Comedy
Im the only comedian my family knows.
Its 5:50 p.m. on a Wednesday and the tables are already packed.
I want people to feel seen, she told Bustle at the show put on bySecret Deodorantin June.
And I’m like, how?
Okatsuka, 35, said.
The things that used to make me feel like a freak [are] actually really relatable.
It was certainly never a career that her mother and grandmother saw for her.
They’re like, OK, this is comedy.
We have no idea, says Okatsuka.
Now, I’m the only comedian my family knows.
Oh, it was so cool.
It was a culminating moment of this woman who raised me.
She’s like, “I get paid?
I had no lines.
I didn’t say anything.
I just waited.”
I was like, “You’re welcome, Grandma.
What life lessons did the women in your family teach you?
That no role is too small.
There was a play that we were going to do in elementary school and we all had to audition.
I got the role of the old woman, and I was so bummed.
Who are your comedy heroes?
You really have to believe in yourself if you didn’t always see people like you growing up.
Margaret Cho was the first comedian I had ever seen perform on DVD.
I was 15, and honestly, I was so shy and not very social.
It took a while, but it took trailblazers like Margaret Cho to help keep that dream alive.
Whats your approach to humor?
You should always play to your strengths.
So I guess I’ve never actually touched it, and then saying, That is feminism.
That’s the way I talk politics.
I’m a sillier person, so I’m not going to be as preachy about it.
I mean, it’s literally our job.
And for me, I thrive in chaos because of my upbringing.
And then I get to make you laugh too, gosh, that’s the only skill I have.
I’m so happy to use it.
I’m like an emotional lifeguard or something.
