Paul Ogata

FHM Q&A: PAUL OGATA
Stand-up comedian talks Gaddafi, Tila Tequila and sexy men.

Q: When/How did you realise that stand-up comedy was what you wanted to do?
A: As an 11-year-old, I was on the city’s championship basketball team. Then everyone else got taller. So I stayed in and listened to comedy albums instead of playing outside. The comedians were magical puppeteers, making the audience laugh and cheer. That’s when I knew I wanted to be just like them.

Q: Do you rehearse or test your material beforehand, or do you just wing it?
A: It’s a good idea to test your material at open mics first. Just so you get used to hearing yourself say the words and commit them to muscle memory.

Q: A lot of people think they’re funny, when really they’re not. How did you know you were funny?
A: I was one of those people. Thought I was funny. And the second time I ever did comedy, I drove down with a girl I was dating and another friend to the comedy club. After dying a miserable death on stage, the car ride home was deafeningly quiet. I knew I was getting funnier when there would be more conversation after my shows.

Q: What do you do when no one laughs?
A: You either move on quickly to the next joke or you acknowledge it. Johnny Carson was a master of “savers,” or lines you use when a joke doesn’t go well. He would even do jokes that he knew would not work just so he could come back with a fiercely funny saver. All that, of course, is only what the audience sees. Internally, I’m curled up on the shower floor like Elisabeth Shue in Leaving Las Vegas. That’s right, when you don’t laugh at my jokes you are raping my soul hole.

Q: If comedians had battles similar to rap battles, who would you pick to battle against and why?
A: Comedians battle each other all the time, so I would still pick a rapper to battle with. And I’d go with Common, since he’s a vegetarian and technically he can’t “have beef” with anybody.

Q: What would you do if the sound engineer was off duty, and your mic went dead midway through a joke?
A: One of my favorite shows I ever did was when the sound system quit about 5 minutes into a show I was doing. The balance of the hour was great fun, making fun of the group of technicians behind me and just being looser in general. When things go horribly wrong, it’s a golden opportunity to bring your audience in the moment with you. They grasp the idea that live stand-up comedy is dangerous and delicious.

Q: What’s the worst joke you’ve ever heard?
A: Last year after a show in Las Vegas a drunk guy tried over 20 times to tell me the same joke. For half an hour he failed and failed again. And in the end he still didn’t get it right. It literally went from “What did the bathtub say to the toilet” to “What the bathup say potato” on his final try. (The answer is: “You may get more ass than me, but I don’t take shit from anyone.”)

Q: Which would you find more enjoyable: A stand-up routine that brings the house down, or finding out you’ve been declared FHM’s Sexiest Man in the Known Universe?
A: I believe in the multiverse theory of several unrealized parallel dimensions coexisting simultaneously. So I might possibly already be the Sexiest Man in Another Unknown Universe Where Ryan Reynolds, Justin Timberlake And Kellan Lutz Were All Disfigured In A Terrible Building Collapse. So I’ll stick with bringing the house down. And hopefully it comes down on Ryan, Justin and Kellan so that I might also reign Sexily Supreme in this universe as well.

Q: Mark Twain said, “The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.” Does this saying unnerve you, since the government might actually deem you a weapon of mass destruction?
A: In the last year, I have sent two people to the hospital during my shows (a stroke victim who drooled on himself and a heart attack victim who knocked over his table of drinks) and one lady told me she had to throw away her panties mid-show because she wet them. Any day no - FHM Magazine (Singapore)

FHM Q&A: PAUL OGATA
Stand-up comedian talks Gaddafi, Tila Tequila and sexy men.

Q: When/How did you realise that stand-up comedy was what you wanted to do?
A: As an 11-year-old, I was on the city’s championship basketball team. Then everyone else got taller. So I stayed in and listened to comedy albums instead of playing outside. The comedians were magical puppeteers, making the audience laugh and cheer. That’s when I knew I wanted to be just like them.

Q: Do you rehearse or test your material beforehand, or do you just wing it?
A: It’s a good idea to test your material at open mics first. Just so you get used to hearing yourself say the words and commit them to muscle memory.

Q: A lot of people think they’re funny, when really they’re not. How did you know you were funny?
A: I was one of those people. Thought I was funny. And the second time I ever did comedy, I drove down with a girl I was dating and another friend to the comedy club. After dying a miserable death on stage, the car ride home was deafeningly quiet. I knew I was getting funnier when there would be more conversation after my shows.

Q: What do you do when no one laughs?
A: You either move on quickly to the next joke or you acknowledge it. Johnny Carson was a master of “savers,” or lines you use when a joke doesn’t go well. He would even do jokes that he knew would not work just so he could come back with a fiercely funny saver. All that, of course, is only what the audience sees. Internally, I’m curled up on the shower floor like Elisabeth Shue in Leaving Las Vegas. That’s right, when you don’t laugh at my jokes you are raping my soul hole.

Q: If comedians had battles similar to rap battles, who would you pick to battle against and why?
A: Comedians battle each other all the time, so I would still pick a rapper to battle with. And I’d go with Common, since he’s a vegetarian and technically he can’t “have beef” with anybody.

Q: What would you do if the sound engineer was off duty, and your mic went dead midway through a joke?
A: One of my favorite shows I ever did was when the sound system quit about 5 minutes into a show I was doing. The balance of the hour was great fun, making fun of the group of technicians behind me and just being looser in general. When things go horribly wrong, it’s a golden opportunity to bring your audience in the moment with you. They grasp the idea that live stand-up comedy is dangerous and delicious.

Q: What’s the worst joke you’ve ever heard?
A: Last year after a show in Las Vegas a drunk guy tried over 20 times to tell me the same joke. For half an hour he failed and failed again. And in the end he still didn’t get it right. It literally went from “What did the bathtub say to the toilet” to “What the bathup say potato” on his final try. (The answer is: “You may get more ass than me, but I don’t take shit from anyone.”)

Q: Which would you find more enjoyable: A stand-up routine that brings the house down, or finding out you’ve been declared FHM’s Sexiest Man in the Known Universe?
A: I believe in the multiverse theory of several unrealized parallel dimensions coexisting simultaneously. So I might possibly already be the Sexiest Man in Another Unknown Universe Where Ryan Reynolds, Justin Timberlake And Kellan Lutz Were All Disfigured In A Terrible Building Collapse. So I’ll stick with bringing the house down. And hopefully it comes down on Ryan, Justin and Kellan so that I might also reign Sexily Supreme in this universe as well.

Q: Mark Twain said, “The human race has only one really effective weapon and that is laughter.” Does this saying unnerve you, since the government might actually deem you a weapon of mass destruction?
A: In the last year, I have sent two people to the hospital during my shows (a stroke victim who drooled on himself and a heart attack victim who knocked over his table of drinks) and one lady told me she had to throw away her panties mid-show because she wet them. Any day no - FHM Magazine (Singapore)

Ogata’s choice chops have earned him the San Francisco Comedy Competition title, repeat appearances at Hollywood’s Comedy Store and a Showtime special. His Tweets attest to his talent: “Nick Jonas came to the show tonight. I bet he was thinking, ‘How does this guy perform without so many screaming girls?’” Another winner: “Asked the guy at the Mexican restaurant if they had a good health rating. Thought he said ‘Si.’” That’s off the cuff, so his prediction for the Planet, where he’ll work some of his better bits, rings true: “The Planet is always crazy.” And this crazy dude is well worth seeing. - Monterey County Weekly

Ogata’s choice chops have earned him the San Francisco Comedy Competition title, repeat appearances at Hollywood’s Comedy Store and a Showtime special. His Tweets attest to his talent: “Nick Jonas came to the show tonight. I bet he was thinking, ‘How does this guy perform without so many screaming girls?’” Another winner: “Asked the guy at the Mexican restaurant if they had a good health rating. Thought he said ‘Si.’” That’s off the cuff, so his prediction for the Planet, where he’ll work some of his better bits, rings true: “The Planet is always crazy.” And this crazy dude is well worth seeing. - Monterey County Weekly

By Bong Miquiabas

Stand-up comic Paul Ogata brings his high-octane shtick back to town. Last night kicked off his first of four shows at TakeOut Comedy, where the Hawaiian-born, Los Angeles-based comic has always performed to sold-out crowds. It’s easy to understand his appeal.

Within seconds of taking the mic at the packed-out intimate basement club, Ogata picked out a woman from South Korea, briefly crooning her country’s name to the tune of West Side Story’s Maria, then muttering that he hoped she didn’t have gonorrhea.

But Ogata didn’t spare himself from skewering. The vertically-challenged comic recalled how his parents once wasted US$500 for him to attend a basketball camp given by Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. “He’s seven foot 12 – I came up to his Abdul-Jaballs!”

Armed with a laser-quick but warm wit, Ogata has recently drawn major attention. He appeared on the American TV network Comedy Central and won the 2007 San Francisco International Comedy Competition, an event whose past champs include Dana Carvey and Sinbad. What makes Ogata fun to watch is that, whether mining topical subject matter such as Obama’s election or lampooning an audience member’s ethnic background, he sets up his jokes with sneakily provocative premises, then lands punch lines poking fun at personality quirks and social stereotypes worth mocking.

Book now to catch this fresh and fast-rising talent.
- Time Out

By Michelle Sathe

Chosen "most humorous" in his high school yearbook, Paul Ogata has certainly lived up to the prophecy. The Valencia comedian won the prestigious San Francisco International Comedy Competition in 2007 and has been featured on television's "Late Late Show," as well as regular stints on Comedy Central.

"I probably would have been better off to be voted ‘most likely to become a software engineer,'" Ogata said. To think he almost became a different kind of artist.

"The first thing I wanted to be was a magician, but that fell by the wayside. I got tired of lying to people. Comedy is about truth," Ogata said.

Mixing material that ranges from his Japanese-American upbringing to his marital foibles, Ogata, who dubbed himself "The Mental Oriental," plays clubs, campuses, and corporate gigs all over the world, with appearances in Hong Kong and Singapore scheduled for May.

"It's sort of surreal, like an out-of-body experience when I perform," Ogata said. "I'm not sure if it's just an Asian issue, but my family wasn't real big on expressing their feelings. Not too many people get to express what's really on their mind, they shut it all in. Stand-up is a way for me to open the bottle and let out my inner genie."

Hawaiian Punch
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Ogata was the typical class clown, often disrupting class with his antics. He also played basketball with the Blue Bombers, a Honolulu City Parks & Recreation division championship team, before his height became a disadvantage (he currently stands 5 feet 3 inches tall). While everyone else continued growing, Ogata stayed indoors and listened to comedy albums - George Carlin and Robin Williams were among his favorites.

Ogata got his official start in stand-up after college classmates at the University of Hawaii saw a poster for a comedy competition and encouraged him to try out. Improvising as he does to this day, Ogata tied for third place.

The owner of a local comedy club, serving as a judge, caught Ogata's act and encouraged him to perform on his stage. Ogata, who had brought along a friend and his girlfriend at the time, didn't fare as well in his sophomore effort.

"I bombed. It was brutal. No one said anything on the way home," he recalled. "I didn't do stand-up for a year after that." He did stay on at the club, working as a parking lot attendant and watching other comics as he quietly honed his craft. After a year or so, when a customer told Ogata he was too smart to work there and the constant pressure from friends to try again became too much, he got back onstage.

The laughs came this time, though Ogata acknowledges it was a slow start.

"Every comic's progress is different, but it took me a really long time to get good. It takes at least a couple of years to figure out who you are and what you want to say. It's an ongoing process," Ogata said.

Ogata started getting booked for more and more gigs, including an appearance for the Hawaiian governor and senator, where he was made an honorary senator. A slightly more sinister booking came in for the head of the local crime underworld - Ogata was told it was a family event.

"There was a mysterious white van across the street, so I think the FBI has a dossier on me. I didn't know it was a ‘family' event. Thank goodness I did well," Ogata said.

While working the Hawaii club circuit, Ogata had a chance encounter with his idol, Robin Williams, who stayed after the show and spent an hour counseling the young comic about the business.

"He was really cool and down-to-earth," Ogata said.

Ogata met wife, Kris, a construction company project manager in Hawaii. Together, they rescued a dog, Coffee Bean, from a local humane society and left for the mainland. The couple settled in the Santa Clarita Valley in 2007, and added another dog, Nala, to their family.

"I like Santa Clarita. It's so diverse. There's tall white people and short white people, young white people and old white people. It's a real melting pot," Ogata said with a smile. "Actually, it's great. A lot of comics live out here."

The funniest Asian-American
A coast-to-coast search across America for the funniest Asian-American comedian called the "TakeOut Comedy Competition" was a natural call for Ogata to answer in 2004. His stream of consciousness humor, centered on tales from his repressive upbringing, brought the house down and with it, the title.

"It's about the things that bind us. For example, people think that Asian food is weird. We do, too, but it's all we have," Ogata said.
Not content with the "Funniest Asian American" title, Ogata went after the big prize - The 32nd annual San Francisco International Comedy Competition. In October 2007, Ogata won the prestigious event and became part of the exclusive club that includes comedy greats such as Dana Carvey ("Saturday Night Live"), Sinbad, Dane Cook ("My Best Friend's Girl" and "Good Luck Chuck"), Carlos Alazraqui ("Reno 911!") and - The Signal

By Michelle Sathe

Chosen "most humorous" in his high school yearbook, Paul Ogata has certainly lived up to the prophecy. The Valencia comedian won the prestigious San Francisco International Comedy Competition in 2007 and has been featured on television's "Late Late Show," as well as regular stints on Comedy Central.

"I probably would have been better off to be voted ‘most likely to become a software engineer,'" Ogata said. To think he almost became a different kind of artist.

"The first thing I wanted to be was a magician, but that fell by the wayside. I got tired of lying to people. Comedy is about truth," Ogata said.

Mixing material that ranges from his Japanese-American upbringing to his marital foibles, Ogata, who dubbed himself "The Mental Oriental," plays clubs, campuses, and corporate gigs all over the world, with appearances in Hong Kong and Singapore scheduled for May.

"It's sort of surreal, like an out-of-body experience when I perform," Ogata said. "I'm not sure if it's just an Asian issue, but my family wasn't real big on expressing their feelings. Not too many people get to express what's really on their mind, they shut it all in. Stand-up is a way for me to open the bottle and let out my inner genie."

Hawaiian Punch
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Ogata was the typical class clown, often disrupting class with his antics. He also played basketball with the Blue Bombers, a Honolulu City Parks & Recreation division championship team, before his height became a disadvantage (he currently stands 5 feet 3 inches tall). While everyone else continued growing, Ogata stayed indoors and listened to comedy albums - George Carlin and Robin Williams were among his favorites.

Ogata got his official start in stand-up after college classmates at the University of Hawaii saw a poster for a comedy competition and encouraged him to try out. Improvising as he does to this day, Ogata tied for third place.

The owner of a local comedy club, serving as a judge, caught Ogata's act and encouraged him to perform on his stage. Ogata, who had brought along a friend and his girlfriend at the time, didn't fare as well in his sophomore effort.

"I bombed. It was brutal. No one said anything on the way home," he recalled. "I didn't do stand-up for a year after that." He did stay on at the club, working as a parking lot attendant and watching other comics as he quietly honed his craft. After a year or so, when a customer told Ogata he was too smart to work there and the constant pressure from friends to try again became too much, he got back onstage.

The laughs came this time, though Ogata acknowledges it was a slow start.

"Every comic's progress is different, but it took me a really long time to get good. It takes at least a couple of years to figure out who you are and what you want to say. It's an ongoing process," Ogata said.

Ogata started getting booked for more and more gigs, including an appearance for the Hawaiian governor and senator, where he was made an honorary senator. A slightly more sinister booking came in for the head of the local crime underworld - Ogata was told it was a family event.

"There was a mysterious white van across the street, so I think the FBI has a dossier on me. I didn't know it was a ‘family' event. Thank goodness I did well," Ogata said.

While working the Hawaii club circuit, Ogata had a chance encounter with his idol, Robin Williams, who stayed after the show and spent an hour counseling the young comic about the business.

"He was really cool and down-to-earth," Ogata said.

Ogata met wife, Kris, a construction company project manager in Hawaii. Together, they rescued a dog, Coffee Bean, from a local humane society and left for the mainland. The couple settled in the Santa Clarita Valley in 2007, and added another dog, Nala, to their family.

"I like Santa Clarita. It's so diverse. There's tall white people and short white people, young white people and old white people. It's a real melting pot," Ogata said with a smile. "Actually, it's great. A lot of comics live out here."

The funniest Asian-American
A coast-to-coast search across America for the funniest Asian-American comedian called the "TakeOut Comedy Competition" was a natural call for Ogata to answer in 2004. His stream of consciousness humor, centered on tales from his repressive upbringing, brought the house down and with it, the title.

"It's about the things that bind us. For example, people think that Asian food is weird. We do, too, but it's all we have," Ogata said.
Not content with the "Funniest Asian American" title, Ogata went after the big prize - The 32nd annual San Francisco International Comedy Competition. In October 2007, Ogata won the prestigious event and became part of the exclusive club that includes comedy greats such as Dana Carvey ("Saturday Night Live"), Sinbad, Dane Cook ("My Best Friend's Girl" and "Good Luck Chuck"), Carlos Alazraqui ("Reno 911!") and - The Signal

By John Berger

Comedian Paul Ogata had a lot of friends in the house for his "one-night farewell tour" Dec. 17 at Pipeline Cafe. Ogata, whose "day job" was doing mornings on 102.7 "Da Bomb," is off to California to work on his comedy full time.

In Paul's final show, he discussed his marital woes and what he'll miss about Hawaii. Taking audience requests for vintage sketches, he closed with "The Sea Cucumber" and "Shopping for a Diamond Ring."

Veteran comic Fred Ball talked with Pipeline general manager Jed Roa after the show. Ball said he was particularly impressed by Ogata's ability to improvise and use audience comments as material. - Honolulu Star-Bulletin

By John Berger

Comedian Paul Ogata had a lot of friends in the house for his "one-night farewell tour" Dec. 17 at Pipeline Cafe. Ogata, whose "day job" was doing mornings on 102.7 "Da Bomb," is off to California to work on his comedy full time.

In Paul's final show, he discussed his marital woes and what he'll miss about Hawaii. Taking audience requests for vintage sketches, he closed with "The Sea Cucumber" and "Shopping for a Diamond Ring."

Veteran comic Fred Ball talked with Pipeline general manager Jed Roa after the show. Ball said he was particularly impressed by Ogata's ability to improvise and use audience comments as material. - Honolulu Star-Bulletin

By Katie Young

He's no superhero, but he's one amazing Asian - comic, that is. Local boy Paul Ogata is blazing his way through the comedy scene these days - faster than a speeding punch line, more powerful than a hefty heckler, able to leap tall showrooms in a single bound - Well, maybe not that last one.

Ogata is small in stature, standing just 5'3", but his wit is grand. At 35, he's making a name for himself and leading the way for the new wave of Hawaii's up-and-coming young comics.

Ogata was recently named the Funniest Asian in America at the national Pan-Asian Comedy Competition that brought in 60 of the funniest Asians in America to compete for the title in Waikiki.

This funny Asian will be heading to Los Angeles next week and will appear June 15 on the Late Late Show on CBS.

Then he heads to New York to film the first episode of Take Out Comedy, a new stand-up comedy show for World Asia TV.

He also plays the starring role in Gerard Elmore's short-film Amasian: The Amazin' Asian, a tale of an underappreciated superhero who has to save the world from the evil Waianae Man. Elmore and Ogata plan to take the short piece to upcoming film festivals on the West Coast.

Add to that his regular comedy gig with Andy Bumatai at the Palace Showroom in the Ohana Reef Towers every Friday and Saturday night and his job as morning on-air personality for 102.7 Da Bomb, and you've got a busy guy.

Ogata is just one of many young funnies who are blending the traditional ways of comic greats like Bumatai, Mel Cabang, Ed Kaahea, Rap Reiplinger and Frank DelLima with their own styles.

Several of these budding comics, including Cathy Tanaka, Shawn Filipe, the Hawaiian Guy from Molokai, Brian Lentz and Elroy Entendencia did stand-up bits at the world premier of Amasian: The Amazin' Asian recently at Dave & Busters.

Stand-up comedy, according to Bumatai, is no easy career choice.

"This is how hard it is," says Bumatai. "In employment in general, show business is the most difficult. In show business, comedy is the most difficult; and in comedy, stand-up in the most difficult.

"Why? Because you have to create a whole show by yourself with a microphone, no music, no props, no costumes, no nothing. You have to create theatre of the mind. It's a mirror on society; the comic says what everyone is thinking but is afraid to say. Stand-up, done right, does that."


Sneaky comedian trick #1

"The worst comment you could have as a comedian is, of course, that you weren't funny," says Ogata.

To gauge his audience appeal after a show, Ogata says he'll go stand by the exit to tell everyone goodbye and thanks for coming.

"You do that because you want to tell people you appreciate them coming but also so you can stroke your ego a little and have people tell you that you're funny.

"Sometimes you'll hear people walking up and they won't see you and they say out loud, 'Oh, that third guy wasn't very funny.'"


Whatever you do, don't say Hitler.

There's a time to be funny and a time to not be funny, says Ogata. "The audience is a cross-section of America. You try to juggle your material to please the broadest number of people in the best possible way."

There are some subjects that are always more touchy than others. Ogata says talking about race relations, drug abuse and religion can be hot buttons for certain audience members, and there's a right and a wrong way to deal with these subjects.

Sometimes, however, people will get upset no matter how innocent your joke.

"I got a death threat once from a Jewish lady," recalls Ogata. "I said the word 'Hitler' in my act. I didn't say he did good things or bad things, I just said the word. She cornered me after the show and said if she heard me say that word again, I wouldn't leave the building alive."

How did Ogata reply?

"I certainly didn't say, 'Hitler!'"



Getting your alphabets in a box.

Every time he gets up on stage, it's a whole new battle, says Ogata. Part of the rush is getting nervous.

What comes out of his mouth during his act could be described as "stream of consciousness."

"There are a lot of comedians who will do their act verbatim from A to Z," says Ogata. "I like to get the alphabets in a box, shake them up, and randomly pull them out. Whatever comes up next, comes up next. I like the uncertainty of that."



Rarely does Leo lead you astray.

Testing material before springing it on the general public is a method that many comics indulge in.

Ogata has his own personal laugh-o-meter in morning show radio co-host Kid Leo.

"I'm grateful for the radio because it allows me to kind of break stuff on the air first to see how it flies," says Ogata. "If Leo is laughing, it's a good barometer of whether or not it will work on stage.

"Sometimes if a joke doesn't work the first time you try it, don't give up on it right away. Maybe it's how you said it or maybe it was just the vibe of the audience tha - MidWeek Magazine

By Katie Young

He's no superhero, but he's one amazing Asian - comic, that is. Local boy Paul Ogata is blazing his way through the comedy scene these days - faster than a speeding punch line, more powerful than a hefty heckler, able to leap tall showrooms in a single bound - Well, maybe not that last one.

Ogata is small in stature, standing just 5'3", but his wit is grand. At 35, he's making a name for himself and leading the way for the new wave of Hawaii's up-and-coming young comics.

Ogata was recently named the Funniest Asian in America at the national Pan-Asian Comedy Competition that brought in 60 of the funniest Asians in America to compete for the title in Waikiki.

This funny Asian will be heading to Los Angeles next week and will appear June 15 on the Late Late Show on CBS.

Then he heads to New York to film the first episode of Take Out Comedy, a new stand-up comedy show for World Asia TV.

He also plays the starring role in Gerard Elmore's short-film Amasian: The Amazin' Asian, a tale of an underappreciated superhero who has to save the world from the evil Waianae Man. Elmore and Ogata plan to take the short piece to upcoming film festivals on the West Coast.

Add to that his regular comedy gig with Andy Bumatai at the Palace Showroom in the Ohana Reef Towers every Friday and Saturday night and his job as morning on-air personality for 102.7 Da Bomb, and you've got a busy guy.

Ogata is just one of many young funnies who are blending the traditional ways of comic greats like Bumatai, Mel Cabang, Ed Kaahea, Rap Reiplinger and Frank DelLima with their own styles.

Several of these budding comics, including Cathy Tanaka, Shawn Filipe, the Hawaiian Guy from Molokai, Brian Lentz and Elroy Entendencia did stand-up bits at the world premier of Amasian: The Amazin' Asian recently at Dave & Busters.

Stand-up comedy, according to Bumatai, is no easy career choice.

"This is how hard it is," says Bumatai. "In employment in general, show business is the most difficult. In show business, comedy is the most difficult; and in comedy, stand-up in the most difficult.

"Why? Because you have to create a whole show by yourself with a microphone, no music, no props, no costumes, no nothing. You have to create theatre of the mind. It's a mirror on society; the comic says what everyone is thinking but is afraid to say. Stand-up, done right, does that."


Sneaky comedian trick #1

"The worst comment you could have as a comedian is, of course, that you weren't funny," says Ogata.

To gauge his audience appeal after a show, Ogata says he'll go stand by the exit to tell everyone goodbye and thanks for coming.

"You do that because you want to tell people you appreciate them coming but also so you can stroke your ego a little and have people tell you that you're funny.

"Sometimes you'll hear people walking up and they won't see you and they say out loud, 'Oh, that third guy wasn't very funny.'"


Whatever you do, don't say Hitler.

There's a time to be funny and a time to not be funny, says Ogata. "The audience is a cross-section of America. You try to juggle your material to please the broadest number of people in the best possible way."

There are some subjects that are always more touchy than others. Ogata says talking about race relations, drug abuse and religion can be hot buttons for certain audience members, and there's a right and a wrong way to deal with these subjects.

Sometimes, however, people will get upset no matter how innocent your joke.

"I got a death threat once from a Jewish lady," recalls Ogata. "I said the word 'Hitler' in my act. I didn't say he did good things or bad things, I just said the word. She cornered me after the show and said if she heard me say that word again, I wouldn't leave the building alive."

How did Ogata reply?

"I certainly didn't say, 'Hitler!'"



Getting your alphabets in a box.

Every time he gets up on stage, it's a whole new battle, says Ogata. Part of the rush is getting nervous.

What comes out of his mouth during his act could be described as "stream of consciousness."

"There are a lot of comedians who will do their act verbatim from A to Z," says Ogata. "I like to get the alphabets in a box, shake them up, and randomly pull them out. Whatever comes up next, comes up next. I like the uncertainty of that."



Rarely does Leo lead you astray.

Testing material before springing it on the general public is a method that many comics indulge in.

Ogata has his own personal laugh-o-meter in morning show radio co-host Kid Leo.

"I'm grateful for the radio because it allows me to kind of break stuff on the air first to see how it flies," says Ogata. "If Leo is laughing, it's a good barometer of whether or not it will work on stage.

"Sometimes if a joke doesn't work the first time you try it, don't give up on it right away. Maybe it's how you said it or maybe it was just the vibe of the audience tha - MidWeek Magazine

By Bong Miquiabas

Stand-up comic Paul Ogata brings his high-octane shtick back to town. Last night kicked off his first of four shows at TakeOut Comedy, where the Hawaiian-born, Los Angeles-based comic has always performed to sold-out crowds. It’s easy to understand his appeal.

Within seconds of taking the mic at the packed-out intimate basement club, Ogata picked out a woman from South Korea, briefly crooning her country’s name to the tune of West Side Story’s Maria, then muttering that he hoped she didn’t have gonorrhea.

But Ogata didn’t spare himself from skewering. The vertically-challenged comic recalled how his parents once wasted US$500 for him to attend a basketball camp given by Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. “He’s seven foot 12 – I came up to his Abdul-Jaballs!”

Armed with a laser-quick but warm wit, Ogata has recently drawn major attention. He appeared on the American TV network Comedy Central and won the 2007 San Francisco International Comedy Competition, an event whose past champs include Dana Carvey and Sinbad. What makes Ogata fun to watch is that, whether mining topical subject matter such as Obama’s election or lampooning an audience member’s ethnic background, he sets up his jokes with sneakily provocative premises, then lands punch lines poking fun at personality quirks and social stereotypes worth mocking.

Book now to catch this fresh and fast-rising talent.
- Time Out