![]() ![]() So, I practiced plenty of times in front of my friends and my co-workers until I could believe in myself fully and felt that I was ready.” How do you like doing stand-up in Canada? I was very nervous, and I thought that it wasn’t healthy at all. It took a little bit of time to overcome my nervousness. After two weeks, on October 20, 2015, I did my first stand-up comedy gig and became the first Japanese female stand-up comedian in Vancouver. It was there I got an offer to be a stand-up comedian from a producer of the show. Around then, I started dating my boyfriend who was a stand-up comedian, and he took me out to his stand-up comedy show where he played as a headliner. I unexpectedly realized I liked being a comedian after hearing people’s laughter at my first line: “I’ve been married for three years, and it sucks.” The very first point was when I had a role in a comedy play - How Much Are Those Feelings in the Window? - in 2015. Can you tell us what launched your career as a comedian? PHOTO: DALE L We caught up with her earlier this year via Skype to find out more about how she got her start, her biggest influences and how comedy can help bridge cultural divides. And she’s finding plenty of fans: her YouTube channel, Yumi Tube, has amassed nearly 170,000 subscribers and a few of her performance videos have racked up one million views. It didn’t take her long to find her style: speaking heavily Japanese-accented English and touching on topics ranging from ethnic stereotypes to hidden aspects of Japanese culture. Splitting up with her husband in 2015, she took to the stage for the first time later that year. Through her time in Canada, Nagashima has been exposed to different cultures and perspectives, which have opened her eyes and led to her current career. When his visa was about to expire, she decided to get a working holiday visa and, in 2008, moved with him to Vancouver, where they married. While working at a conversation school, she became romantically involved with a colleague from Canada. ![]() The Vancouver-based performer has been enter taining crowds since she got her start in 2015, but her comedy career was a long time in the making.īorn in Tokyo, Nagashima graduated from Bunkyo University with a degree in English literature and became an English teacher. She has geisha-like pale skin, black hair and tends to seven ugly white men.Yumi Nagashima - who simply uses the stage name “Yumi” - is the first Japanese female stand-up comedian to really take off in Canada. When I was a child I used to think Snow White was a Japanese lady. What is your favourite medium for listening or finding new comedians?ĭo you have anything to promote right now? The energy of the audience is electrifying. What’s your favourite place you have performed? Who was your favourite comedian growing up? How would you describe your comedy style?Īndy Kaufman, Wanda Sykes and Rita Rudner. ![]() ![]() These include landing her own sitcom, branching out into film, and creating shorts for her YouTube channel, which has 167,000 subscribers and counting. Nagashima has done plenty in 2019, taking her act around the globe, thanks to invitations from Montreal’s Just for Laughs showcase, the Jakarta International Comedy Festival, and Comedy Central Asia in Singapore and the release of her debut comedy album, My Name Is Yumi.Īnd she’s got ambitions beyond owning stages across the world. Yumi made her stand-up debut in October of 2016, and suddenly she knew what she’d been born to do. After moving from Japan to Vancouver, Yumi Nagashima found herself in a comedy club on a date. ![]()
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