Filipino-American stand up comedian Jo Koy turned emotional as he spoke about his mother during his speech on October 7, when it was declared as “Jo Koy Day” in Los Angeles.
In his acceptance speech, Joseph Glenn Herbert, fondly known as Jo Koy, explained why he does his Pinoy accent in jokes.
“I wanted to do a thing where I’m like I tell the story about my mom and just let you hear what my mom does as a mom, and then you will relate to it and realize that a mom is just a mom.
“No matter what her ethnicity is, what her religion is, what her accent is and that’s the one that annoys me the most is I do the best impersonation of my mother,” he shared.
Jo Koy opened up on how he impersonated his mom not just to show he’s Filipino but to pay his respect to her.
He added: “It’s my way of showing that I’m Filipino and paying respect to my mother because as a kid when my mom and dad divorced, I saw my mom just trying to find other Filipinos in the community.”
The 51-year-old went on to say that he will continue his work to represent Filipinos on-screen.
“There’s six hours out there where they get an identity and that’s why I do it and I’ll continue to do it,” he said, referring to his shows.
It was on October 7 when the city of Los Angeles officially declared that date as Jo Koy Day.
