Atsuko Okatsuka made history as the second Asian-American comedian to land a comedy special on HBO in 2022, long after Margaret Cho’s historic debut on HBO in 1994.
“[More than] 27 years between us. This is way too long. “There hasn’t been a third movie yet, and that was only four years ago,” Okatsuka says. Hollywood Reporter While attending the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal and receiving the Outstanding Comedy Star of the Year award at the Comedy Pro Industry Conference.
Also a viral comedian with a Hulu comedy special under her credits and another upcoming on Netflix, Okatsuka credits her social media presence with more than 5 million followers for removing barriers to enjoying an international career after coming to America from Japan.
“Thanks to the Internet, stand-up comedy has been able to flourish, because people talk when they find their favorite comedians. That’s why I’ve been able to tour internationally in many countries where other American comedians don’t perform or don’t even know how to perform,” she adds.
Just as YouTube transformed how sports fans consume professional sports or late-night talk shows, Okatsuka has seen small clips of her streaming specials reach millions of views on mobile phones and tablets.
“It’s the clips of my specials that I put out on my social media that have gone viral, and they’ve gotten over 100 million views, which is a lot more people than turn on the actual HBO special and watch it in its entirety,” she insists.
Okatsuka says she needed to be tech-savvy to stay in touch with her Japanese father and Taiwanese family on her mother’s side. This allowed her to maintain the international outlook of her career as she targets a global audience.
“I always had to be online, even if I wanted to talk to my family. So it worked out that way,” she explains. Although Okatsuka generally describes comedians as “weird” and outsiders in the entertainment industry, she says that earning the respect and applause of her peers in Montreal means a lot to her.
“It’s great to not only be able to be embraced, but to be recognized by my colleagues who I respect so much,” she explains.
The Just For Laughs Comedy Festival wraps up over the weekend.
