Time penalties, sunglasses & a fake bear
Team Houston Michael and Kevin Wu solve some Amazing Race mysteries
The Wus never had an easy road on Amazing Race.Photo by Jeffrey R. Staab/©2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc.
Photo by Jeffrey R. Staab/©2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc.
It was a great race for Team HoustonPhoto by John P. Filo/CBS
When we last left Team Houston, Amazing Racers and YouTube stars Michael and Kevin Wu, they had set out in St. Petersburg to solve a Russian mystery. They solved that mystery, but racked up two time penalties, earning them elimination from this season’s Amazing Race.
Though there are several episodes left, the race was actually run last summer and Michael and Kevin have been back to their real lives for months now. CultureMap caught up with our favorite racers from Sugar Land once again and asked them to solve some lingering Amazing Race mysteries.
Asked about their favorite tasks of the race, both father and son point to their time in Sweden and Norway. Michael enjoyed the dog sledding in Sweden, while Kevin loved rappelling in Norway. The Sweden leg was their favorite, not only because they headed the pack throughout, before faltering at the end and coming in fourth, but because they “bounced back and started to feel comfortable” completely turning around their performance after that non-elimination last place showing in Ghana.
That Ghana leg made for an emotional and exciting episode that appeared to leave Michael physically exhausted; however, when we questioned them about which leg was more difficult Ghana or the second St. Petersburg leg when they were eliminated, Kevin chose St. Petersburg.
Kevin feels he would have rather been eliminated “doing our best, finishing in last, having a respectful ending.” He appears to regret most placing last “based on technicalities.”
Each season, CBS sends eliminated teams to Elimination Station. This year the Station was in Mexico, where teams enjoyed the sun and sea, and short segments of their vacation can be seen on The Amazing Race website. Watching Team Houston’s entry into Elimination Station, viewers can see that while Kevin is still upset, Michael is much more relaxed.
He confirms that at the time he was ready to take a break, but now, looking back, is disappointed they didn’t get further in the race. Michael explained, “after the show aired and we saw all the fans supporting us, I felt maybe I should have done much better.” Michael didn’t seem to realize how many fans would be cheering them on.
Evaluating their overall performance in the race, both father and son believed they earned a 7 out of 10. This is probably appropriate as they made it to the seventh episode before being eliminated.
We asked Kevin if his experience in front of his camera as a performer and behind it as a writer/director/editor of his comic videos caused him to evaluate how his racing would look on screen as he raced. Kevin replied that before the race he thought he might try to “be funny and crack jokes all the time, but you don’t have time to do that. You’re just focused on the next task.”
Once the race was over and the season began, Kevin made video recaps of most of the episodes. When asked if he watched the episodes with a technical eye, he said he was nervous before watching the first episode, but soon looked forward to it every Sunday. He said he’s learned a lot about television editing and praises the show’s “meticulous” visual and sound editing and feels watching is a “good learning experience” as a video maker.
But enough racing analysis. Let’s get to the real mysteries still remaining about Team Houston’s time on The Amazing Race, the important questions that need answering.
Did Kevin jump into their car in England and magically master driving on the left side of the road?
No. In fact, he turned into the wrong lane several times leaving some honking English drivers in his wake.
How was Michael able to outsell all the other racers, except a professional home shopping host, when hawking sunglasses in Ghana?
Michael says his experience working with charities at home and making the effort to go to the Ghanaian customer might be his secret. And let’s face it, Michael easily charms viewers, so why should the average Ghana market goer be any different?
Why would a good dad like Michael let his son run around the Arctic Circle in soccer short?
He didn’t have much say in the matter. On their flight into Sweden Michael did warn Kevin that, though it was summer, wearing shorts in Swedish Lapland might not be the best of fashion choices. Unfortunately for Kevin and fortunately for comedy, “he doesn’t listen to me,” explained a laughing Michael. And what happens when sons don’t listen to their fathers? They are forced to sit in awesome ice chairs for 10 minutes.
Since Sergei Eisenstein’s October is an important film in Russian cinematic history, does YouTube prodigy, Kevin, plan to Netflix it soon to study its genius?
After the first St. Petersburg leg spent wading through thousands of strands of film strip to locate a short clip of October, as that same clip played in a continuous loop in front of him, absolutely not.
The one mystery left unsolved by our team is the motivation of the Swedish fake bear stalking Michael from the forest, as Michael raced his dogsled. Was the fake bear there, as Kevin suggests, simply because the Amazing producers thought it would be funny, or might there be a more sinister possibility? Was he perhaps upset that someone had been sitting in his ice chair and worried Michael might be after his porridge next?
Perhaps this question is best left unanswered.
The final question to be answered is: What’s next for Team Houston?
Kevin took some time off from college for The Amazing Race, and while his father is encouraging him to go back, he is indecisive at this point. He is thinking about making a permanent move to California because of the much smaller size of Houston's entertainment and film industry. He feels that in Houston there’s just not as many people he can collaborate with.
Perhaps the Houston Film Commission needs to start a program of early intervention into our local high schools to try to keep our budding film and video makers at home.
Kevin has much to keep him busy while he mulls over the future. He has more videos planned with his dad and other video projects in the works. Last week he released the single, “Shed a Tear,” a music and comic collaboration with Ryan Higa and Chester See. The song immediately shot to No. 1 on the iTunes comedy songs chart, staying there for a week. To date, only Adam Sandler and his “Thanksgiving Song,” has been able to dislodge these three manly crybabies from their top perch.
As for Michael, well, he happily returned to work and family, but he’s always ready for a call to comic video action from his son. He says he’s sometimes recognized in restaurants and grocery stores, and doesn't mind the occasional request for a picture or voiced disappointment in their elimination.
We absolutely forbid any stalking of Michael, like a Swedish fake bear, Houston, and you too Sugar Land.
But if you’d like to run into the elder Wu, he has been spotted in the Whole Foods Market in Sugar Land near his home. If you see him, congratulate him on a race well run, and maybe he’ll sell you some sunglasses.
See Kevin Wu's video, "Shed a Tear":
