Today we have a special show where we introduce to you the creator of The Monkey King, Jerry Ma.  You can find Jerry on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/epicprops/ and on FB: https://www.facebook.com/Epic-Proportions-190427348522/ Taiwanese American creator Jerry Ma (EPIC PROPORTIONS, VIBE Hong Kong) is supporting AAPI Heritage Month and #STOPASIANHATE this May by bringing one of Chinese literature’s most enduring characters, the Monkey King to modern day New York in THE MONKEY KING: A CHINATOWN ODYSSEY which will be launching May 3rd at 11AM EST on Kickstarter.  In this STRANGER THINGS meet COWBOY BEBOP original, Jerry Ma hits home as he shows his native New York City falling apart with the Empress of Chinatown turning her back on the City. Tripitaka the monk must locate Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy to help her make the journey west to Chinatown San Francisco in hopes of finding enlightenment to then go back and save New York from itself! Creator Jerry Ma says “Every year we see multiple reboots of the Monkey King. Each one more action oriented than the next. But, the actual story was meant to find enlightenment through Buddhism, which would be discovered through their journey West to India. I’d like to rediscover the adventure and magic that the story was supposed to be about. And rather than making their armor shinier, I’m giving them sneakers that will match their hoodies better, I’ll have them dive into Chinatown New York in a way I don’t think we’ve seen done before.“ Ma adds back in March, “I had donated just under $2500 with proceeds from my online sales in two weeks, to the GofundMe/AAPI to help combat the rising anti-Asian sentiment. As amazing as that was, it felt a bit hollow as I wasn’t able to actually see any help being done. After talking with the amazing group of people helping me with this campaign, Geof Darrow, Allan Dorison, Jim Cheung, David Soto and Lisa Y. Wu, through our Stretch Goals, we’ll be donating money to small businesses in Chinatown New York. I’ll quite literally be walking into small businesses and handing over $250 in cash to X amount based off of the success of this Kickstarter campaign to small businesses myself. I know it isn’t much, but at least this way, I know these businesses will be receiving the money directly from me. My family has a small business ourselves, an art store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan called Janoffs. So, I know all the hurdles these businesses are facing. I only hope that this will be the beginning of others doing the same.” Facebook.com/NerdInMePodcast Instagram.com/NerdInMe Twitter.com/nerdinmepodcast YouTube: NerdInMePodcast Rate and Review on iTunes email at [email protected] Allan's IG: instagram.com/dr.indianajones Jonathan's IG: instagram.com/momsbasementcollectibles Intro music by the talented Jellyfish Audio. : Facebook.com/JellyFishAudio --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nerdinme/message