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“Do you know the beginnings of beauty and beast?” Ah, Bonjour! Bonjour! “This is Glendale Boulevard for me. ”
Oka suko barely exaggerates her Bell-like status. The Los Angeles stand-up stop shoots a selfie with fans, bumps into a set builder for her new special, checks in with the owner of her favorite store, and tries to decipher “I Love You” that is barely touched by fans of the screaming in the car.
For quite some time, this cluster of bakeries, thrift stores, bookstores and restaurants across from Ross Ferris and Silver Lake was the stomped-down location of her and her husband, Ryan Harper Gray. “I grew up in Japan, where I was able to do everything about my business within the steps of my house,” she laments about the American drive-everywhere Culture. “And I try to keep things convenient. I keep it on Glendale Boulevard.”
We will meet ahead of the release of her father, her new stand-up special, which just hit Hulu on June 13th. You’ve probably seen Okatsuka’s viral video on Instagram and Tiktok. But her comedy routine goes beyond phone-sized screens. She was in the 2019 LA “Watch a Comedian” class, invited to one of her father’s performances, and was recorded last fall at the El Pitan Theatre in Hollywood (who became the first female comedian to perform at the Disney-owned film palace). I don’t try to slaughter the bits skillfully placed on tandem bikes or laundry machines, but in short, I expect to hear about the arrival in LA from Japan, the skills to please those who picked up as cheerleaders at Venice High School, and the skills to please those who picked up as double daytime and nighttime personas.
Video Stills: Richard Tranley in Okatuka Time in Atwater Village
On a sunny afternoon at Atwater we begin a tour of the neighborhood outside the Swan Day Spa. This depends on Okatsuka’s R&R after changing jobs. “I have a problem. My shoulders are made of rocks,” she says. “It’s virtually impossible to get the knot out of me.” However, there is one person she trusts to fix them: Swan Day Spa Massey May. “To be honest, I don’t even know what she’s doing because I fall asleep halfway through. All I know is that I’m the person who has changed by the end,” she says of the customized massage in May. “That’s my girl. I like to think we’re probably closer than us right now.”
(Okatsuka may be selling herself here: While planning our interview, I raised my head to every store we are about to visit, and everyone I spoke to only worship her.)
“Fun fact: This is where I and my husband came to celebrate after he had a venectomy. Thank you, Homestate.”
We continue to venture through Glendale Boulevard, sacred basil (“Amazing Chinese Thai Food” and a gluten-free favorite for her husband) and breakfast taco specialist Home State, a staple of couples’ lives for over a decade. “Fun fact: This is what I came to celebrate after my husband and I had a venectomy. Thank you, homestate,” she says before. “Cut” grey is casually added.
He stops in the winery in Bill, but says Okakuni must be there at least four times a week. “Oh, are you short of eggs?” she asks. “Tidbit: They sell eggs here and they’re always in stock. Why do you know? Because I don’t think there are eggs in the liquor store. But Bill does.”
As Okakuni praises the mannequins in the window outside her closet (“Look at these beautiful pieces. It’s a museum, it’s a work of art”), we talk about her love for the thrift store. And even midway through our tour, passersby notices her sharp fashion choices: “The two overtake me and say, ‘It’s that kind of fire fit.’ Thank you very much. “
Video Stills: Richard Tranley in Okatuka Time in Atwater Village
In her father, Oka Tsuka laments that she can’t grow her hair because bowl cuts have become her brand. But she admits it’s just frustration. People come to the show wearing her bowl-cut wig, which becomes a point of pride. “Can Dora from Explorer change her appearance? Will Minnie Mouse stop wearing her red bow?” she asks. “It’s limited in the ‘haha’ way, but I think it’s very empowering. I feel like I’ve finally seen it. I think others will do that too.
We head to our favorite Vietnamese lunchtime Indo Singh Vien (“Pho is Life.”) and stop across the street in front of Heartbeat House, who once taught Dancehall Dance Fitness, a training class like Zumba. But things changed after the pandemic: “Everyone wants to go into Pilates and dance anymore. [McCall’s]. They just sell meat. We had sweaty meat there, but now we sell and cook meat. That’s life. ”
Photo: Richard Tranley for Timeout Video Stills: Richard Tranley from Okatsuka’s Hot Dog Art Time from the New Waynail in Atwater Village
Thankfully, the new Wei Wei still holds some doors strongly. Okatsuka gets monthly creative modifications through nail art. She shows off her hot dogs carved into fingernails to peruse the colorful walls of paint selection. “They keep it cute: pink vibe, Hello Kitty on the menu,” she says.
As you approach the southwest edge of the most walkable stretch of the Boulevard, we become one of our newest storefronts. Perhaps the most likely thing you’ll find Okatsuka at night (“I rarely see me. If you venture inside Nico, a bottle shop in the middle of a strip mall, you’ll find stairs at Baby Batista, a handsome red-colored wine bar hideaway in the basement.
“Hello from the basement somewhere in Atwater Village,” she says from a small stage here. It’s noon so it’s quiet and empty (and thankfully conditioning air conditioning after a foot tour during the heatwave tail end). But by night, Okakuni takes advantage of the low pressure environment and frequently tests new materials here. Our conversation is heading towards some of her other favorite clubs. She is a regular at Comedy Store and Largo. Two traditional markers of success in the LA comedy scene. “When you start a performance [at Largo] “Yeah, cool, it’s okay, I’m Angeleno right now,” she says. 27 years later, I was still saying it, and I was like that.’ – she walked her attention through Atwater – seeing this, I did the whole tour of this street for you. I didn’t know I had it inside me. I found it to know it like the back of my hand. ”
However, LA is still vast (she dares out of town to refer to Pakoima on the map), and so is her roots within it. She grew up on the West Side. In her father, she remembers that she was documented and lying alongside her girl’s gangster, mother and grandma, visiting Hollywood, feeling like a tourist in her city, and not having the time to watch a movie in El Pitan. But that certainly isn’t now. “A few years later, will I play there and invite others to have fun with me?” she muse. “It’s a really cool, full circle moment.”
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