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The mic stand collapsed before the first joke landed. It was February 2025, the inaugural show of Kansai Comedy Club (KCC), and the equipment – ordered from the ever-reliable Temu – was already giving up. But for co-founder and comedian Dylan Lamb, it was the perfect start.
A year and more than 25 first-time comedians later, KCC runs biweekly shows across Osaka and Kyoto and has ambitions that stretch well beyond the back rooms of Kansai’s bars.
To find out what’s cracking up to be the funniest night out in Osaka, we headed along to find out if the city does indeed have a new reason to laugh.
In the room
To see one of KCC’s Osaka shows, you’ll only have to head to Absinthe Underground, one of Shinsaibashi’s many characterful venues and a well-worn home for drag nights, live music and late-night revelry.
On the Friday night we attended, the room filled up fast and extra tables had to be brought out, while a host of comedians were already queuing up to take to the stage.
The usual shows run over an hour and a half – for us, this meant ten acts. They’re also free, but this is by no means a reflection of their quality. Yes, this is an open mic night, not a Netflix special, but the range of comics is wide, and a five-minute format keeps the audience and the comics on their toes.
There was clown-like slapstick from one-time America’s Got Talent contestant World Famous Kozo, crowd banter, lewd one-liners, heckling and at least one questionable Elvis impression. Not everything landed, but with short sets nothing outstayed its welcome either.
Midway through the night, the gloriously sassy Gaku Hiroshima raised the roof with a sharp set in a strong sign that this very much isn’t just a night for amateurs, but also for pros and up-and-comers working on some pretty slick material.
The crowd hit what Lamb calls the ‘rule of thirds’: one part locals, one part expats and one part tourists – but more importantly, it was rowdy in the right places and exactly the kind of mixed bag that helps make a night tick.
Watch this space
The story of Kansai Comedy Club is, at its core, an entrepreneurial one. When the open mic nights at Osaka Comedy Club (OCC) were cancelled in late 2024, a handful of regulars found themselves with nowhere to workshop new material and no pathway into the scene.
Lamb, an Australian expat and OCC regular, teamed up with Lexer from Ethiopia, Daniel Chong from Hong Kong and Stuart Taylor from New Zealand – all of them united by the conviction that Osaka needed its own room. The four pooled their money, bought cheap equipment and put the word out on Meetup for their first night at the back of the Australian Pub in Shinsaibashi.
The city, after all, is Japan’s undisputed capital of comedy. The double acts of manzai and the shapeshifting stories of rakugo have been drawing crowds here for centuries. KCC looks to emulate this history by complementing OCC’s curated line-up of vetted and guest acts with a scrappy, inclusive space where anyone can get up and try.
Looking forward, KCC is planning to register formally as a local cooperative, with the goal of growing both the English and Japanese standup communities in the region.
This means more frequent shows as the scene expands and – most ambitiously – a Kansai Comedy Festival by 2027, taking inspiration from the Tokyo International Comedy Festival that launched last year.
For a club that started with a collapsing mic stand and a room full of friends, that’s quite a trajectory.
The details
So, your Friday’s free and you’re up for a laugh in Osaka – here’s what you need to know.
KCC runs two locations, so there’s a show every two weeks – a monthly Osaka show at Absinthe Underground in Shinsaibashi, and a monthly Kyoto show at Ki Bar in Pontocho. The Kyoto show is also free, but if you laughed hard enough that you feel like donating at the end of the night, the club welcomes that.
There are three formats: regular open mic nights; showcase nights, featuring more polished sets from experienced acts and visiting international comedians; and the occasional roast battle.
For now, entry is free but as the club looks to grow make sure to check out their website, Instagram, Facebook or Meetup for updates and upcoming dates.
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