This week’s episode is yet another one happening during a historic moment defined by mass protests in solidarity of Black Lives Matter during the COVID-19 pandemic. Guest Atsuko Okatsuka of Let’s Go Atsuko: a Woke Japanese Game Show zooms with TCB’s Jake Kroeger about engaging with said moment, both inside and outside of comedy. They also talk the prospect of Let’s Go Atsuko, already a great weekly podcast (and a hell of a live stage show), going into production, possibly as one of the first TV shows to do so in Los Angeles. The final big story that they unpack is the unprecedented changing of the guard at storied comedy institution The Second City along with their vow to raise the voices of BIPOC and achieving racial equity as well as Chris Redd’s open letter demanding that The Second City do more.

Follow Atsuko Okatsuka @atsukocomedy across platforms. Get her album but I control me and listen to Let’s Go Atsuko, the podcast.

Shout outs: #BlackAF, Kim’s Convenience, My Brother’s Sneaker and Candice Thompson, Naomi Ekperigin, Petey DeAbreu, Larry Owens, DeWayne Perkins, Ian Edwards, Byron Bowers, Greg Edwards, Sam Ike, Baron Vaughn, Sydnee Washington, Ed Greer, Shalewa Sharpe, Kenice Mobley, Mandal, Dwayne Perkins, Dwayne Kennedy, Nore Davis, Brodie Reed, Obama’s Other Daughters, Astronomy Club, Kash Abdulmalik, Joyelle Johnson, Janelle James, David Gborie, and Solomon Georgio.

For the times we live in, consider donating money to a worthy cause like the Black Visions Collective.

The Comedy Bureau @thecomedybureau across platforms and please, please support TCB via GoFundMe, Patreon, or on Venmo (@jakekroeger).
Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and KT