Linsanity is bringing out the funny bone in people. 

Anton DuGong asks why there is Linsanity for Jeremy Lin but there was never any Nguyen-sanity for Dat Nguyen?

March 9, 2012:

The greatest thing about Linsanity is that Jeremy Lin can win, he can lose, but he has already achieved the near impossible. In just a few short weeks, he's turned a country on its head and made it examine how Asian Americans are viewed in the mainstream.

AC Team members head to New York this week with high hopes to see Jeremy Lin play in a Knicks game. When we watch him, we will be watching a talented basketball player, but we will also be thinking about the historical milestone he has already achieved - for all of us.

Related Update: 

February 23, 2012:

Following on the recent racist and racially-offensive incidents in coverage of NBA star Jeremy Lin, the Asian American Journalists Association has issued guidelines on how to and how not to cover Jeremy Lin.

These guidelines are good for everyone, not just news media. 

You would have thought that by 2012 our nation's news media wouldn't need such etiquette lessons, but the recent incidents prove otherwise. Let's hope AAJA's advisory serves not only as guidelines, but as a warning shot that any future incidents will not be tolerated. 

Born in Los Angeles and raised in Palo Alto, California, Jeremy Lin is a native born American.  

AAJA introduces its guidelines with the following:

"Jeremy Lin is Asian American, not Asian (more specifically, Taiwanese American). It's an important distinction and one that should be considered before any references to former NBA players such...

Asian American actors are cast in only two percent of the roles in Broadway and major Off Broadway productions according to new data released by the advocacy group, the Asian American Performers Action Coalition.

The two percent number is dismal. The data disclosed that of the 6,639 total roles cast in the past five theater seasons, only 54 Broadway parts went to Asian American actors, and 100 Asian American actors got work at nonprofit companies.

Asian American Performers Action Coalition advocates point to these statistics as proof that there is negligible representation of Asian Americans on stage, and a serious lack of true diversity.

Asian Americans are New York City's fastest growing ethnic group, currently comprising 12.9 percent of the population. 

More than 400 people, mostly performers attended the RepresentAsian conference at Fordham University on Monday February 13, 2012 to listen to a roundtable discussion about the topic moderated by Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang (Chinglish, M.Butterfly) and 17 other members of the theatrical community. 

Theatre industry veterans at the round table discussion included Broadway director Bartlett Sher, Vineyard Theatre's Doug Aibel, playwright Douglas Carter Beane, producers Nelle Nugent and Stephen Byrd, and Actors' Equity boss Mary McColl.

Related: 

NPR's Randy Gener covers the RepresentAsian conference

New York Times writer Patrick Healy reports 

On Sunday, March 11, 2012, Shinsai: Theaters for Japan, will be performed at 3pm and 8pm at the Great Hall at Cooper Union, Seventh Street at Third Avenue in New York.

Shinsai: Theaters for Japan, a two performance benefit to raise funds that will go directly to Japanese theater artists devastated by last year’s great earthquake (Shinsai), will feature Michi Barall, Cindy Cheung, Joel de la Fuente, Angel Desai, Ann Harada, Jennifer Ikeda, Paul Juhn, Peter Kim, Ken Leung, Li Jun Li, Jennifer Lim, Angela Lin, Paolo Montalban, Olivia Oguma, Jon Norman Schneider, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Jade Wu, Johnny Wu, James Yaegashi and Stacey Yen, under the direction of Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher.

UPDATED: 3/6/12 12:45pm

Broadwayworld.com reports that Patti LuPone, Richard Thomas, Mary Beth Hurt, Jay O. Sanders and Henry Stram will join forces with the previously announced Asian American actors to raise funds that will go directly to Japanese theater artists devasted by last year’s earthquake when they appear in this Sunday’s March 11 benefit performances of Shinsai: Theaters for Japan, at the Great Hall at Cooper Union (Seventh Street at Third Avenue).

Patti LuPone and Henry Stram will appear in the 8pm performance only. Jay O. Sanders and Mary Beth Hurt will appear in the 3pm performance only. Richard Thomas will appear in both the 3pm and 8pm performances.

Read more: 

(New York, NY—March 5, 2012) Saving Face,Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Daniel Junge’s Oscar-winning short documentary about the plight of two Pakistani women who were victims of acid attacks, is one of more than 50 hand-selected films that will wow audiences at the 12th annual New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF). Presented by the Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC), NYIFF is scheduled from May 23 to 27 at Tribeca Cinemas in lower Manhattan. Formerly known as the IAAC and MIAAC Film Festivals, NYIFF has premiered some of the most well-known South Asian and foreign films, including Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, Bride and Prejudice, Monsoon Wedding, The Namesake, and several others. Some of the highlights of this year’s festival include:

May 23rd - Opening night red carpet screening at Paris Theatre & Gala Benefit at Essex House
May 24th – Industry Panels at Tribeca Cinemas
May 24th to 27th – NYIFF Screenings, post-screening events, parties, special events
Script-writing workshops
One minute cell phone films by NYU Tisch Film & TV students on Bollywood Music
Nightly networking parties at lounges around New York City
May 25th – Centerpiece screening & discussion: Tribute to Dev Anand –Hum Dono Rangeen
May 26th – Sidebar: Shyam Benegal Retrospective followed by post-screening discussion with director. Mamoo (1994), Sardari Begum (1996), and Zubeidaa (2001) – the...