Atsuko Okatsuka: Can You Ever Really Go Home Again?
4/2/20262 hr 23 min
Trevor sits down with comedian Atsuko Okatsuka for a lively, wide-ranging conversation about identity, humor, and finding your voice. Bonding over their shared immigrant experience, the two explore how feeling like an outsider can become a powerful lens for comedy.
Along the way, Atsuko shares personal stories that are as hilarious as they are revealing and reflects on comedy as a way of making sense of the past and connecting across cultures.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAtsuko Okatsuka· Guest0:00
[upbeat music] When you watch, like, a true crime or when you read an actual, like, how a serial killer killed- Yes ... there's a lot of clumsiness to it because it's a human person. There's nuance.
Trevor Noah· Host0:14
Oh, okay. Okay So it's not as exciting and on your toes.
Atsuko Okatsuka· Guest0:17
Is that... Do you know what I'm saying?
Trevor Noah· Host0:18
No, no, no. So you know what it actually is?
Atsuko Okatsuka· Guest0:19
I thought you were saying that.
Trevor Noah· Host0:20
No, what it actually is, is- It's like, she dropped the knife. [laughs] No.
Atsuko Okatsuka· Guest0:23
You know?
Trevor Noah· Host0:23
[laughs] What it actually is, is the formula that they tell the stories.
Atsuko Okatsuka· Guest0:26
Oh.
Trevor Noah· Host0:26
So they start to all do the exact same thing- Sure ... in the exact same way.
Atsuko Okatsuka· Guest0:30
Right.
Trevor Noah· Host0:30
So it'll be the same music, and then someone comes and sits down in a chair.
Atsuko Okatsuka· Guest0:33
Oh, yeah.
Trevor Noah· Host0:34
And then they'll be like, "So the first time I met Brian- [laughs] Oh, no ... I was working at an ice cream parlor and, like, he just seemed like a regular guy." Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
Atsuko Okatsuka· Guest0:47
[laughs] Right.
Trevor Noah· Host0:47
Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun.
Atsuko Okatsuka· Guest0:49
Oh, I like this. Dun, dun. Yeah It'll be like the local news.
Trevor Noah· Host0:50
Then they'll be like- Yeah ... "A man is search- The, the police are searching for a man in connection with four women who've gone missing." Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun.
Atsuko Okatsuka· Guest0:57
This is good.
Trevor Noah· Host0:57
"You know, Brian was a really sweet kid, and I mean, he was just a regular- [laughs] ... kid. He loved baseball. He, he, he loved hanging out with his friends." Boom, boom, boom, boom- Yeah [laughs] ... boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. You know what I mean? It's- I would watch this version. This, but this is- By the way, you have...
Atsuko Okatsuka· Guest1:15
That was very riveting.
Trevor Noah· Host1:16
This is- That's your next hour.
Atsuko Okatsuka· Guest1:18
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom- [laughs] ... boom, boom, boom, boom. Brian. Yeah.
Trevor Noah· Host1:22
Yeah. It's j- it's... So at some point I'm just like- I bought ice cream- I get it ...
Atsuko Okatsuka· Guest1:25
from him. You know me.
Trevor Noah· Host1:26
Yeah, exactly.
Atsuko Okatsuka· Guest1:27
Yeah.
Trevor Noah· Host1:28
It's also, I don't think they need to make it as