Gear up for 11 days of LOL as the Tokyo International Comedy Festival returns this September with a whopping 60 shows across eight venues. The programme includes stand-up by an international, star-studded cast of comedians, international roast battles, a stand-up contest, bilingual improv and much more. With shows available in both English and Japanese, this comedy extravaganza is for everyone in Tokyo.
The festival takes place across venues including Tokyo Comedy Bar, Mame Romantic, DecaBar Super, The Millennials Shibuya and Baird Beer’s taprooms in Nakameguro and Bashamichi. You can look forward to a diverse line-up of comedians from Japan and around the globe, including household names like Sammy Obeid, known for his 1,001-day comedy streak, appearances on Conan, and Netflix’s 100 Humans, and Emily Catalano, who was named on the New York Times’ ‘Best Comedy of 2024’ list. Bringing the local heat will be talents such as Yurie Collins, Shota Saimu, BJ Fox and Jay Yamaki.
A definite highlight on the programme is RoastFest 2025 – Asia’s biggest roast battle – which features Comedy Central champions Mike Lawrence and Frank Castillo coming out of retirement, plus a special recording of ‘Your Hood’s a Joke’ with battles like Tokyo vs NYC and Japan vs India.
Individual tickets are available for all shows, but if you’re looking to catch more than one, make sure to get the Festival Pass for ¥5,000. This includes entry to one show of your choice, plus the right to buy tickets to any other show for a paltry ¥500.
To see the full schedule, visit the website.
