Yuriko Kotani
Kotani at the 2019 Glastonbury Festival
Years active2014–present
Websitewww.yurikokotani.com

Yuriko Kotani is a Japanese comedian based in London. She won the 2015 BBC Radio New Comedy Award,[1][2][3] making her the Japanese person to win the award. She debuted her solo show Somosomo at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.[4] Kotani's comedy makes fun of the cultural differences between England and her homeland of Japan.[5][6]

Early life and career

Kotani is from Aichi Prefecture.[7][8] She moved to England in 2005 aged 24 with her then-boyfriend, who had been studying abroad in Japan.[4] She was introduced to and "fell in love with British comedy". She began performing stand-up of her own in 2014.[4]

Breakthrough

In 2015 Kotani was nominated for a number of awards for her comedy. Most notably, in November 2015 she won the BBC Radio New Comedy Award, aged 34.[9]

She was named as "One To Watch" by Time Out in 2015.[10] She went on to become first runner-up in So You Think You're Funny 2015?,[11] won the Brighton Comedy Festival Squawker Award 2015,[12] placed third in the Leicester Square Theatre New Comedian of the Year 2015,[13] and was nominated for Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year in 2016.[14]

On the radio, Kotani has been interviewed on The Comedy Club on BBC Radio 4 Extra.[15]

Kotani has made a number of appearances on British television. In 2016, Kotani appeared on series 2 of Russell Howard's Stand Up Central.[16]

In March 2017, Kotani made her TV acting debut in the BBC Three mockumentary Pls Like as Nozomi Hottah.[17]

In January 2018, Kotani appeared on the CBBC panel show, The Dog Ate My Homework. In 2020, Kotani appeared in an episode of Paul Hollywood Eats Japan on Channel 4.[18]

In May 2021 she starred alongside Rich Keeble as a scientist extracting DNA from present and former players in a comedy film unveiling Southampton Football Club's new 2021/22 season kit. Players featured in the film included James Ward-Prowse, Matt Le Tissier and Francis Benali.[19]

References

  1. ↑ "BBC - BBC Radio New Comedy Award 2015 winner announced - Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  2. ↑ British Comedy Guide (20 November 2015). "Yuriko Kotani wins BBC New Comedy Award - News - British Comedy Guide". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  3. ↑ Solutions, Powder Blue Internet Business. "Yuriko Kotani scoops BBC New Comedy Award : News 2015 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 25 November 2018. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  4. 1 2 3 Wortley, Kathryn (11 May 2020). "Yuriko Kotani embraces Britain's penchant for irony and dark comedy". The Japan Times. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  5. ↑ Dessau, Bruce (16 January 2018). "Go underground and get giggling at Vault Festival 2018". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  6. ↑ "For one night only: how Edinburgh's standups spend their day off". the Guardian. 11 August 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  7. ↑ "Yuriko Kotani: the Japanese comedian rising up the ranks of UK stand up". JETAA UK. 22 July 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  8. ↑ "Feature: 'In Japan, if you do something different, people won't like it'". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  9. ↑ Osumi, Magdalena (25 November 2015). "Japanese woman wins BBC newcomer comedy award". The Japan Times. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  10. ↑ "One to watch: Yuriko Kotani". Time Out London. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  11. ↑ "So You Think You're Funny | Gilded Balloon". gildedballoon.co.uk. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  12. ↑ "Jill Edwards | Comic Boom Comedy Club | Komedia Brighton | Seann Walsh". jill-edwards.co.uk. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  13. ↑ "What's On - New Comedian of the Year - Museum of Comedy". www.leicestersquaretheatre.com. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  14. ↑ "Dave's Leicester Comedy Festival". www.comedy-festival.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 December 2015.
  15. ↑ "BBC Radio 4 Extra - The Comedy Club Interviews, 20/03/2016". BBC. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  16. ↑ "Stand Up Central - Comedy Central Stand-Up - British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  17. ↑ "Pls Like Series 1, Episode 5 - Technology - British Comedy Guide". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  18. ↑ "Yuriko Kotani - Random 8". British Comedy Guide. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  19. ↑ THE SOUTHAMPTON DNA: Saints unveil 2021/22 home kit in partnership with hummel, retrieved 4 September 2021
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