Dat Phan (born January 25, 1975) is a

Vietnamese American Vietnamese Americans ( vi, Người Mỹ gốc Việt, lit=Viet-origin American people) are Americans of Vietnamese ancestry. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American ethnic group after Chines ...

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

. He first rose to fame in 2003 after defeating runner-up

Ralphie May Ralph Duren May (February 17, 1972 – October 6, 2017) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, known for his extensive touring and comedy specials on multiple media platforms. Early life May was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee and raised in ...

to win Season 1 of

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group ...

. In Fall 2004, he returned for the third season dubbed "Battle of the Best" which featured contestants from season 1 against season 2. He and May were eliminated in the fifth round.

Early life

Phan was born in

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. He immigrated to the United States as a child with his mother and nine other siblings. They suffered financial hardships throughout his childhood. He grew up in the

City Heights City Heights is a dense urban community in central San Diego, California, known for its ethnic diversity. The area was previously known as East San Diego. City Heights is located south of Mission Valley and northeast of Balboa Park. City Heights ...

neighborhood of

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

then spent his teenage years in Santee, California, a suburb of San Diego. Phan was voted most successful of his class at his West Hills High School ten-year reunion He dropped out of

Grossmont College Grossmont College is a public community college in El Cajon, California. Its name originated with the silent film actor and producer William J. Gross, who was enticed by Ed Fletcher to invest the purchase of land, part of which was called Grossm ...

to pursue comedy. He was later voted into

Walk of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Career

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

, he entered the first season of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

's stand-up comedy competition

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

, ''

''. He was picked on by the other contestants due to his relative youth in the comedy world. Nonetheless, Phan was the surprise winner of ''Last Comic Standing'' and has subsequently made cameo appearances in Hollywood films such as '' Cellular'' and ''

Love Is the Drug "Love Is the Drug" is a 1975 song from English rock band Roxy Music's fifth studio album '' Siren'', released as a single in September 1975. Co-written by Bryan Ferry and Andy Mackay, the song originated as a slower, dreamier track until the ...

''. Dat Phan Productions released the DVD '' Dat Phan: Live'' and the CD '' You Touch, You Buy'', in stores January 2010, and began pre-production on a movie titled ''Yellow Fever''. In 2011, Phan was featured in the

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California, El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary ...

campaign, "The Whale."

Personal life

He currently resides in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. Phan has endorsed the Jade Ribbon Campaign established to fight against hepatitis B and liver cancer.

Filmography

TV appearances

* '' Last Comic Standing 1'' (

) * '' Good Morning, Miami'' (March 20, 2003) * ''

Comedy Central Presents ''Comedy Central Presents'' is an American stand-up comedy television series created for Comedy Central. It is the network's main half-hour program which highlights either one or a series of stand-up comedians each episode. In 2011, the series e ...

: The Commies'' (2003) * ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ' ...

'' (August 6, 2003) * ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn ''The Late Late Show'' is an American late-night television talk and variety comedy show on CBS. It first aired in January 1995, with host Tom Snyder, who was followed by Craig Kilborn, Craig Ferguson, and current host James Corden. The sho ...

'' (August 8, 2003) * ''The Award Show Awards Show'' (2003) * ''

Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn ''Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn'' is a comedic talk show which aired on Comedy Central from 2002 to 2004. The show featured host Colin Quinn and a panel of comedian guests, discussing politics, current events, and social issues. Show history an ...

'' (December 2003) * ''

The Wayne Brady Show ''The Wayne Brady Show'' is an American variety show hosted by comedian Wayne Brady that aired in two separate forms. On August 8, 2001, ABC, for whom Brady had been working as a panelist on '' Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', launched the first ''W ...

'' (January 29,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

) * ''Comedy Central Presents: Dat Phan'' (2004) * '' Danny Phantom'' (2004) * ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...

'' (February 18, 2004) * ''

Last Comic Standing 2 ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group ...

'' (August 12, 2004) * ''

Super Bowl XXXIX Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League (N ...

'' * ''

Last Comic Standing 3 ''Last Comic Standing'' was an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, then again in 2014 and 2015. The goal of the program was to select a comedian from an initially large group ...

'' (2004) * ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their ...

'' Episode 59 - '' Breaking Out Is Hard To Do'' (July 17, 2005) * ''Asian Excellence Awards'' on May 28, 2007, nominated for Outstanding Comedy Performance * ''Comedy Zen'' (

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

) * '' BET ComicView'' (December 11, 2007) * ''

The Tyra Banks Show ''The Tyra Banks Show'', also known as and shortened to ''Tyra'' or ''The Tyra Show'', was an American talk show hosted by Tyra Banks that aired from 2005 to 2010. While Banks's show covered a variety of topics, there was a sensationalized focus ...

'' Racial Stereotypes (September 30, 2009) * ''

'' The Whale (July 20, 2011)

Filmography

* '' Cellular'' (

) * ''

'' ( 2006) * ''Spring Break '83'' (

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

) * '' The Hungover Games'' (

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal prot