On This Episode of Japan Station
On this episode of the Japan Station podcast, stand-up comedian Shuhei “Shoe” Murakami stops by to talk about how he went from almost dropping out of high school to performing stand-up comedy in English in Canada and the U.S.
About Shuhei “Shoe” Murakami
Shuhei “Shoe” Murakami is a stand-up comedian and actor from Tokyo. Currently Murakami is based in Toronto, Canada but he has also performed stand-up comedy in New York and Japan.
Topics Discussed
- How Shoe struggled academically in high school
- How listening to and performing English-language music by bands like the Beatles helped Shoee learn English
- Studying English literature in a Japanese university
- Traveling in Southeast Asia after graduating from college
- How Shoe lost all his money due to a blackjack scam in Cambodia
- How Shoe made a life for himself in Cambodia after getting scammed out of his money
- Managing Sharky Bar in Cambodia and learning how to deal with the clientele
- The challenges of running a bar in Cambodia as a young Japanese man
- Starting his own bar
- The difficulties Shoe faced when trying to find a job in Japan
- How Shoe discovered stand-up comedy while in Japan
- Why Shoe decided to move to Canada
- Shoe’s realization that he needed to become more comfortable on stage
- Performing stand-up comedy in Canada and New York
- Getting work as an actor in Canada
- Getting to perform on the Asian Comedy All-Stars show in Toronto
- And much more!
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Links, Videos, Etc.
You can find Shuhei “Shoe” Murakami on the following platforms.
Here is a video of Shoe performing stand-up comedy at Absolute Comedy in Toronto, Canada.
Here is a video of Shoe performing in Tokyo. This is the first time he performed in public.
To learn more about Shoe’s time in Cambodia and the scam that resulted in him losing his money, check out the article below.
Use the link below to check out the latest episode of Ichimon Japan.
Special Thanks
Opening/Closing song: Oedo Controller (大江戸コントローラー) by Yunomi featuring Toriena (Used with permission from Yunomi)
To listen to more of Yunomi’s music, check out his Soundcloud page or YouTube channel.
Japan Station cover art: Provided by Erik R.
Featured image: Courtesy of Shuhei “Shoe” Murakami
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Full Show Notes
