Comedian Koy keeps laughs coming with island riffs

Jo Koy is a comedian, not a hula dancer, but his impression of the hula was as kolohe as the real thing Sunday evening as he opened the first of an unprecedented 11 sold-out performances by a single entertainer in the Blaisdell Concert Hall.

Koy’s faux hula was just one example of the diversity of his repertoire. Koy sang bits and pieces of R&B hits from the 1990s, demonstrated how he used to entertain his mother’s friends — at her insistence — with his version of Michael Jackson’s moonwalk and shared insights on sexual positions via explicit maneuvers with a stool.

It was almost 90 nonstop minutes of high-energy entertainment for mature teens and adults. Koy seemed to be having as much fun as the audience.

Koy opened with material he’d prepared for Hawaii. He talked about slippers and “dress slippers,” how much he enjoys watching hula and how much he enjoys listening to Hawaiian music.

He sang something that he said was his favorite Hawaiian song. As with his demonstration of hula, there was just enough substance to it to show that he is familiar with Hawaiian music even though he was doing it as comedy.

The audience was with him all the way. When Koy said, regarding the Hawaiian language and spelling, “You guys exploit the letter ‘A,’” they went crazy. He got the same riotous response when he continued on with the observation that “that’s why ‘Wheel of Fortune’ doesn’t come to Hawaii anymore.”

Koy also connected with another perfect-for-Hawaii bit as he reminisced about how much easier it is to open a can of Spam today compared with the old days.

Audience response to Koy’s comments about how to recognize Filipinos, Vietnamese (“They’ll fight anybody”), Japanese and Koreans showed that there were lots and lots of Filipinos in the house, a couple of pockets of loud and proud Vietnamese and relatively fewer Japanese and Koreans. Talking to people down front, he was right on target with his observations — for instance, say, how the Filipinas with expensive purses on their laps use them to bring snacks from home into the concert hall and to take home “extra” napkins and condiments when they go to restaurants. The Filipinas in the front row were in hysterics by the time he finished with them.

Koy’s stories about his Filipina mother are classics that never get old. He revealed Sunday night that his Filipina grandmother had a similar mindset; Koy’s account of being his grandmother’s caregiver in Las Vegas when she would play a nickle slot machine — $200 in nickles, one nickle at a time — and then go to a seafood buffet and take home “extra” crab legs neatly balanced absurdity with sincere sentiment.

And there Koy’s son, who is now a teenager.

“Enjoy your kids for the first 12 years,” Koy told the crowd, adding that despite his best efforts to be a “cool dad,” young Joe had asked him bluntly, “I’m not gonna lose my hair like you, am I?” Ouch!

Relationship tips, and the observation that having good credit is more important for a man than being well endowed, gave the audience some ideas they could apply to their own lives. He ended the show out in the audience shaking hands and posing for fan photos.

(Koy returns to the concert hall for two shows today. He’s going to Maui on Wednesday for two sold-out shows at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center and then returns to the Blaisdell Concert Hall for seven shows Friday through Monday. All shows are sold out.)

Click here for more photos from Koy’s performance at the Blaisdell Concert Hall on Sunday.