China-US roommates is finally out! This sketch had more props than almost all the other sketches combined, and I now own a remote-controlled boat and a statue of Mao. Some fine summer day in the near future, I plan on gluing the statue to the boat and taking the whole contraption for a spin on Houhai.
When I first pitched the idea of doing a sketch show to the Asia Society, right up at the top of my list was the China-US roommates sketch. It seemed like something that was just waiting to be made.
In this sketch, I made a great effort not to stereotype the nations, but to really hone in on the idea of matching international relations to human relations. Why is it that when we act selfishly as countries it seems a natural course of action, but when we act selfishly as people it seems clearly rude? Perhaps just like roommates, nations might need to learn how to do more give-and-take rather than fighting it out over every point of national interest.
Are China and America friends? Clearly they’re not best buds, but they’re also not really enemies. There are some points of tension, but that’s to be expected of anyone living in close quarters.
Maybe if we talked things out a bit clearer and had a few more roomie-only movie nights, things would go better for us together as countries.