Ogata is a standup guy

Photos by Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser Paul Ogata aims his humor at a mainstream audience and has a day job as a local morning deejay. "Radio pays the bills — that's really important in the life of a standup," he said.

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Paul Ogata says he generally avoids profanity in his act and that opens more venues to him. TAKE OUT COMEDY TOUR 7:30 p.m. Thursday and May 27; doors open at 7 p.m. Pipeline Cafe Both shows sold out (877) 750-4400 Paul Ogata, headliner; plus Joey Guila, Shecky Wong, Ed Cho, Shawn Felipe, PK and Jami Gong

How good is he?

(Glad you asked.) He's so good, in fact, that he was named the Funniest Asian Comedian last year — even though he readily admits there's no such thing as Asian comedy.

"I think many comedians do ethnic jokes, and somebody will always be among the minority," said Ogata, 36, who is a morning radio deejay (Da Bomb, FM 102.7) when he's not doing clubwork. "I don't think we're doing anything different. For me, it's really not ethnic — it's all about being true to myself."

For once, no punchline follows. Ogata is simply looking to put a funnyman's life into context as he preps for the Take Out Comedy Tour at the Pipeline Cafe on Thursday and next Friday.

"All comics will talk about familiar things, so there's always some overlap," Ogata said. "George Bush, William Hung, Michael Jackson ... we all go there," he said. "And even Terri Schiavo ... and the (Indian Ocean) tsunami. It's how you put on your spin."

Ogata, as the headliner, and six other comedians of Asian descent will tackle wide-ranging and universal topics.

The tour evolved through the organizers of an Asian comedian search, led by Jami Gong and based in New York. "Guys like Ed Cho and Shecky Wong, who live and work in New York, also were involved ... and are part of the tour since they were part of the finals," he said.

As a funnyman, Ogata is poised to expand his horizon and his popularity. He's played on both East and West Coasts, appeared on TV and in film, and is connecting with audiences that are colorblind — not just those focusing on Asian comics.

"I would say that Paul, more than any other next-generation comic, has his eye on the Mainland," said Andy Bumatai, one of the pioneers of modern Island-style comedy. "His approach, his delivery, his subject matter, his use of pidgin ... is all about national acceptance."

Bumatai should know: he worked with Ogata and Frank DeLima at the Palace Showroom of the Ohana Reef Towers for months before its recent closure. He's traveled with Ogata, too. "And when you work with the guy, when you watch his act, he's really funny. Besides, he puts a fire under my okole; I would venture to say that some nights at the Palace, he would walk on stage and do four or five minutes of something he's never tried before — it goes against everything I told him about doing your best stuff before trying new. He'd dive in with both feet, playing by his own rules."

The tour has played New York, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Ogata hasn't always been on the bright side of the comedy spotlight. He once owned, operated and appeared at his own comedy club at the Renaissance Ilikai Hotel.

"The fun disappeared for me on the very first day," he recalled. "When we opened the door. I was so worried: Are we going to get enough customers and pay the bills? Is the audience going to like the comedians we were booking? Are the drink prices low enough? What I learned, right off the bat, was what not to do. Don't run a comedy club — use other people's money.

"I realized I didn't want to be a businessman; I'm not a numbers-oriented person who wears reverse-print aloha shirts."

The closure eventually led him to radio.

"I had closed down the comedy club and was sitting around looking for something to do, and read (in Show Biz, in The Advertiser) that Kimo Kahoano was going to be let go at Krater Radio. I went to see Austin (Austin Vali, then manager of the station) if he was looking for a morning guy. He told me come in and see what happens. I wound up doing mornings with Kari Steele for a couple of years."

He said he's had a symbiotic relationship with radio, "which helps get word out about the comedy shows. But radio pays the bills — that's really important in the life of a standup."

He was clad in khaki cargo pants and a black leather jacket, which shielded a blue hospital scrub top with a Viagra logo stitched to the pocket.

"My father gave me the shirt," he mused. "I could have used the pills."

Ogata works off his height, or lack of it. He stands 5-foot-3.

"Being short kinda helps (with material)," he said. "Would I like to be a foot taller? Or am I a foot less funny, being where I am?

"I still don't drink coffee, hoping the growth spurt will come at any moment."

Is he always funny?

"People expect you to be funny (off stage), so I come to accept it and tolerate it. 'Aaaay, you the comedian guy,' they'd say. I tell them I'm not working now."

His wife winds up in his sketches quite often, but Ogata confesses, "Maybe one-fifth of what I say about her is true; much of it is exaggerated. But she tells me she doesn't mind."

One sage bit of advice from Bumatai, he said, "is that you can work more places if you play it clean." He's largely G-rated, but there are exceptions.

Then again, audiences sometime influence a comic. "In Los Angeles, they seem to like it a bit more edgy," he said. Edgy means a lot more profane and, well, peppered with expletives.

"Singapore was interesting, too. There are a lot of Brits and Aussies there, and they kind of like it dirty or bluer. So you go with the flow. When I did Singapore, there were a lot of Asians (in the crowd), too, and some people were from Hawai'i on vacation; they showed up in numbers. These folks really go out of the way to support Hawai'i, as Jasmine Trias will tell you."

And about Jasmine: "I've mentioned her in my act, in a nice way; she's not done anything to merit a full beating on stage."

PAUL OGATA'S NOTABLE 'N' QUOTABLE

• Blast from the past: "When I went to UH, I was in the College of Engineering — it's what you do when you're from Pearl City and you're Japanese — and it's something I never wanted to be, never going to be. I wasted a couple of years of my life ... I was in college six or seven years, finally graduating with a degree in speech."
• Films completed: "Amasian: The Amazing Asian," a film by Gerard Elmore; "Behind the Smile," by Damon Wayans.
• TV appearances: "Late, Late Show With Craig Kilborn," "Take Out Comedy at the Improv."
• Most forgettable moment: "I once did a funeral, though I didn't know it was a funeral till I got there. It was a surprise for the family, too, who might have had a sense of humor; the guy was cremated and put into a cake. The gig is one I'd like to forget."
• Topics he avoids: "Religion; it's divisive, unless you take a poll at the beginning."
• Close encounter with a fan: "I was threatened after one show, straight to my face, when a Jewish woman threatened to kill me ... because I said 'Hitler' that night. 'You say that word again and you will not leave this building alive,' she said."

WITH SIX YOU GET EGG ROLL

Paul Ogata will be joined by six other Asian comics on the Take Out Comedy Tour. They are:

• Joey Guila — A one-time hair stylist from San Francisco, known for his impersonations of his Filipino father and character-filled sketches. Seen on VH1's "A2Z." Latest venture: filming P Diddy's "The Bad Boys of Comedy" video.
• Shecky Wong — One of the "grandfathers" of Asian-American standup; a headliner on the national comedy club circuit.
• Jami Gong — Founder of the Take Out Comedy Tour; the only licensed walking tour guide of New York's Chinatown; appeared on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien."
• Ed Cho — A native New Yorker, Cho is a regular on the Manhattan comedy scene. His "Chill" film screenplay was turned into a short that caught the eye of Miramax; his first feature, "Plasma," is being produced by Miramax.
• PK — Paul Kim is regular host of Asian Night at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood. He devotes time to Korean community issues and created Kollaboration, a festival of Korean American entertainment now in its fifth year and embracing Los Angeles, Chicago and New York comics.
• Shawn Felipe — Born in California (Victorville) but raised in Hawai'i, Felipe now calls Los Angeles home. He was on NBC's short-lived "Hawai'i" series and was the Spam deliveryman in Adam Sandler's "50 First Dates."