Comedienne Yumi Nagashima breaks gender stereotypes with raunchy jokes

Comedienne Yumi Nagashima is breaking traditional gender stereotypes with her raunchy jokes.

Yumi Nagashima found her calling while on a date in Canada four years ago.

“The guy I was with brought me to the local comedy club and he did a stand-up set that I really loved, ” said the Vancouver-based Nagashima.

When she went home, she immediately delved into the world of stand-up, convinced that she might have something to say on stage.

Prior to that, she had never heard of stand-up comedy.

“We don’t have traditional stand-up comedy in Japan. What we have is rakugo, a guy in a kimono telling stories, and we have slapstick comedy where two comedians – a funny man and a straight-faced guy – exchange jokes on stage, ” she explained.

Nagashima, 28, spent a few weeks writing and tweaking her jokes, testing them on her fellow colleagues at the Japanese restaurant where she was working at the time.

And she finally “killed it" when she got on stage for the first time the same year.

“I fell in love with the sensation of being heard and celebrated. It was the most empowering feeling that I’d ever felt, and I was hooked from then on, ” she said.

Today, Nagashima has not only made waves in the North American comedy scene with her sassy stage presence, her career has taken her to the international stage, performing in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo and London.

On top of that, she is breaking traditional gender stereotypes as a Japanese comedienne.

“I chose comedy because I can travel all over the world, make people laugh, and feel happy while empowering myself, ” she added.

Nagashima’s Japanese heritage and residence in Canada have proven to be an advantage in her career.

“Being a Japanese woman with a unique perspective and accent makes me stand out immediately. And being in Canada has taught me the real meaning of feminism, ” she said.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report last year, Japan ranked 121 out of 151 countries in terms of gender equality.

“I feel so grateful that I’ve met so many strong Canadian women who inspired me to break the mould, ” she said.

Besides stand-up comedy, Nagashima also acts, sings and is a YouTube sensation.

But she added that although it is an advantage to be a Japanese woman in comedy, there are also challenges.

Although her distinct Japanese accent is now seen as a bonus, when the Tokyo-born-and-raised Nagashima first moved to Vancouver, she was told to “lose the accent”.

She had started off teaching Japanese to English-speaking locals and taking acting classes, but was limited by her accent to stereotypical roles such as “Japanese scientist paying off her Japanese exchange student loan by moonlighting as a Japanese waitress”.

Nagashima was even advised to see a dialect coach, but she declined.

“To speak English perfectly as opposed to being not-from-around-these-parts would make it seem like I was trying to hide where I’m originally from. But even though Vancouver has been the launching pad for my career, which has taken me around the world, I’m still proud to be from Japan, ” she said.

Another challenge she faces is preparing her stand-up routine in her second language.

“It isn’t easy to write jokes in one’s second language. I take a long time to write just one joke in English. But the dictionary is my best friend and the people who teach me how to pronounce the words properly are my treasure, ” she explained.

Her material ranges from mild to raunchy, but mostly the latter.

Nagashima surprises audiences with her outrageous jokes.

It includes her worrying about the sodium intake of white folks at sushi restaurants where restraint isn’t a word applied to soy sauce. And as someone from the land of the fabled "Japanese bush", she marvels at how the North American version doesn't look like an "over-fertilised Chia pet".

When asked what her family members think of her comedy style, she quipped that it is a blessing that they don’t understand English very well.

To date, Nagashima has appeared on the CBC radio programme, The Debaters, and also on CBC TV during the 2019 Winnipeg Comedy Festival.

The Canada Yuk Off Comedy Competition 2016 and 2017 finalist was also featured in a part of the Just For Laughs North West comedy festival.

In addition, Nagashima is an accomplished actress with many acting credits to her name, including HBO’s The Man In The High Castle. She also released her first music video entitled My Name Is Yumi last year.

When not up to any funny business, Nagashima said she enjoys the simple things in life, namely sleeping, eating delicious food and being human.

Her future plans include having her own talk show, “just like Oprah or Ellen”.

“I will invite people I love and have lots of fun.”

Watch Yumi Nagashima perform at Queens of Asia Comedy on March 13 at HGH Convention Centre in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, at 8.30pm. For more info visit qoa.qtic.my