Audience members may be a little shocked when an award-winning filmmaker presents his comedic take on Asian-American issues in America on Tuesday night.

Kip Fulbeck, the producer and director of several award-winning short films, including “Banana Split” and “Some Questions for 28 Kisses” and professor of art and Asian-American studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara, will be speaking at Iowa State. Fulbeck’s films and performances approach racial issues from a stand-up comedian’s point of view. Fulbeck will be performing at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

Being a “Hapa” — which Fulbeck defines as being “of mixed racial heritage with partial roots in Asian and/or Pacific Islander ancestry” — Fulbeck deals with racial issues on a regular basis. In his presentations, Fulbeck merges stories of his personal experiences with television and movie clips from pop culture to inform his audiences of cultural issues.

“[I present in this way] to educate and entertain, to provoke and raise awareness and to continue discussion and action after I leave,” he says.

“I Hope You Don’t Mind Me Asking,” the piece Fulbeck will be performing while at Iowa State, is driven by improvisation.

“My shows really depend on my audiences,” Fulbeck says. “I try and get a feel for the audience and venue, gauge what they want me to bring and what I think I have to offer them.”

Fulbeck says he wants his audience to be entertained, but to leave with a lot of questions.

“Maybe [the audience will be] even a bit agitated,” Fulbeck says, “or if we were really on, inspired.”

Fulbeck’s films, which range from as short as 30 seconds to as long as 37 1/2 minutes, have won several awards. Most recently, Fulbeck won the Prism Award for the Arts from the Hapa Issues Forum National Conference in San Francisco in 2002 and the Best of Category Award for an experimental film from the First Glance Film Festival in Philadelphia in 2001.

However, Fulbeck says, the awards aren’t as important as the message he’s trying to get across.

“I make art because I want to try and make people understand the depths to which I feel,” Fulbeck says.

Fulbeck says he uses his artistic expertise to benefit young aspiring artists.

“The most important things we can do are teach and love,” Fulbeck says.

Who: Kip Fulbeck

What: “I Hope You Don’t Mind Me Asking”

Where: Sun Room, Memorial Union

When: 8 p.m.

Cost: Free