- OTHER MEDIA
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- review in the San Francisco Weekly
- by Nataniel Eaton
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- The shy guy in the hall hands me photos from his L.A. performance at
Starbucks, introduces me to his dad (who's doing lights), and then jumps
onstage at the Exit Theater's small cafe like a preacher on a pulpit, preening
like a Southern diva and letting us know what's on his mind. This is Moky's
Life 101, and the audience of four is instructed: "Listen to learn.
The truth will be painful. I am here to help you." Moky (pronounced
like "hockey") Huynh dropped out of USC wanting to inspire a
"Malcolm X kind of change" in the world, and has transformed
himself into a self-help jackhammer, pounding out motivational (if trite)
aphorisms to audiences he addresses as "folks," "people,"
and "boys and girls." Some examples: "It's all or nothing."
"Don't exist in your inertia of fear and insecurity." "Life
won't turn out like you expect; it will turn out better." Alternating
between hope and intolerant anger, he machine-guns articulate rants about
education (good), financial security (bad), corporate America (a way to
pay your rent while chasing your dream), gays and lesbians (good, "but
please no lewd behavior"), adoption (he's doing it), and organized
religion (search for God yourself). Moky's got a lot to say, and is at
times inspiring, abrasive, and, as when he performs a spot-on Michael Jackson
dance to a Tupac Shakur song, one of a kind.
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