Atsuko Okatsuka, has dreamed of being a standup comic since she saw her first performance on video. It was a Margaret Cho DVD.
She worked at it for a long time and now has several standup specials of her own. But she got her big break not by doing standup but by dancing with her grandma.
It was 2020. Atsuko, like the rest of us, was stuck at home. TikTok was the hot new thing. And the more little videos she made of her and her grandma dancing... the more people learned about Atsuko Okatsuka.
When she joined us back in 2023, she'd just released her debut comedy special on HBO. It's called The Intruder. As the name of the title suggests, it's about the time someone tried breaking into her house.
She's since followed up The Intruder with another special called Father. It recently hit Hulu just this past month.
Atsuko chatted with us about how recording videos on social media with her family brought them closer together, what it was like bringing her grandma on her honeymoon and much more!
A version of this interview originally aired in April of 2023
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