press highlights

PROFILE: “This Comedian Reaps What she SEWED” -Los Angeles Times

“Wong has always addressed fraught social themes in her work, but now she is actively dedicated to making social change, as she freely blurs the lines between artist, activist and elected political representative.” -LA Weekly

“The performance artist Kristina Wong says that marrying herself and stalking the basketball star Jeremy Lin offer opportunities to entertain as well as to question stereotypes about race and gender.” -NY Times (Off Color Comedy)

“Kristina Wong’s stereotype-skewering humor: Stop and think about it” -Los Angeles Times

“The 10 best moments in political comedy this year” -Salon

“I started my career thinking I was going to make really serious performance work that people would watch in galleries and use words like "haunting" and "layered" to describe. The humor just came as a defense mechanism because after exploring the same issues so much, I'd find myself joking or making fun of myself to get through it. -Ideal Woman

“Kristina Wong: pushing the envelope on race, rights and America” The Guardian

“KRISTINA WONG’S HARDSCRABBLE JOURNEY FROM PERFORMANCE ARTIST TO ‘SWEATSHOP OVERLORD’”— UCLA School of Arts and Architecture

Comedian Kristina Wong finishes Honolulu Marathon — KITV Honolulu

Too Hateful to Be Buddhist? A Q&A with Kristina Wong —Lion’s Roar

current projects press

KRISTINA WONG, #FOODBANKINFLUENCER (my newest work-in-process!)

“Local food bank offering free groceries for striking Hollywood writers, actors” — FOX 11 NEWS

“Food bank offers free groceries to actors and writers on strike” -The LA Times

“How Kristina Wong Became A Food Bank Influencer” -LAist

“Actor, comedian, writer and self-described “food bank influencer” Kristina Wong … and Glen Curado, CEO and founder of food bank World Harvest, came up with together in response to the first joint walkout of these two labor unions since 1960. — TODAY

”Writer and performer Kristina Wong, dubbed the food bank's "influencer," explains how the generous offer came to be: ‘We have to figure out how to take care of each other.’” —The Hollywood Reporter”

‘Food bank influencer’ Kristina Wong helps feed striking Angelenos -KCRW

“Wong wanted to find ways to help her fellow union members, and that meant reaching out to the founder of the food bank, Glen Curado.” -REUTERS

“Kristina Wong, a multi-hyphenate performance artist, comedian, and Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama, has been both an advocate for and customer of the World Harvest Food Bank in Los Angeles.” -Food & Wine

“A recipe for resilience: Chef Andrés, artist Kristina Wong stir conversations on food security.” —ASU News

“Wong has traveled from World Harvest to the Navajo Nation and Washington, D.C. Those experiences will be the focus of her upcoming one-woman show.” — Phoenix New Times

“Comedian Kristina Wong draws laughs as 'food bank influencer'" — ASU News

“Comedian and Pulitzer Prize Finalist Kristina Wong served up laughter while educating on food banks” — Daily Aztec

Kristina Wong uses comedy to address inequality in the food system.— Gastro Obscura

‘Food Bank Influencer’ Kristina Wong Finds the Fun in Food Access -WJFF

KRISTINA WONG, SWEATSHOP OVERLORD

“The performance artist ran a mask-making operation during the pandemic. That inspired her new comedy at New York Theater Workshop.” -New York Times

NEW YORK TIMES CRITICS PICK! “A spiky tonic!”

“I was impressed through-and-through. We ought to put her in the Smithsonian.” — Vulture/ New York Magazine

Review: “Kristina Wong assembled ‘aunties’ to sew masks. Her pandemic mission is now a must-see show” — LA Times

“Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord is an exuberant release of a show, a total joy to behold.” -Theatrely
"The play is an entertaining and discomfiting dispatch on what the pandemic revealed about inequality and ineptitude in America, as well as a celebration of ingenuity, community and survival.”— Time Out

Review: ‘Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord’ validates everything you’ve gone through since 2020 —SF CHRONICLE

“I guarantee it's the most fun you'll have with Covid all year.” — TheaterMania

“FIVE STARS! Wong’s spitfire humor lands with the audience, while allowing for moments of stillness and heart.” —New York Theater Guide

“Our 5 Favorite Theatrical Performances of 2021! …With her special mixture of frivolity and heart, she took me on a stroll through the last 21 months that I actually enjoyed. One of the most incredible physical performers I've ever encountered, Wong has a special gift for connecting with an audience that makes even the most unpalatable subjects seem delightful.” — TheaterMania

“Theatrely’s Best of 2021! Best off-Broadway Offering!”- Theatrely

“It’s an exquisitely crafted work. And, of course, your open hearted and kickass performance is everything the world needs! EVERYTHING!” — Taylor Mac, MacArthur Genius Award winner

“SWEATSHOP OVERLORD is an electrifying achievement which transmutes our traumas, fears and pain into courage and a call to action.” — David Henry Hwang, Obie Award Winning Playwright

“Pleasurable… Vivacious” —Washington Post

“Straight outta Koreatown to NYC stage: Kristina Wong shares story of her ‘Auntie Sewing Squad’” -KCRW

“Sweatshop Overlord, the finest in a pantheon of “pandemic plays” to have premiered in the past few months, builds on the scaffolding of the above events… It’s equal parts acid and bubble bath—a spikily funny and zany performance piece that artfully tracks how Wong goes from theater artist who sews her own costumes to “running a shadow FEMA.” - PROFILE in Bomb Magazine

Interview: “Performance artist Kristina Wong riding high as a ‘Sweatshop Overlord’ and Pulitzer Prize finalist”. — San Diego Tribune

Review: “In Kristina Wong’s ‘Sweatshop’ world, buckle up for a wild pandemic ride at La Jolla Playhouse” — San Diego Union-Tribune

Review: “Hysterically rehashes one woman’s experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic… She mixes potty humor with potent heroism” - Vanguard Culture

Review: “Kristina Wong's "Sweatshop Overlord" is a sharp and heartwarming look behind the politics of Covid.” — Oregon Artswatch

Review: “It's very funny, though a lot of the laughter comes with a hefty dose of despair, because while the idea of a sewing Rambo seems silly, we all just lived through that war and we know that the story she's telling is true. Wong is a skilled playwright and performer.” —Broadway World review of run at Portland Center Stage

Feature: “Kristina Wong brings satire — and earnestness — to Portland Center Stage with ‘Sweatshop Overlord’” — The Oregonian

Interview with KPBS: “Kristina Wong is not Invisible”

Interview: Kristina Wong Brings Her SWEATSHOP OVERLORD to the Kirk Douglas Theatre

Radio Interview: with Maggie McKay of 94.7 The Wave

Podcast interview: NOT REAL ART- “Kristina Wong x Erin Yoshi: Political Comedy in a Post-Satire World”

Podcast interview: THE ETHICAL RAINMAKER “How I Became an Accidental Sweatshop Overlord with Kristina Wong”

Podcast interview with Hey Playwright

Interview with Oregon Artswatch “Stage & Studio: Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord”

Interview with BLOGCRITICS

Interview: “FROM THE MARGINS TO THE CENTER: PULITZER PRIZES AND THE RISE OF ASIAN AMERICAN WINNERS AND LEADERS”. — Democracy in Color

Interview: Community in Time of Hardship. APEX Express – 3.21.24

For SF native Kristina Wong, Covid project becomes a hit comedy show — The Mercury News

How San Francisco prepared this actor for a career in arts and activism — SF Chronicle

Kristina Wong’s ‘Overlord’ mines laughs from scars of pandemic — The Mercury News

'Kristina Wong: Sweatshop Overlord' — an inspiring agit-pop monologue at the Strand — Bay Area Reporter

“Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord” isn’t just a theatrical performance; it’s a testament to the indomitable spirit of humanity in the face of unprecedented tragedy while emphasizing the unparalleled loss experienced at the turn of the decade.— The Daily Californian

Pulitzer Prize finalist shares her pandemic experience in hilarious play— Live in The Bay! KRON

Past project press

AUNTIE SEWING SQUAD

“How sewing masks for the vulnerable stitched together an empowering Facebook community” -LA Times

“Comedian Turns Masks to Laughs” — Good Morning America

“How the 'Auntie Sewing Squad' built a massive free mask operation for people the 'government didn't care about'“ -NBC

“Comedian Kristina Wong formed an online community of "Aunties" who banded together to make homemade skull caps and face coverings for health care workers and underserved communities.” —USA Today

”A comedian’s tour was canceled. So she started the Auntie Sewing Squad, cranking out 60,000 masks for vulnerable people.” — Washington Post

“A volunteer 'sewing squad' distributed more than 55,000 masks to vulnerable communities in 3 months. They're not slowing down” -CNN

“Comedian Kristina Wong sews masks for people in poverty, says it’s about government negligence” — KCRW Press Play with Madeline Brandt

”The Story Of How Hundreds Of ‘Aunties’ Came Together To Sew Masks During The Pandemic's Height” — LAist

THE NATION Podcast interview: “Mutual Aid, Racial Justice, and the Auntie Sewing Squad”

Interview with Kristina Wong and Rebecca Solnit on PBS “The Laura Flanders Show”.

Art Exhibition featuring Auntie Sewing Squad and other collectives: “Connecting the Dots: Oxy Arts Exhibition Links Moments of Asian American Activism, Art and Collectives Throughout History”

No, COVID Isn’t “Over,” and the Need for Continued Community —Making Contact Podcast

Comedian Kristina Wong on Crafting a Community During COVID. — KQED FORUM

KRISTINA WONG FOR PUBLIC OFFICE

“Her energy is miraculous. It’s not easy to crack jokes in capacious silence...the storyteller is marvelous company. You’ll feel saner after spending 75 minutes with her.” —LA Times

”When Political Theater Ditches the Disguises of Fiction” —NY Times

“A RIOTOUS ADVENTURE. Kristina Wong for Public Office” is a zany, 75-minute semi-autobiographical meditation on Wong’s recent creative life, the history of voting and the red tape of democracy.”
—Argonaut

“In the politically minded comedy “Kristina Wong for Public Office,” Wong recounts her experience as a performance artist and theater maker who got elected as a representative on the Wilshire Center Koreatown Neighborhood Council, an advisory board to the City of Los Angeles.” — NY Times

“A performer not afraid to fill up her available space, Wong stalks the perimeter of the Kirk Douglas Theatre stage like a prizefighter, an Elvis-style studded cape with her name stitched in sequins on the back fluttering in her wake. Her talents as a fabric artist are on proud display: a banner emblazoned with a rainbow-striped eagle and a marijuana leaf, hand-sewn stars and stripes draped over the podium.” —KQED

“KRISTINA WONG FOR PUBLIC OFFICE is witty, topical, and timely. It also draws fascinating parallels between show biz and politics in a country currently going to the polls to vote for a reality TV star or a career politician. Kristina is energetic, flashy, and even a bit gaudy (love her WONG sequined cape) as she documents her rise in political influence. She is the perfect unconventional candidate – who somehow ends up being right in line with her politician brethren. Get ready to laugh – but also to think about what politics have become in the past few decades. This is a thought-provoking poke at the world of today.” — Splash Mags

”…she uses the absurdity of the current moment to confront the brokenness of the American political system while openly reckoning with her personal failures and insecurities as both an artist and an elected representative.” — Contemporary Art Review, LA “The Performance Artist and the Politician"

“The award-winning artist looks at the blurry lines between politics and performance.” — Dartmouth College

RADICAL CRAM SCHOOL

“It was so refreshing to see that there is hope for the next next generation of Asian women”. -YOMYOMF

“Forget Kumon. Your kid needs Radical Cram School.” — Angry Asian Man

“Wong’s indie web series plays on children’s television tropes while teaching Asian- and Pacific Islander-American girls history and tools to resist.” —Colorlines

”New Web Series Empowers Asian Girls to Embrace Their Identities” -Next Shark

THE WONG STREET JOURNAL

“Off Color: Kristina Wong Tackles Money, Power, Identity in a New Show” –NBC News

“Comedian Kristina Wong Turns the Tables on Asian Stereotypes”— Radio Appearance on KQED Forum

How Comedian Kristina Wong Went Viral, Then Took Her Art And Activism Offline. The time the Chinese-American performer became “white” in Africa. — Huffington Post

Comedian Kristina Wong tackles race and global poverty with new LA show —KPCC Take Two Public Radio Interview

“Wong Street Journal promises whip smart social commentary, a deep earnestness underneath LA-bred irony, and outrageous humor… The show maintains its hilarity and accessibility without ever talking down to its audience. Wong Street Journal is absolutely worth seeing.” -Hyphen Magazine

“It deserves wider exposure… it’s the kind of politically focused theater that not only makes you think and question your own preconceptions but also have a great time doing it. –San Francisco Chronicle REVIEW

“Wong is never didactic, preachy, or monotonous and skillfully keeps the show bubbling along at a fast and funny pace. Bursting at the seams with imagination and powered by Wong’s energetic performance, the show breaks down its subject matter with wit, humor, and intelligence.” —BeyondAsiaPhilia: Review

“Extremely entertaining” –TheBroadwayBlog

“Kristina Wong's world premiere takes leap into unknown” -San Francisco Chronicle

“Walking into political terrain can sometimes feel like a laborious lecture, but Wong’s freak flag waves too high for a boring podium presentation on inequality and white privilege.” —LA CANVAS Review

“An insightful twist on the Asian American Experience.” —The Wellesley News

“Rather than discuss stockroom conversations or Wall Street ethics, The Wong Street Journal delves into other treacherous territory.” —Harvard Arts Blog

Colorlines: Three Questions for Kristina Wong, Comedic Pioneer

“Acting Up & Acting Out: The Wondrous Work of Kristina Wong” Reappropriate – Feature, June 16

Interview with Halo Halo TV

GOING GREEN THE WONG WAY

GRIST: The misadventures of eco-comedian Kristina Wong will make you LOL

“Gutsy… Sparks flying with every line. Five stars!” — Broadway Baby, UK

“Wong as a performer is a joy to watch. She crackles with energy and beneath that bubbly personality is a highly talented comedian that can nail a punch line within an inch of its life. –Hairline, UK

“A hysterical romp through green living and political incorrectness.” — LAist

“Wong is an energetic, witty, uninhibited performer… a seamless, sure-fire comedic turn.” –Backstage West

“A smart, brazen and raunchy parody of political correctness.” — LA WEEKLY

“Wildly imaginative … Extremely funny. —Miami Herald

“Going Green the Wong Way might be one of the most ridiculous shows we’ve ever seen, and we mean that in the best of ways…. Wong took a seemingly overworked topic like sustainable living and turned it into a surrealist, hilarious ride.” — Miami New Times

“Kristina Wong is a funny — no, make that an extremely funny — performer with a wildly imaginative, sometimes raunchy sensibility. “ —Miami Herald

“Kristina Wong is a terrific physical comedienne whose love of dry humping, scrambled TV porn, reusable female necessities, scatology and vegetable oil make her highly qualified to be an ecological martyr.” —Miami Art Zine

“When things go wrong for performance artist Kristina Wong, you know it’s going to be a spectacular mess… There are hundreds of ways to go wrong when attempting to go green, but going Wong can only ever be right.” — San Francisco Bay Guardian

“While her hilarious tales of being a “missionary of recycling” might make her audience laugh, the sustainable schtick isn’t just an act. Wong is serious about practicing what she preaches.” —Good Magazine

WONG FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST

“One woman show keeps the laughs coming as it tackles issue of depression.” —Philadelphia Metro

“Raucous and irreverent — that’s Wong in a nutshell.” —The Associated Press

“Wong’s one person show injects her trademark irreverent humor into a work of unblinking social commentary” —San Francisco Bay Guardian READ ARTICLE HERE

“Wong’s work is compelling because it is, by turns, confrontational and candid, acerbic and guileless, cartoonish and so razor sharp it draws blood. Plus she masterfully uses ambiguity to provoke thought.” —NY Arts Magazine READ ARTICLE HERE

“Solo artist Kristina Wong unveils a string of imaginative surprises as she supposedly examines the high rates of depression and suicide among Asian American women. She darts around this grim subject with the kind of meta-theatrical wit that creates one of the funniest shows in town and engenders a level of audience participation that’s enthusiastic without becoming embarrassing. Then she ends with a sobering coda — another kind of surprise after all the laughs. It’s a wild ride, and Wong’s a magnetically energizing artist.” —Don Shirley, LA City Beat

“Kristina Wong is a fresh and bold new voice– funny, fluid and wickedly satiric. I’m so relieved she is an Asian-American gal! A Lily Tomlin of one’s own.” —Alice Tuan, American Theatre Magazine

“Kristina shows that craft, and creativity itself, can raise awareness and give every quiet voice a way to be heard.” —Vogue Knitting

“Critic’s Picks! Summer Arts Preview, NY Theater… Highlights of festival are Kristina Wong’s Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest from Los Angeles…” —New York City Newsday

“Artspick Philadelphia” —Philadelphia City Paper

“Nest-ing Instincts” —Article in Yarn Market News

“Performer takes jabs with knitting nuttiness” —Anchorage Daily News

“Knitting serves as metaphor in play about suicide” —Homer, Ak News (pre-press write-up)

“Mental Illness examined through humor.” —Homer, Ak Tribune (pre-press write-up)

“Wong’s solo show explores truth, fiction and knitting” —San Antonio Express- News

“She flew over the cuckoo’s nest at CSULB” —Daily 49er of Long Beach

“Kristina Wong is a hilarious and cutting-edge performance artist…” —Asianloop.com

“Kristina Wong’s brave, honest and wickedly funny performance is breaking the silence and shame around mental and emotional health challenges facing Asian American women. Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a one of a kind show that speaks to pressing issues in Asian American communities, ranging from “model minority” expectations to exoticized representations to individual and collective trauma.” —Miliann Kang, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Assistant Professor, Women’s Studies

“Kristina’s performance is not only relevant, but neccesary on all of our college campuses and theatres. She captures the audience with her witty, original, intellectual humor while simutaneously integrating serious issues such as mental health, depression and our failing and disintegrating goverment programs. Cal State Long Beach would enthusiastically invite her back to our campus.” —Gina Singh, CSU Long Beach, Assistant Professor, Women’s Studies

“Through her performance, Kristina Wong produces a dynamic flow of energy and interaction that grasps the attention of her audience. Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest brings increased awareness and promotion of self/community activism in the Asian American mental health arena.” —Kenyatta Y. Dawson, University of Texas, Austin, CAAS Program Coordinator

CAT LADY

“‘Cat Lady’: Exploring performance and loneliness” —SF Examiner

“Part sassy stand-up comedian…she is genuinely funny, has terrific stage timing and uses media with studied originality.” —Los Angeles Times

“REDCAT’s innovators show that…The Future is NOW” —Los Angeles Times (Feature article on my development process behind Cat Lady)

“Forget Beijing 2008! Give this girl the Gold Medal for shaking that booty!” —China Press

(Ok, this is not actually the quote but if you can read Chinese, please tell me what this article says!)

“It’s a wonder more men with jobs aren’t asking her out. Who wouldn’t want to take this piece of work home to their folks?” —World Journal (oops, article taken down by site… will scan original if I can find it and put it up.)

(Ok, so I made that up. But it’s another Chinese language article you can run through Babelfish.)

OTHER press

“She’s like Amy Tan on Crack!” —Jennifer Phang, Awesome Sundance Filmmaker, Director of “Half-life” and “Advantageous”

“Kristina Wong is asking to get her ass kicked.” —Loudmouth Newsmagazine

“Highly Amusing…” —LA Weekly

“Brutal but hilarious…a woman who takes life’s absurdities very seriously.” —East Bay Express

“If you’ve seen Kristina Wong perform her one-woman show, you know she isn’t your ordinary performing artist– and not just because of her wacky brand of entertainment.” —Thirteen Minutes Magazine

“Hilarious…” —Bitch Magazine READ ARTICLE

“Catch Dry Humping, Catholic School Skirts Tonight” —Miami New Times

“Wong does not live within the boundaries of so-called “acceptable” behavior that many Chinese American women might feel restricted by. Instead, she ventures out to communicate her own views about society, breaking down barriers and giving the world a taste of her own unique personality.” —UCLA Asia Arts Magazine

“Other notable shows include Kristina Wong’s one-woman performance, ‘Ms. Chinatown, 2nd Runner Up…'” —LA TIMES

“Why are you so super-rad?” —T&N Webzine

“Wicked… Kristina’s over-the-top, militant alter ego goes kung fu on their asses, smashing demure stereotypes under her self proclaimed big, stinky, indelicate feet.” —BUST Magazine

“Her gift for subversive humor and storytelling are her most phenomenal assets. She’s an innovative leader and a seminal artist of her generation.” —Danielle Brazell, Managing Director of Arts for LA and Former Artistic Director of Highways Performance Space

“Who knew that 21st century performance art might look like stand-up comedy without cocktails?” —LA TIMES

“A much needed minidose of humor and irony…” —Ms. Magazine

“Brilliantly erection-withering…” —IMdiversity.com

“Kristina Wong (a.k.a. Big Bad Chinese Mama) works the crowd with her wit and riot-girl antics.” —Vickie Nam, Editor, Yell-oh Girls! Anthology

“Love at first sight…” —Imdiversity.com

“Kristina’s art is great… She kicks ass!” —Born in Flames Zine by the Phoolan Devi Kollectiv, Austria

“Upcoming and rising director…shining… pushed the limits in visual and narrative effects” —Asianamericanfilm.com

“Maybe people are too busy laughing at how she has subversively tucked her political agenda into her art to really want to hurt her. Or maybe, she’s the one kicking ass.” —Loudmouth Magazine

“Looking for a quiet, docile, submissive little Asian girl? Look Elsewhere… What Kristina Wong has to say may be a little hard to swallow, but like most pills, this one is good for you.” —Pacific Ties Newsmagazine

“The self proclaimed ‘revolutionary tucked inside a solo performer, filmmaker, writer, activist, educator, actor and other hats’ juggles a full schedule, but still finds time every once in a while to dangle some subversive humor to her hungry public.” —Pacific Citizen

OTHER INTERVIEWS

“Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell”