Fung Brothers

Last updated
David and Andrew Fung
FungBros2020.png
The Fung Brothers in July 2020
PseudonymFung Bros., 馮氏兄弟
MediumSocial Media, Stand-Up Comedy
NationalityUnited States
Genres Comedy, Cultural Commentary, Food
Subject(s) Asian American lifestyle, Asian food, hip hop music
Notable works and roles"The Jeremy Lin Effect - Fung Brothers"
"Bobalife"
"Asians Eat Weird Things"
Website fungbrothers.com

The Fung Brothers are a Chinese-American duo consisting of comedians and rappers Andrew Fung (born March 30, 1989) and David Fung (born September 1, 1986), [1] who are brothers born and raised in Kent, Washington. They gained traction in the early 2010s especially due to their YouTube videos regarding NBA player Jeremy Lin, Asian cuisine, and the "626" area of the San Gabriel Valley. [2] They have produced content regarding topics such as: haircut styles, sneakers, men's fashion, hip-hop music videos, Asian stereotypes, Asian masculinity, and responding to Asian discrimination. Their work has been features in Huffington Post, [3] Los Angeles Times, [4] NBC News, [5] Wall Street Journal and CNN. [6]

Contents

They also had a 13 episode TV series on A&E Network's FYI channel titled Broke Bites: What the Fung?! [7] However most of their own YouTube content consisted of intellectually honest conversations about Asian American subject matter. [8]

With Grandmaster Jason Chu, Andrew and David formed a rap group known as "Model Minority", which has released a mixtape titled Model Minority Report that has been reviewed favorably in The Los Angeles Times . In the rap group, Andrew Fung's stage name is Inglish and David Fung's is D-One. [9] They graduated from University of Washington.

Background

Andrew and David Fung were born in the United States to Chinese parents and grew up in the East Hill neighborhood in Kent, Washington. [10] [11] Their father was born in Guangzhou and raised in Hong Kong, and their mother was of Shandong ancestry [12] born in Shanghai, and raised in China and Japan; specifically Shandong, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. [13] [14]

The Fung brothers attended Kentwood High School. [11] After graduating from University of Washington at Seattle, the Fung brothers decided to settle in the Los Angeles area, initially in Koreatown, and later on in Monterey Park and Alhambra in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County. [15]

Work

TV shows and food channels

In 2015, the Fung Brothers started hosting a show on the A&E Network's FYI channel entitled Broke Bites: What the Fung?! [7] [16] [17] In the series, Andrew and David travel across the U.S. in search of the best local spots to eat, with a budget of only fifty dollars. [16]

In 2012, they starred on a program on the "Hungry" YouTube channel titled The Fung Brothers Mess With Texas. In this show, they tried restaurant food in various regions of Texas. [18]

Interviews

The Fung Brothers have been making various videos about Taiwanese American NBA player Jeremy Lin ever since he first signed with the Golden State Warriors. Their most popular Jeremy Lin videos are the "Jeremy Lin Effect" series, made during the height of "Linsanity" when Lin joined the New York Knicks, and the videos have been covered by CNN (pointing out that they were the first ones to use the phrase), The Wall Street Journal , The Washington Post , Yahoo! Sports, and Taiwan News Station CTV. [19] [20] [21] The first Jeremy Lin Effect video was directed, produced and edited by Mike Eshaq, and the second one, known as "Linsanity" was directed, produced and edited by Timothy Tau, and the third one, titled "Linsanity Withdrawals," was directed, produced, and edited by Tommy Su. The Fung Brothers wrote and acted in all of them.

In 2019, the brothers interview then presidential candidate, Andrew Yang, which was a vital part of Yang's initial push on social media including Joe Rogan and The Breakfast Club.

In 2020, The Fung Brothers interviewed NFL Ram's rookie Taylor Rapp, about his Asian ancestry and the struggle of being overlooked. In the interview he explained that Jeremy Lin was a big inspiration when he needed encouragement in believing he could make it to the NFL. [22]

David Fung has also interviewed celebrities through a popular Korean website, Soompi.com. Some notable interviews include hip hop group Far East Movement.[ citation needed ]

Music videos

The Fung Brothers have also released a rap video titled "626" directed by Jason Poon set to the beat of Wiz Khalifa's track, "Young, Wild and Free," that highlights the various Asian restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley area. [23] [24]

They have also done another song titled "Colima Road" about the various Asian food establishments in the Rowland Heights area, directed by Dan Zhao. [25] Another popular viral video that they have done is a music video for a rap they performed titled "Wanking in the Dorm Room" also directed by Dan Zhao. [26]

On February 20, 2013, The Fung Brothers released a music video titled "Bobalife", also directed by Jason Poon, about the Taiwanese drink boba milk tea, which is also known as "bubble tea" or "pearl tea" and is popular among young Asian Americans, especially in the "626" area code. [27] The music video has been covered by the likes of The Huffington Post , [28] 8asians, [29] Angry Asian Man, [30] and more.

In July 2013, the Fung Brothers released a music video for a song titled "Asians Eat Weird Things" on YouTube. The song features vocals from AJ Rafael, and was partially filmed in a 99 Ranch Market store, who they partnered up with for the video. [31]

In July 2014, another music video of the title "Singapore & Malaysia" was released on YouTube. The song portrays the variety of foods and cultures in the Southeast Asia countries, Malaysia and Singapore. [32]

Comedy

In 2022, David Fung co-starred alongside The Daily Show's Ronny Chieng in a Netflix produced web episode titled "Ronny Chieng Takes Chinatown". The piece featured Jeremy Lin, Simu Liu and has amassed over 1.3 million views on Netflix Is A Joke's YouTube channel. [33] Later that year, The Fung Brothers performed at the Asian American Comedy Festival, an event organized by Edward Pokropski, in New York City. Other notable comedians in the lineup included Karen Chee, Yuhua Hamasaki. [34]

In 2023, the duo started hosting their own monthly mixed media comedy show in New York City's Lower Eastside called Fung Bros Present: Asianology, an Asian culture based comedy show with uncensored, witty jokes tackling a variety of Asian and Asian-American related topics. [35]

Business

In April 2022, the Fung Brothers joined the advisory board of Legendary Ventures, a venture capital firm with offices in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. At the same time, they also launched Fung Brothers Ventures alongside Legendary Ventures to accelerate startups like Posture360 and XFrost. [36]

On August 10, 2022, Andrew Yang joined the advisory team at Legendary Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm, to drive strategic value across the firm's portfolio of consumer retail technology investments, alongside Fung Brothers Ventures. [37]

Related Research Articles

<i>Giant Robot</i> (magazine) Bimonthly Asian-American culture magazine

Giant Robot is a website and former bimonthly magazine focusing on Asian and Asian-American popular culture, founded in Southern California in 1994. It was one of the earliest American publications to feature prominent Asian film stars such as Chow Yun-fat and Jet Li, as well as Asian musicians from indie and punk rock bands. Its coverage later expanded into art, design, Asian-American issues, travel, and much more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legendary Entertainment</span> American film studio

Legendary Entertainment, LLC is an American mass media and film production company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull along with Jon Jashni, Larry Clark, William Fay and Scott Mednick. The company has often collaborated with the major studios, including Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures, as well as streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. Since 2016, Legendary has been a subsidiary of the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group and American equity firm Apollo.

Maximiliano Bretos is an American sports reporter and sports announcer, who is currently the play-by-play announcer for MLS broadcasts on Apple TV. He formerly hosted ESPN Major League Soccer and SportsCenter for ESPN as well as being the lead announcer for Fox Soccer from 2003-2010 and Los Angeles FC from 2018-2022. Bretos' broadcast specialization is Football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marié Digby</span> American musician

Marié Christina Digby is an American singer-songwriter best known for her acoustic cover version of Rihanna's "Umbrella", which was posted on YouTube in 2007. The song was subsequently played on the radio station STAR 98.7, was featured on the highly rated third season opening episode of the MTV show The Hills, and peaked at #10 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. Digby performed the song on the late-night talk show Last Call with Carson Daly on August 2, 2007. Since then, Digby has released several studio albums, EPs and singles, including one Japanese cover album. Her fifth studio album Winter Fields was released in October 2013. In August 2014, Marié released Chimera, a three-track EP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lin-Manuel Miranda</span> American songwriter, actor, and librettist (born 1980)

Lin-Manuel Miranda is an American songwriter, actor, singer, filmmaker, rapper and librettist. He created the Broadway musicals In the Heights (2005) and Hamilton (2015), and the soundtracks for the animated films Moana (2016), Vivo, and Encanto. He has received numerous accolades including a Pulitzer Prize, three Tony Awards, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and five Grammy Awards, along with nominations for two Academy Awards. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KevJumba</span> American blogger, American online personality

Kevin Wu is a retired American YouTuber best known under his former username KevJumba. The San Francisco Chronicle's Jeff Yang has noted that Wu is not a comedian in the conventional sense but that by "just talking [he] is, well, pretty hilarious" due to his deadpan vocal delivery, animated facial expressions and tendency toward unexpected digressions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wong Fu Productions</span> American filmmaking group

Wong Fu Productions is an American filmmaking group founded by Wesley Chan, Ted Fu, and Philip Wang. The trio met at the University of California, San Diego in 2004 and produced a number of music videos and short films released on their website and later YouTube before establishing a professional media company, Sketchbook Media, after their graduation. Their works have been featured at a number of national and international film festivals, including the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and the San Diego Asian Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Lin</span> American basketball player (born 1988)

Jeremy Shu-How Lin is a Taiwanese-American professional basketball player for the New Taipei Kings of the P. League+ (PLG). He unexpectedly led a winning turnaround with the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) during the 2011–12 season, sparking a cultural phenomenon known as "Linsanity". Lin was the first American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA, and is one of the few Asian Americans to have played in the league. He is the first Asian American player to win an NBA championship, having done so with the Toronto Raptors in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hopsin</span> American rapper from California (born 1985)

Marcus Jamal Hopson, known professionally as Hopsin, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer from Los Angeles, California. He is known for his use of white colored eye contacts in his music videos and performances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy Tau</span> American novelist

Timothy Tau is a Taiwanese-American writer, engineer, attorney, law professor and filmmaker. Tau won the 2011 Hyphen Asian American Writers' Workshop Short Story Contest for his short story, "The Understudy", which was published in the Winter 2011 issue of Hyphen magazine, Issue No. 24, the "Survival Issue." Tau also won Second Prize in the 2010 Playboy College Fiction Contest for his short story, "Land of Origin". He has also directed a number of short films and music videos that have screened at various film festivals worldwide and on YouTube.

Jessika Van is an American actress, singer-songwriter, pianist and dancer. Van is most known for playing "Becca," the ringleader of the Asians or the Asian mafia in Season 2 and Season 3 of MTV's Awkward. She also played Kim, a Hong Kong Police Officer and sister of Detective Lee in the Rush Hour television series. She has also starred as the antagonist "Li Xue" in the 2019 12-episode Chinese series,Yolk Man (蛋黄人).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Nguyen</span> American film director, producer and writer

Steve Nguyen is an American director, writer, artist and film producer. Nguyen and fellow director Choz Belen formed Studio APA, a multimedia collective that specializes in the production of animated films, children's books and music videos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">React Media, LLC</span> American media company founded by Benny and Rafi Fine

React Media, LLC is an American reacting, digital media and entertainment company founded by brothers Benny Fine and Rafi Fine, creators and media entrepreneurs. React Media produces the React video series, their several timed-spoiler series, narrative web series, and created a "transmedia" sitcom on YouTube, MyMusic.

Evan Jackson Leong is a director and documentary filmmaker. Leong is likely most known for his documentary Linsanity about Jeremy Lin, which made its world premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. He has also directed the documentary 1040: Christianity in the New Asia (2010), and the documentary short BLT Genesis (2002), which tracks the behind-the-scenes making of and trajectory of Justin Lin's film, Better Luck Tomorrow.

<i>Linsanity</i> (film) 2013 American film

Linsanity is a 2013 American documentary film about the rise of Asian-American basketball player Jeremy Lin. The film was directed by Evan Jackson Leong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronny Chieng</span> Malaysian comedian and actor

Ronny Xin Yi Chieng is a Malaysian comedian and actor based in the United States. He is a senior correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, and he created and starred in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation sitcom Ronny Chieng: International Student. He has also portrayed roles in films such as Crazy Rich Asians and the English version of Inspector Sun and the Curse of the Black Widow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simu Liu</span> Canadian actor (born 1989)

Simu Liu is a Canadian actor. He is known for portraying Shang-Chi in the 2021 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. He also played Jung Kim in the CBC Television sitcom Kim's Convenience and a Ken in Barbie. He received nominations at the ACTRA Awards and Canadian Screen Awards for his work in Blood and Water.

Monica Lin, better known as Thundercup, is an American marketing director and Internet personality of Taiwanese descent. She serves as marketing director at Popular Demand, a Los Angeles-based clothing brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">88rising</span> American mass media company

88rising, formerly known as CXSHXNLY, is an American record label founded in 2015 by Sean Miyashiro. According to their website, Miyashiro describes it as a “hybrid management, record label, video production, and marketing company”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AJ Rafael</span> American musician

Arthur Joseph Rafael, known professionally as AJ Rafael, is a Filipino-American singer-songwriter, YouTuber, and TikToker. Born in Moreno Valley, California, he graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 2010.

References

  1. ↑ "Happy Birthday to the other half of the Fung Bros". September 1, 2012. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  2. ↑ Xia, Rosanna (August 27, 2012). "Asian American Youth Culture Comes of Age in 'the 626'". Los Angeles Times .
  3. ↑ "The Asian College Bubble: Self-Segregation or Something More?". HuffPost. 2013-08-20. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  4. ↑ "Asian American youth culture is coming of age in 'the 626'". Los Angeles Times. 2012-08-27. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  5. ↑ "The Fung Brothers Make the Leap from Online to On-Air". NBC News. 2015-05-14. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  6. ↑ Liu, Marian (2017-08-03). "Straight outta... China? The young Asian artists bucking hip-hop trends". CNN. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
  7. 1 2 "Broke Bites: What the Fung?!". FYI. Archived from the original on February 23, 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  8. ↑ Wang, Oliver (May 7, 2012). "San Gabriel Valley Goes Viral: The Fung Bros Rep the 626". KCET . Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  9. ↑ Wang, Oliver (March 22, 2011). "Model Minority: Three Chinese Americans shuttle between racially colored humor and politics". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Andrew Fung aka INGLISH: "For the music we make, it helps to be honest, real and humorous."". theotherasians.com. 2012-04-14. Archived from the original on 2012-04-24. Retrieved 2012-05-04.{{cite news}}: More than one of |archivedate= and |archive-date= specified (help); More than one of |archiveurl= and |archive-url= specified (help)
  11. 1 2 Conerly, Michelle (March 18, 2013). "Kent brothers laugh their way to Internet fame". Kent Reporter. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  12. ↑ "BEST CHINESE DUMPLINGS w/ JIMMY ZHANG (Shandong Food) - Fung Bros Food". YouTube .
  13. ↑ "Q & A with The Fung Brothers: Food Nerds, Asian Vegetable Superiority and the Lack of Drunk People in the 626". LA Weekly . April 2, 2012. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  14. ↑ "The O.G.s of the SGV". LA Weekly . May 2013. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved October 1, 2013.{{cite news}}: More than one of |archivedate= and |archive-date= specified (help); More than one of |archiveurl= and |archive-url= specified (help)
  15. ↑ Xavier, Esmee (March 14, 2012). "From Seattle, with love: Why the Fung Bros sing about the "626"". alhambrasource.org. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
  16. 1 2 "New Series 'What The Fung?!' to Premiere Saturday, May 23 on FYI" (Press release). FYI. April 14, 2015. Archived from the original on April 17, 2015. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  17. ↑ Szkaradnik, Carly (April 9, 2015). "YouTube Stars The Fung Brothers Are Filming a New Show at PYT". Philadelphia Eater. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  18. ↑ "The Fung Brothers Mess with Texas". Angry Asian Man . August 27, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  19. ↑ Yu, Timothy (February 20, 2012). "Will Jeremy Lin's success end stereotypes?". CNN . Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  20. ↑ Chin, Josh (February 11, 2011). "Jeremy Lin Drops 38 on Lakers, Breaks 500,000 on Sina Weibo". China Real Time Report. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  21. ↑ Washington, Jesse (February 18, 2012). "Jesse Washington, Asian-Americans rejoice as Lin Smashes Stereotypes". Yahoo! News . Retrieved May 28, 2012.[ permanent dead link ]
  22. ↑ "Taylor Rapp talks path to NFL as Asian-American, Jeremy Lin inspiration". Rams Wire. 2020-01-21. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  23. ↑ "Watch a Song Parody Tribute to Eating in the SGV". Grub Street. February 20, 2012.
  24. ↑ ""626" by Fung Brothers: An Ode to San Gabriel Valley". Angry Asian Man . February 21, 2012.
  25. ↑ "Music Video: "Colima Road" By Fung Bros. Feat. Aileen Xu". Angry Asian Man. September 23, 2011. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  26. ↑ Golden, Geoffrey (July 23, 2013). "7 Funny Music Videos By The Fung Bros". Crave. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  27. ↑ The Fung Brothers ft. Kevin Lien, Priska, Aileen Xu (February 20, 2013). Bobalife. YouTube. Retrieved February 16, 2016.
  28. ↑ "'Bobalife' By Fung Brothers Presents Health Benefits Of Taiwanese Tea Drink (VIDEO)". Huffington Post . February 22, 2013.
  29. ↑ Koji, Steven (June 11, 2013). "Hip to be Asian American?". 8Asians.
  30. ↑ "The Fung Brothers are Living That Bobalife". Angry Asian Man . February 20, 2013.
  31. ↑ "'Asians Eat Weird Things' Video Showcases Asian-American Cuisine". The Huffington Post . July 9, 2013. Retrieved July 11, 2013.
  32. ↑ "Singapore & Malaysia (MUSIC VIDEO) - Fung Bros". July 9, 2013. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  33. ↑ Ronny Chieng Takes Chinatown (2022) , retrieved 2022-08-24
  34. ↑ Wickham, Esther (2022-03-11). "Asian Comedy Fest to return to New York City this spring | amNewYork". www.amny.com. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  35. ↑ "Fung Bros' Asianology 101: A Comedy Show You Can't Miss!". CLIQUE-NOW. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
  36. ↑ Perlman, Melissa (2022-04-19). "Legendary Ventures Expands Advisory Team with New Appointments". EIN News. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  37. ↑ Perlman, Melissa (2022-08-10). "LEGENDARY VENTURES EXPANDS ADVISORY BOARD WITH NEW APPOINTMENT". EIN Presswire. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.