Biography

Jameson Gong was born in 1969 and raised in New York City's Chinatown

Chinatown

A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...

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Jami's first attempt at stand-up comedy came on a dare while he attended Syracuse University

Syracuse University

Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...

. After graduating from Syracuse with a geography degree, Jami moved back into his family's brownstone in Chinatown. He made a living selling sports souvenirs at Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...

, and in later years, working at a chain of men's clothing stores around New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. At nights, Jami performed stand-up comedy, although he did not perform from 1993 to 1999 as a result of a poor performance that affected his confidence. He returned to stand-up after vowing to his sick grandmother that he would live life to the fullest.

In 1999, Jami, along with several friends, created www.ChinatownNYC.com, a website featuring information about Chinatown. Jami also became a licensed tour guide and conducted acclaimed walking tours in Chinatown. Later, Jami made stand-up comedy his full-time profession. He has appeared at comedy clubs all over the world, as well as on Late Night with Conan O'Brien

Late Night with Conan O'Brien

Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...

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In 2005, Jami produced the first National Asian Comedy tour, and also took the tour overseas to Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

. In February 2007, Jami founded The TakeOut Comedy Club Hong Kong

The TakeOut Comedy Club Hong Kong

The TakeOut Comedy Club Hong Kong is a venue for stand-up comedy and improvisational comedy located at 34 Elgin Street, basement, Central, Hong Kong. Founded in February 2007 by Jami Gong, a leading Chinese American stand-up comedian, TakeOut Comedy is the first fulltime comedy club in Asia...

,http://www.takeoutcomedy.com which is the first full-time comedy club in Asia. In 2009, the club expanded its operations to conduct shows in Macau

Macau

Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

 and the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

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Miscellaneous

In 1995, Jami was knighted by the country of Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

. In 2004, Jami carried the Olympic flame

Olympic Flame

The Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a symbol of the Olympic Games. Commemorating the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics. The fire was reintroduced at the 1928...

 through Lower Manhattan as an official torchbearer for the 2004 Summer Olympics

2004 Summer Olympics

The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...

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External links

• TakeOut Comedy's website
• HK International Comedy Festival's website