Shadowing Practice: Jimmy O. Yang on TSA Issues, Playing Blackjack in Vegas & His Parents Going to His Hong Kong Shows - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
B2
Our next guest took a 13 hour flight from Hong Kong to be with us tonight.
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Our next guest took a 13 hour flight from Hong Kong to be with us tonight.
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He has a new stand up comedy special.
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It's called Jimmy O.
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Yang, Finally Home.
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Opens in theaters on Friday, just like Taylor Swift.
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Please welcome Jimmy O.
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Yang.
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How was, by the way,
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how was your flight from Hong Kong?
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Man, it was great.
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I'm very jet lag right now.
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You are.
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I was gone for a week,
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and I forgot how much of a dumpster fire I was going to come back to at the airports.
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They took away the only thing that's good about airports, TSA PreCheck.
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It's gone.
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Oh, really?
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PreCheck is gone?
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I didn't realize that.
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In a lot of places, it's gone.
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They're understaffed.
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And I don't know how they have money for everything else but PreCheck.
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That is the only thing that's good at any American airport.
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Like, they have money for,
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for, they have money to fly the Venezuelan president in a Black Hawk in first class back here,
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give him some new Nike tech wear, you know?
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But no money to just hire one guy at PreCheck that literally just looks at a check mark that's like,
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yeah, go ahead.
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Yeah, no. No money for that guy.
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So, but it was the airport in Hong Kong,
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they're still running normally and they run better than ours?
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Great, everything very efficient in Hong Kong.
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Interesting, interesting.
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Now you are, for those who don't know,
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You moved from Hong Kong when you were, what, 13 years old?
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Yeah, 13.
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You were born there.
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You were raised for much of your life there.
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You moved here to the United States.
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And this special you did,
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it was a big, big homecoming for you.
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Yeah, I haven't been home in Hong Kong in 20 years.
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Yeah, and that's why it's called Finally Home.
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And I didn't know the reception I was going to get.
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I was like, you know,
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my brain, I feel like you as an immigrant,
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half of it was in Hong Kong and half of it's here.
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And I forgot all of my Hong Kong memories.
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I forgot.
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This is one very sobering thing that happened.
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I found my diary that I wrote when I was nine years old in Hong Kong,
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all written in Chinese, and I can't read a single word of it.
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No. Really?
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It's my first language, and I couldn't read it.
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That's when I was like,
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I need to go back in touch.
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And get somebody to read it to you.
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Yeah.
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I had to give it to my dad to translate it for me.
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Did you?
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And my dad's reading my childhood diary just laughing.
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Like, like.
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Now, you have this big, big show.
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Obviously, you did get a big reception because you saw.
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How many seats did you have in this theater?
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It was the Hong Kong Coliseum,
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8,000 seats, and we sold out five shows there.
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That's crazy.
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Yeah.
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And I never had that.
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I mean, thanks to everyone in America,
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around the world, my ticket sales are great.
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I sold out The Forum.
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I sold out Radio City this year.
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It was like super.
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It's been such an incredible tour.
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But in Hong Kong, tickets will sell in like 20 seconds.
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Oh, really?
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Literally like Taylor Swift.
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Like, it'll crash the site,
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and it's a whole thing, yeah.
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So you make this entry.
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We have the entrance.
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Let's share the entrance if we can.
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I'm Michael Jackson, though.
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Yeah, you really do.
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It's like a Cirque du Soleil caliber entrance you made there.
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Yeah.
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Thank you.
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But you have to for a big show, right?
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That's something you want to do for a big, big show.
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I want to do something special,
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you know, like, beyond just a comedy special.
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What else can I add to it?
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And that move popping up from the bottom of the stage was always too expensive in America.
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But we figured out we can amortize it between five shows in Hong Kong.
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And then I did it twice,
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or maybe three times in every show,
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just so each time doesn't cost as much.
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I see.
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You made the most of it.
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I did the math on it.
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If you're going to spend the money,
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you might as well use it, you know?
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You mentioned your dad reading your diary.
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You, I think the last time you were here,
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your parents were here with you.
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My parents were hanging out with your parents, had a great time.
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That's right.
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And your parents, you talk a lot about your parents in your act.
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Your parents are funny.
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Well, yeah.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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It's a lot of childhood trauma that I've translated into comedy.
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Right.
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Exactly.
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They were with you in Hong Kong for the big show.
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That must have been a crazy experience for them.
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Incredible experience.
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They were sitting in the audience.
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And I don't do meet and greets in my shows,
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but people were like lining up to take pictures of my dad.
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Really?
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He was the celebrity there.
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But not your mom.
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Well, my mom's low key, you know?
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And I haven't really shown my mom in any of the videos,
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except this time of the jokes whenever I'm talking about my dad,
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my mom, we cut to them in the audience.
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So it's like you're seeing comedy in 3D, what their reaction is.
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Yeah.
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You know?
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Were they at all five shows?
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They were three out of the five.
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Three out of the five.
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They said.
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My dad asked me, he's like,
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which show do you have the most celebrities?
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I'll come to that one.
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Oh, really?
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Yeah.
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Is your mother worried that your dad might get too famous and start,
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you know, groupies might start following him around?
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She's hoping someone will just take him out of the house.
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Oh, really?
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Okay.
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All right.
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I'm pretty sure.
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You paid tribute to some of your childhood friends.
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And these are people you grew up with in Hong Kong.
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Are these kids you stayed or adults now that you stayed in touch with?
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Actually, we lost touch for a good 15 years.
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Because when I came to this country,
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it was 1999, and we didn't have,
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you know, any of those technologies.
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No FaceTime, not even AOL back then, you know.
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Not even the Internet.
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Not in my house.
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So we fully lost touch for 15 years.
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And then I did Arsenio Hall's show when he came back.
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Right.
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It was my first late-night talk show.
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I did stand-up.
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And then my friend saw me.
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He's like, O-Yang, Oh Yang,
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that's a very rare last name in Chinese,
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and he's talking about he's from Hong Kong.
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Is that him?
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They found me on Facebook,
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and that's how we got back in touch with my elementary school friends.
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Yeah.
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That's great.
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And are they just so excited that you've become this big star?
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Yeah, it's lovely.
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I was just hanging out with them,
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and yeah, they're still, like, really, really close friends.
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Do they ever come to visit here?
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They haven't yet.
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They haven't yet.
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Oh, that would be something, huh?
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Show them around here.
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Yeah.
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Did you get, like, a million ticket requests going back home?
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Yes, that was one thing that was quite overwhelming.
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I had families coming out of the woodwork.
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You know, after, like not for money, just for tickets.
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Which is nice, you know?
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Like after every show, I have to go say hi to the celebrities that showed up,
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you know, the promoters and everyone.
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But also just so many families,
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and half of them I haven't met.
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They're like, this is your uncle,
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and that's your uncle's uncle,
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that's your uncle's new wife.
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I'm like, I don't know you.
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I'm just gonna call everybody an uncle.
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Everybody's uncle, yeah.
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Yeah.
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But my actual uncle actually helped me out.
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My uncle William, got to shout him out.
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He organized all the tickets.
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So in Hong Kong, at least at the Hong Kong Coliseum,
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it's not digital tickets you can transfer.
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He had to go grab like 200 physical tickets.
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Oh, the hard tickets.
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Yeah, and he had to plan it.
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Who's sitting where it's like a wedding?
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You know?
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Yeah.
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So he had to grab it,
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and then on his way to his house with tickets,
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all 200 tickets, he left it in a taxi.
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Oh, no. Yeah, and it's not an Uber you can call.
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It's like a taxi, so I had to call dispatch.
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And finally, he got the tickets back.
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Oh, he did?
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Luckily, because the taxi driver didn't know who I was.
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So otherwise, we would have sold the tickets.
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But a part of me was hoping all the tickets would have been lost,
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so at least I wouldn't have so many families.
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You would have less people to meet and greet afterwards.
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Yeah, exactly.
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Yeah, no, I know how that is.
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So now your tour is still on.
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You're finishing up your tour in actually my hometown of Las Vegas next week.
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Yeah.
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Which is a fun place.
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Do you love Las Vegas?
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Are you a Las Vegas guy?
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I love Las Vegas.
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Yeah, I got a house there.
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I love it.
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You know?
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Oh, you do?
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You have a house there?
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Oh, so you really like it in Las Vegas.
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Yeah, I think whatever savings I get for buying a house in Vegas,
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I gamble it away anyways.
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Oh, do you?
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So it's a fair trade, yeah.
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What do you play?
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I play blackjack.
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Uh-huh.
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You know Asian people, we love gambling.
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You can't say that, but I can.
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No, but it is very, it's true.
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A lot of Asian tourists come to Las Vegas to gamble.
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I'm a disciplined gambler.
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When I play blackjack, if I see another Asian across from me,
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I just walk away.
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I don't.
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Oh, the de- oh.
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You guys all of us don't know this rule.
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You just can't say it, you know.
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The dealer.
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They're too good.
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They always take your money, you know?
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And I feel like Asian dealers show no emotion for when you lose.
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Other dealers, they always pretend.
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They're like, oh, my God, I got 21.
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So sorry, man.
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Better luck next time.
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You lose to an Asian dealer,
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they don't care about your feelings at all.
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They're just like, yeah, you lose.
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What?
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19, 20, can you do math?
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Like, do you have more money?
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Do you take your mom or dad to Vegas with you?
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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They love it.
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They love Vegas.
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Yeah, yeah.
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They stay with you in Vegas?
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Yeah, they do.
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This is kind of like a family vacation home.
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Oh, right.
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Is that good?
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It seems like maybe not a great place to have the family.
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It's OK.
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They don't gamble much, you know?
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Oh, they don't?
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Yeah, they stay in.
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They eat the Chinese food in Chinatown.
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Great Chinese food in Vegas, by the way.
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You know, I grew up in Chinatown in Las Vegas.
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Really?
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Yes, that's right.
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That is my neighborhood.
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That's why we get along so well.
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That must be.
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I knew there was something, Jimmy.
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That's where the first name came from, yeah.
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Well, it's great to see you.
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Congratulations.
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And to have this be not only in a theater,
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but to have it in an IMAX theater is just an unbelievable thing for a comedian.
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I know.
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I can't believe it would have premiered last week in Hong Kong in IMAX.
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And I was a little nervous,
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you know, like, how is this going to look on IMAX?
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Right.
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And it looks really cool.
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Shot by the people in Hong Kong.
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I took the entire heart.
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At first, I was going to shoot this special,
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this material, in Seattle, you know, for a streamer here.
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And then these shows in Hong Kong were just so special.
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I could recreate these jokes anywhere.
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But all the characters, like my parents,
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my heroes in Hong Kong,
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my childhood friends, and all the emotions that kind of happened naturally,
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I just couldn't recreate that.
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So I had to do it in Hong Kong.
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I took the hard drive back here,
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you know, and edited for like six months in my karaoke room basement.
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Like I forced my producer and editor to edit it.
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I had to look at my dad's every reaction for like an hour to finally find one that's an approval, you know?
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Well, that's how it goes.
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Jimmy O.
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Yang, everybody.
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Jimmy O.
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Yang finally home.
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Open the Steelers Friday.
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We'll be right back.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, learners will practice their English speaking skills using a segment from Jimmy O. Yang's recent interview. The focus will be on understanding conversational English as well as improving English pronunciation. Through this engaging content, you will learn about cultural experiences and personal narratives that are common in everyday conversations. This will not only enhance your listening skills but also give you valuable phrases that can be applied in various contexts, making it ideal for IELTS speaking practice.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Jet lag - The feeling of tiredness and confusion caused by air travel across time zones.
- Dumpster fire - A situation that is disastrously out of control.
- TSA PreCheck - A program that allows expedited security screening for travelers.
- Understaffed - Not having enough staff to function effectively.
- Homecoming - The act of returning to one's home, especially after a long time away.
- Immigrant - A person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.
- Reception - The way in which something is received by an audience or public.
- Sobering - Having the effect of making someone feel serious or thoughtful.
Practice Tips
When practicing with this transcript, consider using the shadowing technique called shadowspeak. This technique involves listening closely to the speaker and repeating their words as closely as possible, mimicking their intonation and rhythm. Start by listening to a short segment of the dialogue. Pause after each sentence to repeat what was said. Focus on the pronunciation of key vocabulary such as "jet lag" and "immigrant" to clearly articulate your thoughts.
Since Jimmy O. Yang speaks in a conversational tone, aim to imitate his relaxed speech patterns. This will help you improve English pronunciation in a natural context. The interview is lively and somewhat informal, so don’t worry about perfection; instead, focus on sounding fluid and engaging. This approach can enhance your overall speaking skills and be particularly beneficial for IELTS speaking practice.
Remember to utilize online resources that specialize in shadowing exercises. They can offer additional materials and tips on enhancing your speaking abilities. Enjoy the process of learning and let your own personal stories come into your English conversations as you practice!
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
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