Slant Performance Group Records

Slant is a satirical performance group, most active during the mid-1990s until the early 2000s, whose shows address racial and sexual stereotypes affecting the Asian American community. In 1995, Rick Ebihara, Wayland Quintero, and Perry Yung created Slant as a double entendre for the group’s commentary on Asian American stereotypes and contributed their various backgrounds in music, dance, and theater to create their first show, Big Dicks, Asian Men, which premiered at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in the East Village. Following the major success and critical acclaim of Big Dicks, Asian Men, Slant would go on to write and perform ten shows including Second Coming (1996), Squeal Like a Pig (1996), Kaleidoscope (1996), Hotel California (1997), WetSpot (1998), High (2000), Wazu (2000), Rice Cooker Chronicles (2001), and Archipelago! (2004). While the trio ceased production of full-length shows by 2005, Slant members reunited in 2021 for various collaborations and special performances.

The Slant Performance Group collection contains videos, photographs, newspaper clippings, magazines, pamphlets, fliers, and production materials donated by Yung and Quintero. In addition, there are production materials including scripts, song lyrics, and technical readers from select shows, as well as VHS tapes, cassette tapes, and DVDs of Slant performances.

To learn more about the contents of the Slant Performance Group Records, located at the NYU Fales Library & Special Collections, view the collection’s finding aid.

Image: Postcard depicting a collage of Slant performances, ca. 1999; Slant Performance Group Records; MSS 653; Box: 1; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.