Bobby Lee
Bobby Lee (born September 17, 1972 in San Diego, California) is an American comedian most notable for his membership in the recurring cast of comedians on sketch comedy series MADtv, where he plays most of the Asian roles on the show, most notably Kim Jong-il and Connie Chung.
Biography
Lee was born in 1972 to immigrant parents from South Korea. As a young man, he was expected to run his family's clothing store. However, after stints in a local rock band and at the local community college, he was spotted by Frank Burns, the legendary manager of La Jolla's Comedy Store.
In 1995, Pauly Shore spotted Lee on stage and asked the young comedian to open for him in Las Vegas. It was at that point that Lee met Shore's mother, the celebrated owner of the Comedy Store, Mitzi Shore. Lee became a regular at the club, and also went on the road with the comic Carlos Mencia.
Lee has appeared in over 20 national commercials, and has performed stand-up on Late Friday, Premium Blend and The Tonight Show. In summer 2004, he appeared in the big screen comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.
During the 2005 U.S. Open, Lee was in a commercial for IBM's Helpdesk.
He is well-received by university audiences and has become known for his extreme generosity, notably for inviting everyone in the university audience to a restaurant of the audience’s choosing and covering entire dinner tabs that run well into the thousands of dollars.
His hobbies include golf and hanging out with his co-workers on Mad TV.
MADtv
Lee officially joined the cast of MADtv in 2001 as a feature performer for the seventh season. He was later promoted to a repertory performer status the following season. As of February 2007, Lee is still a member of the current cast.
Lee created memorable characters on the show, including Bae Sung (who speaks in "Dumbass language"), Hideki the "Average Asian" (an Asian-American who fumes over stereotypical assumptions), and Tank (an overachieving import tuner street racer who uses his "ricer" Daewoo to pick up girls.
He also impersonated celebrities such as Connie Chung, Kim Jong-il, SuChin Pak, and William Hung.
Characters
- Bae Sung
- Billy (Sesame Street)
- Blind Kung Fu Master
- Chang
- Dr. Poon Ji Sum (Attitudes and Feelings, Both Desirable and Sometimes Secretive)
- Joe Hoon
- Johnny Gan (The Movie Review Show)
- Hideki (Average Asian)
- Kim Chee (The B.S.)
- Phil (Knobs)
- Tank
- Tyler Matsumoto (Hello, Hollywood/Iraq, Hello)
Impersonations
- apl.de.ap
- A.J. McLean
- Bobby Trendy
- Connie Chung
- Jackie Chan
- Jai Rodriguez
- Junichiro Koizumi
- Keiko Agena
- Keone Young
- Kim Jong-il
- Lucy Liu
- Michelle Kwan
- Pat Morita
- Rinko Kikuchi
- Sandra Oh
- Soon Yi
- SuChin Pak
- Takako Fuji
- Vern Yip
- Vili Fualaau
- William Hung
- Yao Ming
- Yunjin Kim
- Yuya Ozeki
- Ziyi Zhang
Television appearances
- Curb Your Enthusiasm (2005) as Sung
- Mind of Mencia (2005) as Chinese CSI Agent and as stereotypical Asian clerk.
- Minding the Store (2005) as Comic
- IBM commercial
- MADtv (2001- present) as Various Characters
- Mind of Mencia (2006) Chinese cashier in liquor store and as gay pirate
Filmography
- Killer Pad (2007) Winnie
- Kickin It Old School(2006) Aki Terasaki
- Undoing (2006) as Kenny
- Accidentally on Purpose (2005) as Bobby
- Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) as Kenneth Park
- Pauly Shore Is Dead (2003) as Delivery Boy
- American Misfits (2003) as Korean General
- The Underground Comedy Movie (1999) as Chinese Man