Atsuko Okatsuka made history as only the second Asian-American female comedian to have an HBO comedy special in 2022, long after Margaret Cho‘s landmark HBO appearance in 1994.
“[More than] 27 years between us. That’s way too long. And there hasn’t been a third one yet, and mine was only four years ago,” Okatsuka tells The Hollywood Reporter while attending the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal and receiving the breakout comedy star of the year trophy at the Comedy Pro industry conference.
As a viral comic also with a Hulu comedy special among her credits and another upcoming on Netflix, Okatsuka credits her social media presence with more than 5 million followers for knocking down barriers to enjoying an international stand-up career after coming to America from Japan.
“With the Internet, stand-up comedy was able to boom, because people speak when they find their favorite comedians. That’s why I’m able to tour internationally in many countries that other American comedians don’t perform in or don’t even know how to perform in,” she adds.
Just as YouTube has created a shift in how sport fans consume pro sports or late night talk shows, Okatsuka has seen bite-sized clips of her streaming specials reaching millions of views on mobile phones and tablets.
“It’s the clips of my specials that I posted on my social media sites that went viral, and those are the ones that amased over 100 million views, far more than people who turn on the actual HBO special and watch it in its entirety,” she insists.
Okatsuka says she needed to be tech savvy to keep in touch with her Japanese father and Taiwanese family on her mother’s side. And that’s allowed her to maintain an international outlook on her career as she targets a global audience.
“I was always going to have to be on the Internet, even if I wanted to talk to my own family. So it just worked out that way,” she explains. Though Okatsuka calls comedians in general “freaks” and outsiders in the entertainment business, she says getting the respect and applause of her peers in Montreal means a lot to her.
“It’s great to be able to not just be embraced but be recognized by my fellow peers who I respect so much,” she explains.
The Just For Laughs comedy festival wraps over the weekend.
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