Yuriko Kotani | |
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Years active | 2014–present |
Website |
www |
Yuriko Kotani is a Japanese comedian based in London. She won the 2015 BBC Radio New Comedy Award, [1] [2] [3] making her the first Japanese person to win the award. She debuted her solo show Somosomo at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. [4] Kotani's comedy makes fun of the cultural differences between England and her homeland of Japan. [5] [6]
Kotani is from Aichi Prefecture. [7] [8] She moved to England in 2005 aged 24 with her then-boyfriend, who had been studying abroad in Japan. [4] She was introduced to and "fell in love with British comedy". She began performing stand-up of her own in 2014. [4]
In 2015 Kotani was nominated for a number of awards for her comedy. Most notably, in November 2015 she won the BBC Radio New Comedy Award, aged 34. [9]
She was named as "One To Watch" by Time Out in 2015. [10] She went on to become first runner-up in So You Think You're Funny 2015?, [11] won the Brighton Comedy Festival Squawker Award 2015, [12] placed third in the Leicester Square Theatre New Comedian of the Year 2015, [13] and was nominated for Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year in 2016. [14]
On the radio, Kotani has been interviewed on The Comedy Club on BBC Radio 4 Extra. [15]
Kotani has made a number of appearances on British television. In 2016, Kotani appeared on series 2 of Russell Howard's Stand Up Central. [16]
In March 2017, Kotani made her TV acting debut in the BBC Three mockumentary Pls Like as Nozomi Hottah. [17]
In January 2018, Kotani appeared on the CBBC panel show, The Dog Ate My Homework. In 2020, Kotani appeared in an episode of Paul Hollywood Eats Japan on Channel 4. [18]
In May 2021 she starred alongside Rich Keeble as a scientist extracting DNA from present and former players in a comedy film unveiling Southampton Football Club's new 2021/22 season kit. Players featured in the film included James Ward-Prowse, Matt Le Tissier and Francis Benali. [19]
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