Initially a flop in comedy, BJ Fox now draws laughter at a venue in Tokyo with political satire, “dirty” stories and impromptu talks with members of the audience.
Fox, a 44-year-old Briton, founded Tokyo Comedy Bar, a theater dedicated to stand-up comedy, in the capital’s bustling Shibuya district in 2022.
He emcees shows there himself on Thursdays.
Stand-up comedy is ingrained in British culture, and, to a lesser extent, in Japan.
Fox had an opportunity to watch an acquaintance perform stand-up comedy in 2013, when he was working for a video game company and was a sales representative stationed in Singapore.
But as the performance was “no fun,” he thought at the time. “I could do this for myself.”
However, when he took part in a comedy show for amateur performers, he quickly learned it is not that easy to make strangers laugh.
His jokes fell flat, he said.
Frustrated, Fox began refining his art by trial and error. He eventually caught the attention of a scout and went so far as to become the feature performer in a comedy show.
Fox was transferred to his company’s Tokyo branch office in 2015. He continued performing, mainly at bars in the capital’s Roppongi district and other haunts of expats in Japan.
The COVID-19 pandemic reduced his opportunities to appear on stage, so he decided to set up his own theater, where he hawks beers in the hall and performs as an emcee.
Fox said he has not been spared in the recent spread of xenophobia and has received discriminatory comments on his social media accounts. But he has turned such unpleasantries into materials for his jokes.
When he sees an empty seat in front of the stage, for example, he sparks laughter by quipping: “This is like a seat next to a non-Japanese on a train.”
Fox performs the same jokes in both his Japanese and English shows because, he believes, the essence of humor is “the same anywhere in the world.”
He said he is happy to brighten up this world, in what little way he can, with the power of laughter.
“I wish to send out this message that we are all humans, whichever nation we may belong to,” he said.
AloJapan.com