Where the concierge points people first
- Tokyo Comedy Bar — A small club in Shibuya that runs stand-up in English and Japanese and hosts the Tokyo International Comedy Festival. The most reliable place in the city to hear jokes in English. (35.6583, 139.6994)
- Pirates of Tokyo Bay — A long-running bilingual improv troupe rather than a venue, performing in English and Japanese, often in Ebisu and Shibuya. Improv makes the language gap part of the joke. (35.6477, 139.7080)
- ルミネtheよしもと — Lumine the Yoshimoto, the Yoshimoto Kogyo theatre on an upper floor of Lumine in Shinjuku. Fast Japanese manzai double acts all day; not for English speakers, but a window into how Japan laughs. (35.6897, 139.7006)
- ヨシモト∞ホール — Yoshimoto Mugendai Hall in Shibuya, where the agency's younger comedians work up their acts. Cheaper, younger audiences, entirely in Japanese. (35.6613, 139.6974)
- 池之端しのぶ亭 — A small rakugo hall near Ueno, for the seated one-person storytelling tradition. Occasional English rakugo performances are staged in Tokyo, so watch for those. (35.7152, 139.7663)
The rest of the comedy clubs in Tokyo — every one we hold
- Comedian Bar Punch Line (35.6425, 139.6704)
- mimic (35.6627, 139.7354)
- Shinjuku Cat's Hole (35.7019, 139.7078)
- YOSHIMOTO ROPPONGI THEATER (35.6637, 139.7327)
- お江戸日本橋亭 (35.6883, 139.7745)
- にっぽり館 (35.7276, 139.7671)
- ハイジアV-1 (35.6967, 139.7013)
- バティオス (35.6965, 139.7004)
- ばばん場 (35.7142, 139.7094)
- まちのQ (35.7290, 139.6827)
- みすみ亭 (35.6827, 139.6778)
- よしもと有楽町シアター (35.6749, 139.7619)
- ラスタ池袋 (35.7296, 139.7162)
- リトモディブリブリブッスン (35.6549, 139.7347)
- 多元文化会館 (35.6684, 139.7338)
- 朝日新聞記念会館 (35.6727, 139.7633)
- 神保町よしもと漫才劇場 (35.6950, 139.7609)
- 神保町花月 (35.6950, 139.7609)
- 芝居砦満天星 (35.7134, 139.6798)
Manzai, rakugo and stand-up are three different nights out
Japanese comedy on stage is mostly manzai, a fast double act of a straight man (tsukkomi) and a fool (boke), and rakugo, a centuries-old form where one kneeling storyteller plays every character with only a fan and a cloth. Yoshimoto Kogyo, the biggest comedy agency, runs several theatres on this list. English-language stand-up is a small scene run by expats and bilingual comics, clustered around a few Shibuya and Ebisu venues, with shows on particular nights rather than every day.
Ask NUM where English-language comedy is on this week in Tokyo
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