Japanese Traditional Sit-down Comedy comes to Chicago!
Japanese comedic artists, Hanjotei group performs English Rakugo for the first time in the Chicago area!
A real Japanese Variety hall right here in the Chicago area! Enjoy the acts that have kept the Japanese laughing for 400 years: Rakugo "sit-down comedy" with Katsura Kaishi, Katsura Asakichi, Greg Robic, plus Utsumi Eika performing the Shamisen-mandan musical story-telling!
JAPANESE COMEDY? YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING! AND RIGHT HERE IN CHICAGO?!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know about the Japanese. They’ve got no sense of humor, they’re a bunch of poker-faced stiffs. Right?
Wrong! In fact a flourishing comedy culture has kept Japan laughing for several centuries, and takes more forms than you can shake a Pokemon at. All these verbal, musical, and physical comic crafts come together at the “yose” Variety Hall, showcase for traditional Japanese laughing arts. 
Entertainment for the people went on all day at the old-time Variety Halls, where everyone could drop by, leave their shoes, pull up a cushion and have a laugh. They are still going strong today, with young and old alike, often sold out several months in advance. And now an authentic Japanese Variety Hall has plunked itself down in Chicago! And in English, no less! Think a Japanese comic can’t make you laugh? Drop by the Variety Hall and you’re in for a surprise!
Keep your shoes on, pull up a chair, and sample these popular Japanese laughing arts:
What is RAKUGO “Sit-Down Comedy”
A one-man troupe of characters from geisha to samurai, from merchant to ninja, the Rakugo comic enacts them all -- their voices, their faces, their hectic activities -- from the comfort of his cushion. With only the help of his fan and an oversized hankie, he can take you anywhere he wants you to go. He can re-create the world of Old Japan, or the world of downtown Osaka, with the panoply of crazies who inhabit them, keeping Rakugo at the peak of popularity today. Enjoy this unique art with Katsura Kaishi, the world’s top performer of English Rakugo and current cultural ambassador for Japan.
Who is Katsura Kaishi?
Traditional Rakugo Comedian, Katsura Kaishi, has been appointed by the Japanese Ministry of Culture as its cultural exchange ambassador to America, where he will stage a nationwide tour of English Rakugo from April to September in 2008.
Kaishi Katsura is the king of English Rakugo in Japan and worldwide. So far, he has taken his classic hilarity to 31 cities in 12 countries, including Canada’s “Just for Laugh” comedy festival, and renowned Sydney Opera House. Don't miss this gala Chicago area show and find out what's so funny!
Katsura Kaishi has been appointed by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan as it's cultural exchange ambassador to the United States.
--- CHICAGO AREA PERFORMANCES ---
Downtown Chicago, NU Thorne Auditorium 6/20 Fri
Event: Chicago Hanjotei - Downtown Chicago at Thorne Auditorium
Date: June 20, 2008 7:00 PM
Location: Thorne Auditorium
373 E. Chicago Ave. Chicago, IL 60611
Downtown Tickets Online: Click here
Purchase by phone: Call 24/7 Ticket Hotline 1-800-838-3006 and mention event #32238
Parking: Discount parking is available courtesy of Northwestern University - PDF Parking info link
Arlington Heights, Forest View Educational Center Theater 6/21 Sat
Event: Chicago Hanjotei - Forest View Education Center Theater
Date: June 21, 2008 7:30PM
Location: Forest View Educational Center Theater
2121 S. Goebbert Road Arlington Heights, IL 60005-4297
Arlington Heights Tickets Online: Click here
Purchase by phone: Call 24/7 Ticket Hotline 1-800-838-3006 and mention event #32652
The Arlington Heights performance is part of the Japan Festival
Parking: Free of charge. There is a large outdoor lot by the venue.
--- General Seating, $20.00 per ticket ---
(Suitable for childern 7 or older. 5 or older if the child is able to sit quietly)
(Subtitles below are for the comments made by Kaishi Katsura on the vedio clip in Japanese.)
I was very happy to see the audience. Almost every one of them had never experienced rakugo before, a whole hall full of them, seeing rakugo for the first time, and in English.
But they really had a good time, and I think it was a great day too, for rakugo. Really incredible, people were making their own impression, connecting to the performance... you could feel them thinking, "Wow! Rakugo is amazing." It was wonderful. Everyone seemed so happy. ...I'm exhausted!
This thing I love, rakugo, it's a unique thing in the world. So, like kabuki, and tempura, and sushi, and Mount Fuji, I want people to enjoy getting to know it, till it's known in countries around the world, and even gets into the dictionaries. I think it would be really cool to go on a world tour . Rakugo World Tour! Premiering Rakugo for the world would be a great idea, and I want to make that happen. I'll do my best.
Chicago Hanjotei 2008 has been made possible by the generous sponsorship from the following organizations and individual:
The Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan
Mrs. Joyce Chelberg
Takeda Pharmaceutical North America Inc.
Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Chicago Foundation
Motorola, Inc.
OMRON Management Center of America Inc.
Yanmar America Corporation
Kikkoman Foods Foundation
The Revere Group, an NTT DATA Company
All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd.
Chicago Hanjotei 2008 has been made possible through the coordinated efforts between the following organizations as part of the 35th Anniversary Celebration between Chicago and Osaka.
City of Chicago, Osaka Committee, Chicago Sistercities International
City of Osaka, Chicago Office
Consulate General of Japan at Chicago
Japan America Society of Chicago
Official link to Katsura Kaishi English Rakugo U.S. tour 2008
About the original Temma Tenjin Hanjotei in Osaka
Contact: City of Osaka, Chicago Office
c/o JETRO 1 E. Wacker Dr. Suite 600 Chicago, IL 60601
info@osakacity.org 312-832-6018