Showko Comedy

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biography

Showko Showfukutei is a Japanese ventriloquist comedian and Rakugo* performer based in Melbourne, Australia. She has lived and worked in London, Tokyo, Osaka, Singapore performing at countless comedy clubs, arts & culture festivals, corporate and government events.
 
Early Life
Showko was born and grew up in the vibrant, cosmopolitan city of Kobe in Japan, where she graduated from Kobe Yamate University with a degree in psychology. 
 

First Ventriloquist career 

Sparked by a childhood interest in puppets and ventriloquists, Showko found an unlikely career opportunity at a local police station where she taught traffic safety using a ventriloquist puppet (yes, really).
 
International adventure
After three years at the police station she decided to move to Canada to study English, where she immersed herself as much as she could (to the point of avoiding meeting other Japanese people!) so she could improve her English as quickly as possible. When lonely, Showko would listen to  the radio (in English, of course), which ultimately influenced her decision to train as a professional radio announcer when she returned to Japan.

 

Professional radio announcer 
Showko went to “Fame” announcing school in Osaka to train as a radio announcer, and just one year after graduating she was able to go professional, with regular programs at Radio Osaka, FM Uji, Yes FM and Beach Station FM.

 

Singapore
Showko was offered an international work opportunity and relocated to Singapore where she worked as a radio producer and presenter for Media Corp’s FM96.3. 

After a successful five years on radio, fate stepped in: Showko attended an event where she met Rakugo Master “Kakushow Showfukutei” and invited him to be a guest on her radio show. Her interest was triggered. Kakushow had adapted traditional Rakugo into his own style using handmade puppets, making it more visual and incorporating slapstick comedy. As soon as she saw how his performance could make anyone laugh regardless of age or language, Showko instinctively knew that this was what she wanted to pursue. She would quit her job and become a Rakugo performer!  

Becoming a Rakugo performer
Is it as easy as that? No. Rakugo is a very male dominated traditional art form, and only a person who can complete training for three years under a Rakugo Master will be accepted as a professional Rakugo performer (many people give up during this hard training period). To be a professional Rakugo performer you have to ask a Rakugo master to become his protégé. Usually the master will say “No” ten times to see if the person has the passion, desire and guts to be a Rakugo performer. In Showko’s case she went through the same ordeal, but her time to convince him was limited as Master Kakushow was moving to London to be a cultural ambassador for the Japanese government. Not one to give up, Showko left her life in Singapore and flew to London one day prior to Master Kakushow so she could be there to welcome him at Heathrow Airport. Needless to say, with this level of passion, desire and guts on display, Master Kakushow was convinced and finally accepted her as his protégé.

 

London
Although Showko trained as a Rakugo performer in London for four years under Master Kakushow, it was during this time that Showko also developed her professional career as a ventriloquist comedian and performed at Covent Garden, at numerous comedy clubs, and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Upon completion of the training, Master Kakushow bestowed upon her the 400 year old traditional name ‘Showko Showfuketei’ – Showko meaning ‘laughing child’ in Japanese, and Showfukutei being the name of her Rakugo ‘family’. 

Professional Rakugo performer
Showko is one of only 1500 Rakugo performers working professionally, and is the only one to complete her protégé period outside Japan. Of these 1500, only a handful are women, and only one of these women lives overseas.
 
Like Master Kakushow before her, Showko has breathed new life into this traditional artform. Performed with a style that is uniquely her own, she combines it with a mix of modern stand-up comedy, puppetry and ventriloquism.
 
Professional Ventriloquist Comedian
After London Showko`s career as a Ventriloquist Comedian has flourished and she has been based in Osaka, Tokyo, Singapore and Melbourne while performing internationally on the comedy and festival circuit.
 
Showko was quickly spotted by talent scouts to be a regular performer for major cruise lines and she also wowed the judges as a finalist on Australia’s Got Talent.
 
Showko has gone on to become a popular performer on the festival circuit and live comedy scene. She is much in demand for corporate and government events as a ventriloquist comedian and also as a host who provides a unique and lively twist. 
 
Television

Due to her success overseas she has also been featured on dedicated programs for several major national and network TV stations in Japan.

 
*Rakugo is a traditional form of Japanese comedy storytelling with a history dating back 400 years.
 

Career:
 Festivals
• Adelaide Fringe Festival – 2019
• Melbourne International Comedy Festival – 2014, 2015, 2018
• Bondi Feast Festival – 2018
• Melbourne Fringe Festival – 2017
• Frocking Hilarious (charity gala for ActionAid Australia) – 2016
• Wellington Japan Festival – 2016
• Christchurch Japan Festival, NZ – 2015
• Avignon Festival, France
• Paris Club, France
• Edinburgh Fringe Festival
• Brighton Fringe Festival
• Hamburg and Osaka Sister City Festival
• Malaysian Arts Festival
• Philippines Japan Festival and more…

Theatre
• Norwich Puppet Theatre Norwich Puppet Festival ~ 25th Anniversary
• Little Angel Theatre ~ Hans Christian Anderson’s 200th Anniversary Show
• World Heritage National Bunraku Puppet Theatre, Osaka
• Hanjotei Rakugo Theatre in Japan (regular performance) and more
 
Corporate Events
• P&G
• Sumitomo Life
• CANON Europe
• MARUBENI Europe
• Mitsui UK & BP
• Miki Corporation
• Embassy of Japan, UK
• Embassy of Japan, Tonga
• Japan Foundation Sydney
• Singapore Japanese Association
• Japanese Teachers Association of Victoria
• Washington University, US
• London University, UK
• Liverpool Sydney, Charity Ball
• Visit Japan Campaign, Beverly Hills Hilton, USA
and more…
 
Cruise Shows
• Princess Cruise
• Holland America
• Cunard
 
Film
“Anata no tamenara dokomademo” 2009

Television
• Tokyo TV 
• ABC iView “International Women’s Day Debate”
• NHK( Japanese National TV) Tsurube’s Kazokuni Kampai
• Australia’s Got Talent finalist
• Yomiuri TV “Good Chikyu bin” featuring Showko
• Channel News Asia: “Primetime Morning”
• TBS: “minomonta no asa zubba!”
• Nagoya TV
• Kyoto TV
 
In-Flight Radio Programmes
• Singapore Airlines: Monthly Program J-Pop 2010~2012 Monthly Program J-Gold 2010~2012
• CATHAY PACIFIC “In-Fight monthly music program” 1999~2004
• LUFTHANSA “In-Fight monthly music program” 2000~2004

Radio
• ABC National Radio in “International Womens Day debate”
• ABC National Radio “In conversation with John Faine” (guest)
• SBS National Radio in Australia (guest)
• 3RRR Radio in Melbourne (guest)
• MBS Radio in Japan
• Radio Osaka in Japan
• Radio regular program on MediaCorp FM 96.3 (Showko`s Quirky News!) 
• MediaCorp Radio, Singapore FM96.3   Roles: Full-time Bilingual Radio Producer Presenter
• RADIO Regular Programs in Japan  (MBS, Radio Osaka, FM Uji,Yes FM, FM Beach Station) 

Commercials & Narration
• BMW
• Disney
• Discovery Channel, Animal Planet
• Daimaru and more…

笑福亭笑子(しょうふくてい しょうこ)

神戸市出身

上方落語協会所属

2004年 笑福亭鶴笑入門。海外を拠点にして活動する唯一の落

語家。落語家修行は異例のロンドンにて。

大学卒業後は、 警察にて腹話術を使った交通安全指導の仕事に携わる。後1年間カナダで語学留学。帰国後はアナウンススクールに通い、卒業後は関西を中心にラジオのレギュラー番組を持ち、テレビや各種イベントで司会などフリーアナウンサーとして活動。 

　その後、シンガポールの国営放送局メディコープで局アナウンサーとして就職するためシンガポールに単身で移住。5年間勤め、その時に師匠、笑福亭鶴笑のパペット落語に出会う。弟子入りを志願するが断られ、何もかも捨ててロンドンに移住する師匠より1日先回りをし師匠をヒースロー空港で迎えやる気をかわれ、弟子入り。ロンドンでは４年間、落語の修行のみならず腹話術でコメディークラブに出演するなどし芸を磨く。その後、大阪で改めて厳しい落語家のしきたりを学ぶ。

メルボルン移住後は、難関テレビオーディション「オーストラリアズゴットタレント」で準決勝進出するなど、現地メディアにも多数出演し、豪華客船での出演など、老若男女国籍を問わない芸で世界を舞台に活動中。

海外での活躍の様子は、NHK、読売テレビ、テレビ東京などで特集される。

主な経歴

【企業講演】

P&G　

住友生命 　

丸紅ヨーロッパ　

三井　

BP UK 　

ミキコーポレーション

ビクトリア州日本語教師会 

リバプール市（シドニーオーストラリア）など

 

【テレビ】

オーストラリア国営放送ABCテレビ「国際女性デー」

チャンネル9 「オーストラリアゴットタレント2016準決勝」

読売テレビ 「グッと地球便」

読売テレビ「24時間テレビ 愛は地球を救う」

TBS 「みのもんたの朝ズバッ」

名古屋テレビ 「シンガポール観光」

チャンネルニュースアジア 「プライムタイムモーニング」

NHK 「鶴瓶の家族に乾杯」

テレビ東京「世界ナゼそこ日本人～海外で超有名人スペシャル」

【フェスティバル&イベント】

フランス アビニヨンフェスティバル

メルボルンインターナショナルコメディーフェスティバル

エジンバラフリンジフェスティバル

アデレードフリンジフェスティバル

ブライトンフリンジフェスティバル

メルボルンフリンジフェスティバル

ハンブルグ 大阪市 姉妹都市フェスティバル

ホワイトホースシティー 松戸市 姉妹都市フェスティバル

ウェリントン日本フェスティバル

クライストチャーチ日本フェステバル

フィリッピン日本フェスティバル

マレーシアアートフェスティバル

ビバリーヒルズ ロサンジェルス ビジットジャパンキャンペーン

ボンダイフィーストシドニー

英国日本大使館

シドニー国際交流基金

パリクラブ

シンガポール日本人会

トンガ日本大使館

【ラジオ】

*レギュラー

シンガポール国営放送局FM96.3

毎日放送ラジオ

ラジオ大阪

FM宇治

ビーチステーション

*ゲスト出演

オーストラリア国営ABCラジオ

SBSラジオ　

RRR 他多数

 

 【機内番組】

*レギュラー

シンガポール航空 機内番組

ルフトハンザ航空 機内番組

キャセパシフィック航空 機内番組

【CM & ナレーション】

BMW/ディズニー/大丸/ディスカバリーチャンネル/アニマル プラネット他多数

【豪華客船】

クィーンメリー、クナード

プリンセスクルーズ

オランダアメリカライン