Stand Up, Yumi Chung!

After the beauty salon, Yumi and her mother return to the family’s Koreatown restaurant. The neighborhood is changing and becoming gentrified, so Chung’s Barbecue is struggling to survive. Yumi helps out at the restaurant, and her 20-year-old sister Yuri is working there today too. Yuri is already in UCLA medical school and is the family paragon, while Yumi isn’t.

Yumi is an aspiring comedian. The only person who supports her in this dream is the restaurant’s cook, Manuel. She overhears her parents humblebragging with customers about their overachieving children. Each one is trying to outdo the others for the most accomplished child. Yumi thinks, “If only my parents were proud of me for the things I can actually do” (23-24).

That evening, Yumi is practicing a stand-up comedy routine in her bedroom. Her idol is the kids’ comedy coach vlogger Jasmine Jasper. Yumi follows all of Jasmine’s advice about how to deliver a joke. She tries making a video clip of her performance and is mortified by the result: “Hopeless, I fall onto my bed face-first. What I really need is a personality transplant. From a really spontaneous, naturally outgoing, fun-loving donor” (28). Yumi records all her comic observations in a Super-Secret Comedy Notebook. When her mother enters with a snack, Yumi hides the notebook. Mrs. Chung asks if big sister Yuri is seeing a boyfriend because she isn’t taking phone calls and doesn’t come home from campus very often. Yumi says she doesn’t know but promises to keep Mrs. Chung informed.

Yumi dutifully starts attending the test-prep classes but hates the experience: “To no one’s surprise, my parents enrolled me in Koreatown’s most rigorous hagwon, which is run by Mrs. Pak, otherwise known as ‘Pak Attack’ for her ability to whip kids into straight-A shape” (36). Yumi is inattentive throughout the three-hour morning session. Afterward, she is expected to spend three more hours each afternoon doing homework in the local library. Yumi confesses her misery to her friend Ginny, who is also in the class.

After the session ends, Yumi starts heading to the library when her attention is drawn to a nearby theater marquee. The new building is actually a comedy club featuring a poster of Jasmine Jasper. Yumi darts inside to snap a selfie next to Jasmine’s picture when she hears the comedian’s voice drifting out to the lobby.

Yumi enters the auditorium and finds that Jasmine is conducting a comedy camp for kids. Before Yumi can protest, Jasmine assumes she is a missing student named Kay Nakamura. Too shocked to say anything, Yumi watches helplessly as Jasmine starts an improv exercise where everyone is supposed to play the worst zookeeper ever. A boy named Felipe plays a character allergic to animal dander. Jasmine then calls Yumi to the stage: “I take a deep breath and go for it. I scrunch my face with my hands on my hips. ‘I’m never playing Uno with you sniveling beasts ever again.’ I give my nastiest side-eye. ‘Bunch of lion cheetahs’” (52).

The other students applaud, and Yumi is flushed with success. When the class ends, she wants to tell Jasmine that she isn’t Kay Nakamura but never gets the chance. When Felipe compliments her on her improv performance, Yumi belatedly realizes that her mother will be arriving at the library to pick her up, and she dashes out.

Back at the restaurant, Yumi finds her sister washing dishes because two employes quit abruptly. As the girls work, Yumi tells Yuri about the comedy camp. Yuri is very encouraging and says that Yumi needs to stand up for herself. Yumi suspects that Yuri has a secret of her own that she’s hiding. Later, while dining with the family, Yuri suggests that their parents should sign Yumi up for the performing arts camp because it develops confidence and poise in public speaking. Yumi’s father rejects the idea since it costs $200, and Yumi is crushed with disappointment.

The next day, Mrs. Pak wants to see Yumi before class to discuss her dismal progress. The teacher points out that Yumi’s initial test answers were correct, but she second-guessed herself and changed them. Yumi confesses that she is afraid of disappointing her teacher and parents. Mrs. Pak advises, “Stop worrying about living up to other people’s expectations and pursue excellence on your own terms” (79).