Surviving a Mecha Attack – National Service Warning Panel

When doing original panels, I always work with a friend from home, Mr. George Davidson.

Last summer at Connecticon we premiered our newest panel, SURVIVING A MECHA ATTACK, a parody of public service announcements about how to average citizen can save themselves from the threat of giant robots.

The panel has been run many many times including: Otakon, Mokucon, Genericon, Zenkaikon and partially at the New York Anime Festival. I am happy to announce that this silly panel will be incorporated into my tour.

Here’s a clip of the opening as I performed the panel at AniFusion at
Forbidden City in NYC.

Surviving a Mecha Attack has been scheduled for the following times:

ANIMELAND WASABI: Sunday, March 7th at 11 am.
ANIME MILWAUKEE: Friday, March 12th at 7pm.
KAMIKAZECON: TBA
ANIME BOSTON: Friday, April 2nd at 5pm.
TEKKOSHOCON: TBA

I have been working night and day to get the Power Point presentation up and running, making improvements where needed and hammering out the jokes to make this the best panel it can be. Hope to see you guys at the panel. Most of the images are copyrighted, so I am not able to sell any recording of this panel, but you are more than welcomed to watch whatever videos pop up online.

See you next time, Galactic Cowpokes,

~Yo

Fan-based Avatar Group Discovered

As I often say in my act, American fan cliques have a habit of celebrating their loves by taking in their beloved source material, and rework it somehow.

I’m talking about how fans can dress like Pokemon in tuxedos, creating a gothic-lolita version of the Akatsuki from Naruto, and how groups like DoD can exist.

I’d like to call your attention to a fan-based creation based on the acclaimed series Avatar: The Last Airbender. By taking the series 50 years into the future, they are able to play with the most important two words in fanfic-writing: “What If?”

They can be found here, still in their germination stage, but loaded with potential.

The group is called Avatar: The Dawning of Darkness. They work for no profit, they work from home using flash animation, and their dedication is astonishing. Depending on how they treat their world, both their original characters and pre-existing ones from Avatar itself, their season may turn out to be more accurate than whatever M. Night Shyamalan.

Zenkaikon: 3rd Year’s a Charm!

With a new location, and an almost 200% increase in attendance from last year, this year’s ZENKAIKON of Valley Forge, PA was a huge success for the con.

We had just a long line to get in on Saturday the staff was overwhelmed, but the combination of cold, Red Bull and excitement pushed through. I got to meet the staff from Fighter’s High, Trina Nishimura, and perform, once again with Reni Mimura for opening ceremonies and during the masquerade. I may have to upload the video from the masquerade….or I may want to preserve the remainder of my dignity and let it remain hearsay.

And, of course, there was this kid:

They do say imitation is the highest form of flattery.

For Whose Line is it Anime, we had our BEST show of all three years. Turns out, Robert Axelrod (Lord Zedd, Wizardmon) is the MASTER at playing Questions. And Trina Nishimura was fast-thinking, funny and fantastic at improv.

Zenkaikon is my home convention, being the first anime con I ever performed as Uncle Yo, and every year as it had grown, so has my fanbase and so has my confidence. As I said to my parents after my first performance of “Uncle Iro’s Wedding Toast for Zuko,” “it’s good to be home.”

Sold out of CD’s. Oh man, which is gonna make Anime USA in two weeks just a tad awkward. I’ll be running some panels with Mecha Software and working with the Cosplay Burlesque. Stay snappy, America, and stay warm.

Live, laugh & glomp,

~Yo

Uncle Yo at Zenkaikon Main Stage on 11/07/09

Drom was a raging success. Tha…

Drom was a raging success. That is only because of the support of so many die-hard friends, fans, and everyone in between.

Big thanks to Geek Nights for …

Big thanks to Geek Nights for dominating panels at Connecticon and making this BurningWheelcon. Great weekend with good company.

AnimeNEXT Wrap-Up

AnimeNEXT ‘09 saw a few set-backs but a HUGE fan turn-out, which is why it will return next year, stronger than ever.

Let’s see, what did I like about AnimeNEXT…
1) Location (serving PA, NJ, NYC, L.I, Delaware)

Take that Palette Swap!

The Lovely and Fan-Supportive Michelle Knotz

4) As far as I know, both my performances in main events spread a few smiles, which is the whole purpose of this little journey we’ve all taken together.

5) Discovered an EPIC ’80’s arcade/cheesesteak place called the Break. Find it!

6) Masquerade had only (3) memes! A new record!

7) Cosplay Burlesque had a large turn-out…nothing quite like seeing Chi, Harley Quinn and Sephiroth bear things in ways only fanfics had dared to imagine.

I’ll be posting up all the pics from this weekend on myspace, so for intimate details, we’ve got to be friends first.

Con Wrap-up: Anime Land Wasabi and Tekkoshocon

After many red-eye flights and much glomp-dodging, I’m finally back in New York.

Big thanks to the crew and attendees of Anime Land Wasabi because smaller cons give you the chance to get to know everybody. Big thanks to Kyle Hebert for always being chill and sharing panel slots. Thank you cross-gender cosplayers for confusing me, and special thanks to my hero-of-the-month, Candy Ninja. Spreading the love and tooth decay at a speed that rivals lightning. You guys always make me feel at home, especially in the RPG room.

Big thanks to the AMAZING staff of Tekkoshocon in Pittsburgh, PA. Even though a con-goer stole the anger manga-moticon we still had a great weekend. Thank you for making it the best birthday I’ve had in many years. Both Friday night’s show and our improvisation panel on Saturday were met with huge applause – get in touch with me, gentlemen, I smell Otakon material. I finally saw the ending to Left 4 Dead and I gotta say only you can prevent Boomers.

Guests were a pleasure, as were most of the con-goers. Despite its gargantuan size, Tekko stays pretty mellow. Greg Ayres of course putting on a great show, as well as Eyeshine and Otakage of Japan: part punk-rock, part Kabuki. Pleasure meeting both Stephanies, the remaining two-thirds of team Kurenai from Naruto and the great Johnny Wong Bosch. It’ll always be morphin’ time.

To whomever bought my program guide, please take the lists and swearing with a grain of salt, and thank you for contributing to the charity auction.

Well I’ve got to make some more CD’s in prep for Anime Boston, Brooklyn’s Sakura Matsuri at the Botanical Gardens, and everything in-between.

Sakura Matsuri at Brooklyn’s Botanical Gardens

DATE: May 2nd and 3rd
TIME: TBA
CITY: Brooklyn, where a tree grows.
BUT AREN’T YOU A COMEDIAN: A comedian who celebrates all things Japanese.
CAN I GET A LINK: Can you ever. Click here to learn more.

For nearly three decades, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens have celebrated the yearly blossoming of their Japanese Sakura trees. This year, they’re upping the ante of all things Japanese with a Cosplay demonstration, a performance from Uncle Yo, and that’s just the beginning.

This is my first open-to-the public performance at a non-convention setting, so bring a friend, your kimono and your love of Japanese culture…before I tear all three of them a new one.

Return to Adirondack Community College

A new show for some old friends.

WHERE: Adirondack Community College
WHEN: Saturday, April 24th, Noon
ADMISSION PRICE: None
WHY: Because you deserve it