Atlanta-based comedian Yoshee So finds laughs and truths through the immigrant experience

What do you get when a first-generation Nigerian immigrant steps away from a lucrative marketing career to pursue improv after having only just discovered a knack for it at 30-years-of-age? You get stand up comedian, Yoshee So, who finds humor the in the spaces where cultures clash and overlap, and shares what’s funniest about figuring out how to be a dad in the Atlanta suburbs.

So brings his brand of observant, intercultural, and family-inspired-but-adult-tempered humor to the Wormhole this Friday night.

Recent comedy shows: It's Terrance Miller's birthday and he'll laugh if he wants to – and you're invited to join

Other comedy acts: From New York to Savannah, actor Bill Irwin is still waiting on Godot with 'On Beckett'

Local author: Comedian Michael Ian Black examines masculinity in 'A Better Man'

In the early 1980s when his father was a graduate student in Philadelphia, So immigrated to the U.S. with his family. He was 5-years-old and one of five siblings. They slid by to make ends meet, with his dad even taking on custodial work at the university where he was graduate assistant. The family navigated new cultural norms, including child discipline. These observations would find their way into So’s comedy.

“In Nigeria, kids get beat with whatever is near, like a window sill, “ chuckled So. “And then in America, we got beat with a calendar because that’s what was close. I don’t believe in that kind of punishment, but some of my comedy examines culture like this and brings it forward. I find the humor in how I discipline my kids now compared to Nigeria. There’s no beating! Instead it’s just no Wi-Fi or no screen time.”

After a series of professorships, his father landed a world religions position at a Texas university. So was in high school, and it was the first time the family had a freestanding house and felt comfortable. But he remained under tremendous pressure from his parents to be a doctor or engineer. So is whip-smart.

Local scene: Savannah's comedy scene is finding community and success, but keeping local talent still a challenge

“In college I was pre-med for three years before finally being honest. I liked the coursework, it was fascinating, but I could not do the blood or patient care,” recalled So. “I switched to marketing because it was more creative and communications-based, and I just knew I could do it.”

And he did.

So became expert at digital marketing and technology, working his way into some of Atlanta’s top Fortune 500 companies. But he’d always been the class clown, that guy with a quick retort, or painfully funny situational insight. Sometimes, when he and his wife would watch comedy shows together at home, he’d say he could do that. He could be funny like them, maybe even funnier.

“My wife is the catalyst in all of this, she’s the one who bought improv classes for me when I turned 30, and that opened a totally new world,” emphasized So. “That creative need was finally getting served. I worked on improv before I got into stand up.”

Other recent local shows: Elvis Ali coming to 'lift spirits' during holiday season at Savannah-area homeless shelters

For two years, he honed his skills at Decatur’s Village Theater. Then in 2014 with a group of artists, So co-founded the Red Pill Players, an all-Black improv troupe that performs monthly in Atlanta and regularly tours the U.S. and Canada. In the last seven years as a stand up comedian, he’s shared stages with George Wallace and Chris Tucker.

This past Memorial Day weekend, So headlined his first run of shows in Dallas.

“I watched a lot of comedians in Atlanta and noted the ones with well-crafted sets,” recalled So. “This one guy, Clayton English, won the final season of Last Comic Standing, and I saw him over a series of live performances at different clubs refine this one joke until it was effortless, and watching that transformation sparked in me. To do great comedy, it takes a lot of work, so much effort, and that work on craft inspired me.”

Though So’s comedy often draws from his kids and family, his sets aren’t necessary family-friendly — his work revolves around multicultural and socioeconomic humor clearly aimed at adults. He weaves in his immigrant background. He examines what it’s like being in an inter-racial marriage and having mixed kids in the suburbs. So even has one bit that looks at the frustrating humor of being in a homeowners association.

National acts: Jo Koy brings culture and laughs to the Johnny Mercer Theatre

“On Friday, the audience can expect great tales about the immigrant who made it and the struggles of continuing to make it in America. It’s the comedy in that struggle that shows up on stage and has a way of bringing people together to laugh. And that’s what it’s all about, getting together and laughing.”

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah GA things to do: Comedian Yoshee So performs at The Wormhole