In many ways, what Paul “PK” Kim does as a stand-up comedian and the founder and organizer of the annual Kollaboration talent show couldn’t be more different from the work of his pastor father.

But, from another perspective, this Pastor’s Kid, which inspired his nickname PK, has followed in his father’s footsteps not so much lock-step as, well, freestyle. Both pastor and kid move people with a mic. Both have kept the faith through difficult challenges. And their respective movements — one spiritual and the other, social and artistic — started small and have since grown followers by leaps and bounds.

Each in his own unique way has inspired believers.

“My parents are the No. 1 reason why the Kollaboration movement exists,” PK Kim told the audience at the K.W. Lee Center for Leadership banquet in Los Angeles, where he accepted an award in May. “My dad started a church with one family in 1976, the year I was born, and grew it to 3,000 people by 1996.

“My dad is proof that if you have vision, faith and hard work, it will lead to great things.”
Vision, faith and hard work could also describe the path to Kollaboration, which began in 2000 as a modest showcase for Korean American performers who sang, rapped, danced, did stand-up or spoken word in L.A. and has since exploded into a much-anticipated annual Asian Pacific American talent show with venues in Chicago, Atlanta, New York, Washington, D.C., and Toronto, in addition to L.A. Past performers at Kollaboration include Far*East Movement, whose music can be heard on mainstream radio airwaves and feature films, as well as Ben Chung of the JabbaWockeeZ and Mike Song of KABA Modern, who were made instant stars as competitors on MTV’s “Randy Jackson Presents America’s Best Dance Crew.”

Eight years since its debut, Kollaboration’s production values may have gone up, but it remains a nearly all-volunteer labor of love. Kim credits his financial partner of four years, Roy Choi, who turned the organization into a nonprofit, along with loyal (currently unpaid) staffers Rina Lee and Christine Kim for the success of the show, which is also supported by a legion of mostly young but inspired volunteers.

The most recent L.A. Kollaboration in February sold out — some 2,000 seats — two weeks before the show.

 “I almost cried,” says Kim, who used to host “Asian Night” at L.A.’s famous Laugh Factory and performs regularly at comedy clubs and colleges. “Usually, I come out on stage [at Kollaboration] and I say, “Asians in the house!’ — and people clap. This time, I said, ‘Asians in the house!’ — and it was like a roar. Yeah, it’s time for us. It’s our time to shine. The talent level is really, really skyrocketing for young Asians in everything.”

Kim talked with KoreAm about being a pastor’s kid, his eight-year journey with Kollaboration, and his personal odyssey as a now-31-year-old married, father-to-be who hasn’t given up his dreams (he wants his own HBO comedy special and for Kollaboration to be at Staples Center within 10 years) even under the weight of age and responsibility.