“Paul Ogata CAN!” Is that a political bumper sticker or some kind of motivational slogan? Nope. It’s the promotional poster for upcoming international comedians at Parker’s Comedy & Jive in South Africa. Except they mistakenly list me as a Canadian (CAN) instead of American (USA). And if you know me, you know the problems I have with Canada. Hit up 6:45 in this video:
It beats other places I’ve performed at where they list me as being from Japan, then neglect to use the accepted abbreviation (JPN). The result is a poster that says “Paul Ogata JAP.” Ugh.
Parker’s is a 3-year-old comedy club at the Montecasino in Johannesburg, South Africa. The brainchild of South African comedy legend Joe Parker, it continues to build a nice sized audience as word spreads about Africa’s only comedy club. The week started off with Wednesday and Thursday shows that were pretty full, which is awesome considering they are weeknights. I can’t wait for the weekend shows!
One of the joys of performing overseas is running into fellow Americans. It makes the air smell of apple pie and I can hear Whitney Houston singing the Star Spangled Banner in my head. Even better is when I run into fellow American comedians when I’m in foreign countries. It happened last Fall in Hong Kong, when I ran into Dwayne Perkins. What an awesome surprise it was last night when comedy heavyweight Ted Alexandro showed up backstage after my set at Parkers. He’s in town for a few days doing a show and chanced upon the poster with my motivational slogan on it.
Small world.
These Johannesburg shows have almost helped me to complete my goal of performing on every continent on Earth. I need to find a way to do a show on Antarctica. Do any of you know someone who knows someone who can hook that up? Can it even be done? Paul Ogata CAN!