Stand Up Comedy in Tokyo
For the last few years of living on Ikego, every couple of weeks we’ve received a print copy of Stars & Stripes, the military newspaper. Their coverage ranges from serious news about DoD happenings to human interest pieces about things happening in and around Japan. A couple of months ago I did an interview with one of their reporters and an article about be doing standup comedy in Japan dropped last week!
The reporter, Kelly Agee, who did the interview also has had some experience in the comedy scene in Tokyo and it was such a cool opportunity to speak with her about what I’m doing out here.
Upon reading the final article, I was really excited how it balanced the main things that I wanted to get across. First, that there’s a burgeoning scene here in Tokyo, centered around Tokyo Comedy Bar, that provides opportunities for a night on the town and also for other prospective performers.
It also touched nicely on the specific aspects of being a military spouse that I’m trying to bring to my set.
“Milspouse” Life in Japan
Being a military spouse or a “milspouse” or a “dependa” is a life filled with so many unique opportunities and challenges. Given Tokyo Comedy Bar’s proximity to Yokosuka, Atsugi, and Yokota — we often get military members and family members in the audience and I love getting to connect with folks in the community from stage.
Also, now that the COVID restrictions have been lifted, we’ve had performances at the New Sanno and I’ve got performances on the bases coming up in December.
Military Spouse Jokes
At the crux of a lot of my humor — LGBTQ life, living abroad — is the general sense of being a “fish out of water”. In some ways, that’s been exemplified during my adjustment to being a military spouse. For so many folks in this situation, it’s an ongoing balancing act between supporting the service member while also trying to maintain and develop our own identities.
While this can be, at times, filled with frustration, when I approach writing jokes about it I try to maintain an optimistic and tongue in cheek approach. For example, since we’re often referred to as “dependents”, I’ve been playing around with bits and jokes about what that term means and trying to turn it on its head.
Future Standup Gigs with DoD
Coming up in December, I’m looking forward to performing at Yokosuka Naval Base for a holiday party. Then on New Year’s Eve I’ll be at Yokota Air Force Base for their countdown to midnight. I’ll update the events calendar with more details as they come in.
Performing for, with, and about being a part of the military spouse community is a big part of my time doing stand up and I look forward to incorporating it more in the future.
