Racial stereotypes broken down by comedians

It's hard not to react to a show with a title like Ngger, Wetbck, Ch*nk.

The three racially diverse comedians performing in NWC-which will be coming to the Carolina Theatre on March 31-are used to shocked responses from their audiences.

"It's funny because people judge the words that were meant to pre-judge others," said comedian Allan Axibal. "Often the words on our posters are crossed out because people think that it's a white supremacist show."

NWC is anything but white supremacist. The three performers, Miles Gregley (Ngger), Rafael Agustin (Wetbck) and Axibal (Ch*nk), use humor to deconstruct stereotypes and discuss race issues in America.

"Our aim is to create theater for people of color and for our generation," Agustin said. "We want to create art that's socially significant-that will make you laugh and make you think."

NWC came to life while the three friends were studying at the University of California at Los Angeles. Agustin was working on his M.A. in theater and wanted to write about illegal immigration to the United States.

"I came illegally to America and didn't know it until I went to college and needed a real Social Security number," he said. "Going from high school class president and prom king to illegal immigrant was hard, and I wanted to create something that spoke to that experience."

Gregley and Axibal, theater students who had been struggling to be cast in leading roles because of their skin colors, joined Agustin with their own experiences with racial typecasting.