We talk to comedian Atsuko Okatsuka, the creator of the dropchallenge and co-star of the new Comedy Central series Fairview, about joy, levity, and the stuff that's hard to talk about.
She innocuously asked people to show her their moves, and they’ve most certainly responded. Doctors and nurses dropped in hospitals, hairstylists squatted in salons and shoppers loved recording in produce aisles. Even Saturday Night Live got in on the challenge this past weekend, with cast members including Bowen Yang, Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon and guest Peyton Manning.) The social media challenge encapsulates Okatsuka’s comedy style perfectly: It’s surprising, odd and joyous.
Her mom and dad had a quick courtship, communicating with each other in mostly broken English, but were divorced about a year later. Her mother’s mental illness—undiagnosed schizophrenia—played a factor. “It was suddenly a lot for her to be in a new country, no friends, barely speaks the language and now is a stepmom to two teenagers,” she says. “All that stuff [hallucinations and the voices] flared up after she gave birth to me.
Growing up in all this turmoil, she found comfort in comedy, especially watching Japanese comedian Ken Shimura, Lucille Ball and Margaret Cho. We asked whether the jubilance in her stand-up comedy and social videos was a direct counterreaction to the trauma she experienced. That’s a heavy burden to bear for anyone. But it elucidates her approach to comedy. “There’s so much need for joy and levity. Honestly, that’s what I love about stand-up comedy and performing, too, is being able to talk about the hard-to-talk about stuff. Also, finding levity even during it.”
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