Dat Phan (born January 25, 1975) is a

Vietnamese-American Vietnamese Americans () are Americans of Vietnamese people, Vietnamese ancestry. They constitute a major part of all overseas Vietnamese. As of 2023, over 2.3 million people of Vietnamese descent live in the United States, making them the fourth ...

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

. He first rose to fame in 2003 after defeating runner-up Ralphie May to win Season 1 of ''

Last Comic Standing ''Last Comic Standing'' is an American reality television talent competition show on NBC that aired from June 1, 2003, to August 9, 2010, and again in 2014 and 2015. Each season a comedian from an initially large group of hopefuls was picked as ...

''. 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

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

. 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 neighborhood of

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

then spent his teenage years in Santee, California, a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

of San Diego. He dropped out of Grossmont College to pursue comedy. He was later voted into Grossmont College's

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 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, he entered the first season of

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's stand-up comedy competition

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

, ''

''. According to the show's host Jay Mohr, Phan nonetheless 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''. 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''.

Personal life

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 ''Good Morning, Miami'' is an American sitcom created by David Kohan and Max Mutchnick. The series ran on NBC from September 26, 2002, to December 18, 2003, and centered around the personal and professional life of Jake ( Mark Feuerstein), the ...

'' (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 ...

: The Commies'' (2003) * ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the fourth and sixth installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Jay Leno, it aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009, replacing ''The Ton ...

'' (August 6, 2003) * '' The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn'' (August 8, 2003) * ''The Award Show Awards Show'' (2003) * '' Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn'' (December 2003) * '' The Wayne Brady Show'' (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 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 West Wing of the White House, where t ...

'' (February 18, 2004) * '' Last Comic Standing 2'' (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 (NF ...

'' * '' Last Comic Standing 3'' (2004) * ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'' 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 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

) * '' BET ComicView'' (December 11, 2007) * '' The Tyra Banks Show'' Racial Stereotypes (September 30, 2009) * ''

DirecTV DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...

'' The Whale (July 20, 2011)

Filmography

* '' Cellular'' (

) * '' Love Is the Drug'' (

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

) * ''Spring Break '83'' (

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

) * '' The Hungover Games'' (

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

) * ''

Sake Bomb The sake bomb or sake bomber is a beer cocktail made by dropping a shot glass of sake into a glass of beer. Preparation Two chopsticks are placed parallel on top of the glass of beer, and the shot glass is placed on top of them. The drinker ...

'' (

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

) * '' Kong: Skull Island'' (

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

)

References

* * * * *

External links

Dat Phan Productions
at

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Dat Phan
at

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Fan Page
Dat Phan
at

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phan, Dat 1975 births 21st-century American comedians American male comedians American stand-up comedians Comedians from California Comedians from San Diego Last Comic Standing winners Living people People from Santee, California Vietnamese emigrants to the United States