Jimmy Wong

This article is about the American musician and actor. For other uses, see James Wong.
Jimmy Wong

Wong in 2012
Born James Franklin Wong
(1987-03-28) March 28, 1987[1]
Nationality American
Ethnicity Chinese American
Education B.A. Theater, Middlebury College, 2009
Occupation Musician and Actor
Years active 2010-present
Known for Ted in the web series, Video Game High School
Notable work "Ching Chong: Asians in the Library Song"
Home town Seattle, Washington
Relatives Freddie Wong (brother)

James Franklin Wong is a Chinese American actor and musician. He is perhaps best known for his 2011 music video, "Ching Chong: Asians in the Library Song" and for his role as Ted in the web series Video Game High School.

Early life

James Franklin "Jimmy" Wong, who is the younger brother of filmmaker Freddie Wong,[2][3] grew up in Seattle, Washington. He received his B.A. in theater from Middlebury College in 2009.[4][5] After graduating, he moved to Los Angeles to become an actor.[5]

Career

Wong garnered national news coverage in March 2011, when he uploaded his music video, "Ching Chong: Asians in the Library Song" to YouTube. He created the video as a response to a UCLA student's vlog rant against Asian students using mobile phones in the UCLA library,[2][3] one which MSNBC qualified as "offensive."[6] NPR suggested that Wong's video response was one that "effectively turn[ed] the tables on the original rant," offering an alternative method of defense against cyberbullying.[7] Wong later said in an MSNBC interview that while he was initially frustrated by the video rant, he realized that humor offered a better response, as he hoped to "put a positive spin on all of it." Furthermore, he stated, an eye for an eye approach would only encourage "this behavior to continue."[6] "Ching Chong: Asians in the Library Song" went viral and was covered nationally by the American media.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Wong later portrayed Ted in the Web series Video Game High School.[13] He was also invited by Lionsgate and Google to create the web series District Voices.[14] In 2014, Wong was ranked #73 on New Media Rockstars Top 100 Channels.[15]

Magic: the Gathering

Wong is an avid player of Magic: the Gathering, specifically the Commander format. He hosts a podcast with co-host Josh Lee Kwai called The Command Zone, where he and Josh discuss their experiences playing the commander format. Wong is referred to by his co-host as "Jimmy the Red" due to the fact that he often plays red decks when playing commander.[16]

Partial discography and filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2010 Secret Weapon Robby
2011 "Ching Chong: Asians in the Library Song" Composer and singer YouTube Music Video
2012 John Dies at the End Fred Chu feature film
2012–2013 MyMusic Leader web series
2012–2014 Video Game High School Ted Wong web series
2014 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - District Voices District 9 Voice TV mini-series
2016 The Circle (2016 film)MitchIn Production

Awards

References

  1. ↑ Jimmy Wong on Facebook
  2. 1 2 "Never stop working. If you’re doing something you love, then it shouldn’t be a problem". The Other Asians. July 7, 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Roderick, Kevin (March 24, 2011). "Jimmy Wong as Internet savior". LA Observed. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Interview with Jimmy Wong Of Alexandra Wallace Fame". Untemplater. 2011-05-05. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  5. 1 2 Nguyen, Stacy (2011-04-07). "Hit singer Jimmy Wong on Alexandra Wallace and why angry responses are unproductive". Northwest Asian Weekly. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 "Jimmy Wong makes 'ching chong' a love song". MSNBC. 2011-03-23. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  7. 1 2 Pell, Dave (2011-03-21). "Jimmy Wong Saves The Internet". NPR. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  8. ↑ All Things Considered (2011-03-24). "A Racial Rant Inspires An Internet Balladeer". NPR. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  9. ↑ Chansanchai, Athima (2011-03-18). "UCLA student's 'Asians' rant ignites YouTube responses". Today (U.S. TV program). Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  10. ↑ Samuel, Sharon (2011-03-17). "'Ching Chong' Shot Heard Around Social Media World". The New York Observer. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  11. ↑ Walker, Rob (2012-06-28). "On YouTube, Amateur Is the New Pro". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  12. ↑ Austen, Ben (2011-12-16). "The YouTube Laugh Factory: A Studio System for Viral Video". Wired. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  13. ↑ Sun, Rebecca (2014-12-12). "THR’s at-a-glance look at the week in representation news". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  14. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (2014-10-20). "Jimmy Wong, Rob Czar and iJustine’s Justine Ezarik made videos for Lionsgate and Google". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-10-18.
  15. ↑ "The NMR Top 100 YouTube Channels: 75-51!". New Media Rockstars. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  16. ↑ "Podcasts - RocketJump". RocketJump. Retrieved 2016-02-04.

External links

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