Comedian Jenny Yang uses a comedy tour to uplift immigrants, one grocery
store at a time
[August 04, 2026]
By TERRY TANG
Stand-up comedians are used to tuning out the din of clinking glasses
from two-drink minimums and patrons walking in and out during sets. But
what about rolling shopping carts or the smell of fried fish?
That kind of ambience is what you'll find on comic Jenny Yang's unique
nationwide summer comedy tour, where she has been turning cultural
grocery stores into comedy clubs for a night. And she's been leaning
into her unconventional venue choice.
“I got to buy a bunch of small snacks and shrimp chips and throw it into
the audience every time I felt like a joke didn’t land,” Yang said. “I
mean this is my dream.”
A stand-up and sketch comedy veteran whose acting credits include the
Netflix show “The Brothers Sun,” Yang is living a dream of “the most
politically and creatively fulfilling project” she's ever done. The Good
Egg Immigrant Grocery Store Standup Comedy Tour is partly her reaction
to the immigration crackdowns by President Donald Trump's administration
impacting Asian, Latino and Black communities. She wanted to entertain
in cities with immigrant enclaves where she could give back. So, Yang
and her team chose grocery store stops and nonprofits to donate to based
on recommendations from local organizations.
The unorthodox tour has grown from five performances to nearly 20, far
beyond her expectations. It started June 5 in Los Angeles, where Yang
lives, and has taken her to Minneapolis, Phoenix and other cities. After
stops in New York and San Francisco, the tour will wrap Sept. 26 back in
L.A. with Yang filming a performance for a proposed comedy special.
She touches on topics ranging from infertility to awareness of immigrant
experiences in the U.S. While comedians are divided on whether stand-up
should stand down on politics, Yang has always spoken on it.
“People come into this art form as a stand-up comedian for different
reasons. I am of the mind that my stand-up comedy is just an extension
of my values and I believe in punching up, not down,” Yang said.
Being inspired to be a ‘good egg’
Last December, Yang, who immigrated from Taiwan, was back there to
receive what was a failed round of in vitro fertilization treatment.
Heartbroken and sitting in front of an omelet breakfast, she lamented
not having “one good egg" to start a family. As she mulled a new
endeavor to focus on, her mind drifted toward the “non-stop barrage” of
headlines about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.
That's when the idea for a tour weaving her past as a labor organizer
with her passion for stand-up sparked.
”The ability to do and bring a show together, and bring people together
inside of the immigrant grocery store, to me, reaffirms our ability to
take up space and to own the space that matters to us," Yang said.
After emceeing a gala for the Asian Law Caucus in April, Yang shared her
outside-the-box idea with the San Francisco-based group. The Caucus
works pro bono in immigrant communities and on high-profile cases like
the recent birthright citizenship case. They hired Yang not just for her
comedic touch but as “somebody who culturally could relate to the
communities that we serve,” said executive director Aarti Kohli. The
Caucus offered its vast network of Asian American community leaders and
immigrant-centered nonprofits nationwide.
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Jenny Yang stands near the stage in the Jerusalem Market prior to
The Good Egg Immigrant Grocery Store Stand Up Comedy Tour show, July
31, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
 “Although we are a legal civil
rights organization, we understand that so much of how we reach
community is through, especially for Asian communities, food and
culture,” Kohli said. “I think comedy is healing and unifying.”
How a grocery store becomes a stage
At Shuang Hur Supermarket in Minneapolis — half a block from where
ICE agents fatally shot Alex Pretti — Yang put on a show in July,
said manager Henry Zhou.
They reconfigured shelves near the checkout lanes to fit 150 chairs,
he said.
“Everybody got in line to buy some snacks and some drinks. A few
people even did a bit of grocery shopping,” Zhou said.
He then dimmed the lights for Yang.
“Just renting a spotlight makes a show,” Yang said. “How fun is it
that I’m literally doing stand-up comedy next to an aisle that sells
fungus and five pounds of rice?”
Zhou found it a “unique experience” that he'd do again.
“We enjoyed every minute. Even after the show, everyone stayed and
chatted,” Zhou said. “I’m pretty sure it helped us promote the
store.”
The value of cultural grocery stores in the US
"Ethnic food” is no longer just a supermarket aisle. Chains like H
Mart and 99 Ranch Market, as well as smaller stores, generate $55.8
billion in revenue, according to a 2025 report from market research
firm IBISWorld.
These stores are also “cross-cultural meeting grounds,” said Willow
Lung, founding director of the Small Business Anti-Displacement
Network. They provide jobs for locals and attract other businesses
such as restaurants, beauty counters, and even tax preparers. They
can be anchors where there is no Chinatown or Japantown.
“They act as kind of a ‘main street,’ if you will, for communities,”
Lung said. “There's just so many ways in which we underestimate the
value of a grocery store as just being like, ‘Oh, it just sells
these products and services.’”
For over a year, international grocers have struggled with tariffs
and the absence of immigrant customers fearful of venturing out.
Some stores had to close temporarily or long-term, Lung added.
Grocery workers like Zhou try to “just help as much as we can.” For
a few customers, he took a shopping list via text and delivered it.
Yang hopes bringing a dose of humor will momentarily distract from
the angst so many of these communities continue to feel.
“It’s just a way to remind people, yes, there’s a lot of doom and
gloom,” she said. “But, we got to make room for joy.”
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