Meet Andrew Oh: Writer, Filmmaker, Cartoonist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrew Oh and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrew, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
This is the kind of question you might never ask yourself and may never know the answer to. At a certain point, you make peace with this vocation. Its origin, whether through serendipity or deliberation, becomes irrelevant and other whys and wherefores take precedence: why am I drawn to making this? What am I trying to say? What’s my next project? It was partial rebellion against stereotype. My parents still half-jokingly remind me that it’s still not too late to apply for law or medical school. I argue it’s still not too late to become a garbage man, what I told my 5th grade guidance counselor I wanted to be when I grew up. Time will tell if dreams come true. It was also partial aversion to the ordinary. Grade school really tests your limits of boredom and engagement, and people respond to it in various ways. Staring at plaster walls for hours on end forced me to find fulfillment by my own standards and that came in the form of ingenuity and breaking convention. Making art is good mischief. Finally, it was partial attraction to challenge. Originality is impossible, so its pursuit is futile (and yet…). To a certain extent, you can choose your boulder, how you push it, and where you roll it, but you’ll always be running up that hill. You’ve made your bed, but there’s no time to lie in it. For the rest, check back in with me in fifty years. 

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The last time I wrote for Voyage Dallas was back in October 2018. Anything happen in the last couple years? One thing that hasn’t changed is that I am still working on my feature film “The Book of Job.” The film itself, a coming-of-age high school comedy, is complete and we had our premiere in May 2019 at the Texas Theatre, but work continues in securing distribution. It’s been years in the making and we are incredibly excited to finally showcase and share the innumerable creative contributions that have gone into bringing this film to life. Stay tuned!

Earlier this year, I adapted my filmmaking know-how to an adjacent medium: comics. It was a way to use a lot of the same creative muscles, but in a safe and solitary outlet. In July, I launched “Day and Age”, a weekly autobiographical comic series chronicling my experiences in quarantine. It’s got the expected musings about isolation and the passage of time, but the series consists primarily of everyday occurrences like struggling with online dating and killing cockroaches. I have had no formal training or instruction in illustration, so this has all been an extended trial and error learning experience. And I am having a blast. It must be noted that I am fortunate enough to have a full-time job working from home and the stability that brings has allowed me to continue my artistic pursuits.

Making art is a privilege and for so many, the challenges of this year have superseded or entirely negated the will or ability to create. Anxiety and uncertainty are motivation killers. It has always been and always will be difficult to make a living through art, but this year has been extraordinary. To that end, the goal for my comics is to create camaraderie. I don’t have a soapbox or some lofty agenda; I am simply sharing my experiences as a regular guy stuck in his apartment, doodling in boxes, taking it one day at a time. And although not everyone will relate to these quaint vignettes, my hope is that some will – and that they’ll find some solidarity in it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend were visiting the area and had nowhere to stay, I would reluctantly allow them into my apartment, but force them to quarantine for two weeks in my bedroom. In that time, I would produce many delicious home-cooked meals, including beef pot roast, jambalaya, and pad thai. Once the two weeks were up, I would release them from confinement and we would partake in their newfound freedom by looking out the window and spotting nearby birds and squirrels. Some of my other favorite activities from the past year include sitting and thinking, so we would probably do a lot of that. If we were feeling particularly bold one night, we might go to a Whataburger drive-thru and snag a couple Patty Melts. Then we could put on a BBL cricket match, watch some Key & Peele sketches, then Zoom our friends to show what a grand old time we were having in the Big D.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Alli Barta, Al Bouchillon, and David Fice, for seeing it through.

Website: https://www.andrew-oh.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dayandagecomic/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewoh7996/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrew.oh.733/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxRt3N_I03kWdxq9Pb5iMtA/featured?view_as=subscriber
Other: https://www.thebookofjobmovie.com/

Image Credits
Images provided by Andrew Oh and The Book of Job