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Stand-up comedy: healing division through laughter
Saku Yanagawa is a Japanese stand-up comedian based in Chicago who performs and headlines at comedy clubs throughout Chicago and around the USA. Formerly a promising baseball player in Japan but forced by circumstances to give up that path, Saku found a new league to play in: the stand-up comedy scene in one of America’s comedy capitals. He moved to New York and then Chicago to begin his on-stage career. Since then, he has continued to hit it out of the park, appearing at comedy festivals in Africa and Europe, becoming the first Japanese comedian to perform at the Break Out Comedy Festival, as well as being the first-ever stand-up comedian at the Fuji Rock Festival. More recently, he is featured on a growing number of news & talk shows, and other media in Japan.
In this interview, Saku discusses what attracted him to stand-up comedy, some of the similarities between Chicago and his alma mater city, Osaka (Japan’s comedy capital, also called Japan’s “second city”), and how he keeps himself well-informed about local issues to ensure that his comedy is relevant, edgy and insightful. He brings a sharp, observational eye to the various things going on in America; his ‘outside’ perspective is popular on stage, but also reveals a man who thinks and feels deeply, and is fond of both Japan and the USA. For him, the appeal of stand-up is partly in its ability to cut through differences and unite people—with just a single microphone. What’s important is not how we all differ. It’s how much we have in common.
Saku outlines the major differences between comedy in Japan and comedy in America. While US comedy has “punch” lines, Japanese comedy has “fall” lines (ochi). And while American comedy uses satire and irony to appeal to a country of people with diverse backgrounds, Japanese comedy finds humor in daily life anecdotes that appeal to people who share similar daily experiences. Comedy is local! However, Saku also talks about how today’s Japan is changing. Japan, too, is becoming more diverse, so he wants to see the growth of American-style stand-up there to help its society navigate the waters of change more smoothly.
In a society that is rending itself apart by focusing on division and differences, Saku stands up and uses humor to unite. Laughter is the way to bring people together, even when they have differing opinions. The world of comedy faces many new challenges, including rapidly changing sentiments about what is acceptable to say on stage, and what the consequences are when those sensibilities are perceived to have been breached. Saku boldly finds the borderlines, gets up, stands up, and keeps America laughing.
Saku Yanagawa on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiskWSbQaKs70oPIFjfxFpA
Saku Yanagawa on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/saku.yanagawa
Saku Yanagawa on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/saku_yanagawa/
Saku Yanagawa website:
http://sakuyanagawa.com
Video clip of Saku Yanagawa on stage is used with permission of the content owner.
Video: Tim Webb linktr.ee/aclysm
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