ASIAN AMERICAN THEATER COMPANY PRESENTS THE 18 MIGHTY MOUNTAIN WARRIORS' HATEST GRITS

San Francisco-Asian American Theater Company, in association with the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center, presents the Asian Pacific Islander American sketch comedy group 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors and their performance of Hatest Grits, a collection of the group's greatest hits and most popular skits from four years of original comedy produced in the Bay Area. Hatest Grits will be performed for two nights only at SOMAR Cultural Center, 934 Brannan Street, San Francisco. Performances are Thursday and Friday, May 21 and 22, at 8:00 pm. Tickets are $10-13 with senior, student, and group discounts.

AUDIENCE AND CRITICAL RESPONSES TO THE 18 MIGHTY MOUNTAIN WARRIORS

"Nothing is sacred to the Bay Area's only Asian American skit comedy troupe. Amy Tan, lactose intolerance, mah jong and internment camps all get skewered here."

-Carolyn Jung, San Jose Mercury News

"... heartily funny, energetic and fully in touch with the crazy side of 1990's culture."

-Victoria Finlay, South China Post

"A mishmash of Monty Python's Flying Circus, In Living Color, Saturday Night Live and Culture Clash."

-Annie Nakao, San Francisco Examiner

"It's not purely Asian American comedy. They step out and make a broader statement. And the difference is that they can make fun of themselves. It's not 'pity, pity, pity me' for being Asian American, but 'laugh with me, laugh at me, if you'd like to, because I invite you to.'"

-Tamlyn Tomita, actress (Karate Kid Part II, Joy Luck Club, Four Rooms, Hundred Percent)

"It's 3:00 a.m. and I cannot forget a comedy group we just produced at our late night comedy slams in San Francisco. There were many militant groups, but one took the cake in its militancy, activism and sheer brilliance. Peep the 18 MIGHTY MOUNTAIN WARRIORS ... they [expletive deleted] rule!"

-Richard Montoya, Chicano political theater group Culture Clash

The 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors originally sprang out of a comedy ensemble called New Godzilla Theater in residence at the Asian American Theater Company in San Francisco in the early 1990's. Now out on their own, with four years of independently produced original comedic material and regional, national and international performances under their belt, the 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors continue to push the boundaries of Asian Pacific Islander American art and spread their humor across the world. "It's all part of our diabolical plan to make people laugh," says ensemble member Michael Hornbuckle, "and to push the envelope as comic performers."

And truly, the Warriors have. Over the course of seven new material shows and touring performances around the world, they've been touted as the Asian American version of In Living Color, were listed as the "Smash Hit" of the 1996 Hong Kong Fringe Arts Festival, and have "blown [sic] any episode of SNL out of the water in the past decade." Referring to the content of the 18MMW shows, member Harold Byun added, `'we love the subversive nature of comedy. And our shows invite the audience to take the risk and laugh with us. The payoff is awesome." Particularly in pieces like "Blaine Asakawa's Self-Defense Class," where Japanese nationals learn the "finer" points of survival in the US in the wake of the Yoshihiro Hattori shooting, comedy - and political commentary are weaved together seamlessly to entertain and make people think.

"How is that funny? We ride the fine line of reality, offensiveness and absurdity to get a hysterically truthful perspective. That, a little luck, and a wave of audience laughter goes a long way," says member Rania Ho.

"We try to present a spectrum of material that covers the range of the Asian American experience," says Greg Watanabe. "These issues are important to us because they touch upon who we are. At the same time, a good portion of our material is more universal and has nothing necessarily to do with being Asian American."

"But feel free to read deeper meanings into them and enlighten us as to our hidden genius," chimes Ho.

Diversity is one of the Warrior's proudest hallmarks. Members of the 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors come from Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Thai and Filipino backgrounds. The group also has a diversity of interests including poetry, illustration and design, music, painting and accounting.

This production is made possible by the San Francisco Art Commission, the San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund Grants for the Arts, Center for African and African American Arts and Culture, SOMAR Cultural Center and the Consortium of Cultural Centers.

AATC was founded in 1973 as a playwrights' workshop sponsored by the American Conservatory Theater. The company is dedicated to the production of New American plays by dramatists of Asian Pacific Islander descent. Throughout its history, AATC has served as a home for numerous Asian Pacific American playwrights, directors, actors and designers, including Frank Chin, Margaret Cho, Dennis Dun, David Henry Hwang, Philip Kan Gotanda, Amy Hill, Momoko Iko, R.A. Shiomi, Wakako Yamauchi and Judi Nihei. Now in its 25th Anniversary Season, AATC will continue to seek out and develop the talents of Asian Pacific Islander Americans on stage and in film, video and new technologies. AATC is poised to chart new directions for Asian Pacific Islander American theater arts into the new millennium.

For information and reservations, please call 415.440.5545, e-mail aatc@wenet.net or point your browser to http ://www.wenet.net/~aatc.

Members of the press are invited to both of the performances (Thursday, May 21 or Friday, May 22). For reservations, please call 415.440.5545.

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