to the discussion.
*You'll need Real Player to hear the discussion. Download Real Player (the "Basic" version is free.)