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The storyteller, comedian and hip-hop artist coming to La Crosse this week also speaks about the reality of racism and teaches on the stage.
“I use my craft to build bridges between cultures,” said Xiong, 34. “Diversity is not a training or seminar or workshop. Diversity should be a celebration and an attitude you embrace.”
Xiong, who will be in La Crosse on Friday performing his program, “Teaching Culture Through Laughter,” said he hopes to bring both laughter and reality.
“If we can laugh together, we can talk about anything,” he said. “Regardless of where you go in the world, if you walk down a dark alley and you hear music or people laughing, you’re less likely to feel threatened.”
Xiong, from St. Paul, has done more than 1,500 programs in 44 states.
Born in Laos, his family fled to Thailand after the Vietnam-era war in Laos in which the Hmong, including Xiong’s father, assisted U.S. military efforts against communist leaders.
In his programs, he said, he has talked about everything from his first encounters with a toilet to being afraid the first time he met a white person to not being American enough at pubic school and not being Hmong enough at home.
While his performance is family-friendly, he compared his style to Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor, who he said “were able to tell their stories and teach America about racism in a way that made America laugh.”
“My Hmong American story,” he said, is “the story of the Scandinavians and the Norwegians and the Swedes several generations ago. So it’s really about the American story.”
If you go
Who: Tou Ger Xiong, storyteller, comedian and hip-hop artist
What: Teaching Culture Through Laughter
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Viterbo University’s Fine Arts Center Main Theater
Sponsor: Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Committee
CONTACT: (608) 784-2288
Cost: Free, donations accepted
Joe Orso can be reached at (608) 791-8429 or jorso@lacrossetribune.com.
