After going TikTok-viral earlier this year for slow-dropping it to ‘yonce, L.A. comedy mainstay Atsuko Okatsuka just released her first stand-up special via HBO Max.
Directed by Tig Notaro and filmed in Brooklyn, New York, “The Intruder” premiered on HBO and HBO Max today, Dec. 10. According to a press release from HBO, Okatsuka’s upcoming comedy special will dish on the futile art of impressing teenagers, the details of attending a Magic Mike live show with her grandmother and an alarming, yet comical anecdote of having an unwanted intruder in her home. Okatsuka also revealed in the statement that the special will be reminiscent of Margaret Cho’s work, as the Korean American stand-up comedian is one of Okatsuka’s inspirations.
With her debut stand-up special, Okatsuka hopes to reach fellow oddballs on the margins of society. “I’m so excited to work with HBO on what my family calls ‘an hour of [me] talking funny,’” Okatsuka said. “I wrote this special when I realized that all the things that made me feel like a freak growing up were actually my superpowers. And I hope you’ll feel that way too after watching. This one’s for the weirdos, the lovers, those who got picked last or even first but not on the team you wanted to be on.”
Okatsuka made her late-night stand-up debut last year on “The Late Late Show With James Corden” in an episode that had Vulture proclaiming that she “won late-night,” and was recently named by Variety as one of 2022’s top 10 Comics to Watch. Also an actress, she stars in the new Comedy Central animated series “Fairview” and the Paramount+ feature film “Washingtonia.” Okatsuka has written for “The Eric Andre Show” and “Soft Focus with Jena Friedman.”
