He's part Elvis, part Jim Carrey, and part Chris Rock and 100 percent Hmong. Tou Ger will electrify you with his high-energy interactive presentation about diversity. We promise you a culturally startling and enlightening experience with Tou Ger Xiong, the first Hmong comedian, storyteller, and rap artist. Get ready to listen, learn, and laugh along in a program that will not only teach us about the colorful world in which we live but a little more about ourselves as well.

Tou Ger Xiong was born in Laos in 1973. Since his father served with the CIA, the family had to flee Laos after the communist takeover in 1975. Xiong's family escaped across the border and sought refuge in a Thai refugee camp. After four years in the camp, Xiong's family immigrated to the United States as refugees of war. Xiong's childhood in America began in the public housing projects of St. Paul. In 1992, he graduated valedictorian from Humboldt High School and went on to receive a degree in political science from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. During his third year of college, Xiong developed a passion for the performance arts and created Project Respectism, an educational service project that uses comedy, storytelling, and rap music to bridge cultures and generations. While writing his senior thesis, Xiong presented his project to schools, churches, libraries, colleges, and community groups throughout the Midwest. Since then, Project Respectism has evolved into a program that provides cultural entertainment and education to people of all professions and backgrounds. Xiong has taken his message about respect to 35 states in the past six years. He has given over 800 presentations nationwide to audiences of all ages and ethnic backgrounds, sometimes reaching as many as 8,000 people in a week.

To view a Tou Ger Xiong performance is to watch an artistic chameleon shift from being rap artist to a storyteller to a comedian. Sometimes he becomes all three!

For more about Tou Ger visit www.gohmongboy.com

Tou Ger Xiong will rock the house

Friday, February 17th