Augie T. (born Augusto Emery Tulba in 1968) is an American politician and member of the Honolulu City Council. Tulba is a

Radio personality A radio personality is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host (North American English), radio presenter (British English) or radio jockey. Radio personali ...

on KPHI, branded as "Shaka 96.7", based in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. He was also a successful radio personality on

KDNN KDNN (98.5 FM broadcasting, FM, "Island 98.5") is an commercial Hawaiian music, Hawaiian contemporary hit radio formatted radio station based in Honolulu, Hawaii. The iHeartMedia outlet broadcasts with an ERP of 51 kW. It also transmits o ...

and on

KQMQ-FM KQMQ-FM (93.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, known as "HI93". It is owned by the Pacific Media Group and it broadcasts a format of contemporary Hawaiian and reggae music. The programming is led by local r ...

. He started his career in comedy in the 1990s, but came to prominence in the 2000s. He was influenced by Rap Reiplinger. Augie T also does voice-over work for local radio and television advertisements. In March 2019, he held his final public comedy show. In September 2019, he announced his interest in running for the Honolulu City Council.

Personal life

Augie was born in 1968 and is the second oldest of six children. He grew up in the Kamehameha IV Housing Project (known to Hawaii residents as "Kam IV Housing"), in Kalihi Valley, a working-class area in urban Honolulu. He became a

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...

champion boxer at age 16. He attended

Farrington High School Governor Wallace Rider Farrington High School is a public secondary school (grades 9-12) located in the Kalihi district of Honolulu on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The school is part of the Farrington-Kaiser-Kalani Complex Area of the Honolulu ...

and graduated in 1986. In 1991, Augie got his first taste of stand-up comedy, taking top honors during an open mic night at the old Honolulu Comedy Club. Augie developed his earliest material with help from local comedian Andy Bumatai, who taught him that it isn't always necessary to use profanity in order to get a laugh. The surviving members of Booga Booga (James Grant Benton and Ed Ka'ahea) also mentored him; Augie had performed with them in 1993. Augie won the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award for Comedy Album of the Year with "Da Comedy Kahuna" in 1999. He won a second Hōkū Award in the comedy category with "Locally Disturbed" in 2003. In 2002, Augie was voted Comedian of the Year as the funniest comic in Hawai'i by the ''

Honolulu Star-Bulletin The ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' was a daily newspaper based in Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the second largest daily newspaper in the state of Hawaii (after the ''Honol ...

'' and ''

MidWeek ''MidWeek'' is a weekly United States tabloid shopper and advertisement periodical published Wednesday in Honolulu, Hawaii and distributed throughout the Islands of Oahu and Kauai. It is owned by Black Press and is a sister publication of th ...

'' newspapers. He is the only local comedian to sell out the Blaisdell Arena ("Augie T. - The Blaisdell Arena Show" DVD) and is recognized as one of Hawai'i's Top 100 Influential Filipinos with an exhibit at the

Bishop Museum The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1 ...

. He was the recipient of the prestigious Pacific Business News "Forty Under 40" award, and can be seen on multiple TV shows, commercials, and movies. He also performed in

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

as part of the Guam Comedy Series in 2017. On March 2, 2019, Augie held his final public comedy show with Andy Bumatai and Frank Delima at the Neal Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, ending his nearly three-decade comedic career.

Political career

Tulba filed nomination papers with the state Office of Elections on May 26, 2020, and was elected to represent District 9 of the Honolulu City Council on November 3, 2020.

Blackface Controversy

In June 2021, Augie reposted on Instagram a more than ten-year-old video in which he appeared in blackface in a skit titled "Hawaiiʻs Next Top Mahu" Civil rights and LGBTQ activists criticized the video for its portrayal of African Americans and māhū, and the video was removed shortly thereafter.

Electoral history

Film and television

References

External links

AugieT.com
- Official Website {{DEFAULTSORT:T., Augie 1968 births American people of Portuguese descent Filipino male comedians Honolulu City Council members Hawaii politicians of Filipino descent Living people Comedians from Hawaii Na Hoku Hanohano Award winners Asian-American people in Hawaii politics 21st-century Hawaii politicians