Sarah Takes Forever to Update Her Blog

Finally, a new post! I could say it is because I have been so busy that I haven't had any time to make updates at all, which is partially true...but mainly I am just lazy.

Recently I have been doing a lot of manzai (Japanese comedy) with my friend Erin in our duo called "Gaijin Dantai" ('group of foreigners'). So far we have performed at Design Festa--a independent art festival--where we drew big crowds for all of our 5 shows throughout the day. Then, we performed at the Keio University school festival. Keio is where both Erin and I studied abroad in the past and we were invited because some of my friends from the punk rock club I joined while I was there were doing a "movie cafe" and needed performances, so they asked us to do it. It was super fun and was nice to perform for friends and other people around our same age. For more info (in Japanese) as well as a bunch of pictures from these performances, please visit Gaijin Dantai's official blog: http://gaijindantai.blogspot.com/
We also have a group on FaceBook called "Gaijin Dantai Fan Club" which has information in English and a ton more pictures.

What has been even more fun than our recent performances, though, has been our "Guerilla Manzai." Over the past couple of weeks, we have been taking our show on the road...by which I mean we have been randomly doing comedy stuff while we are out shopping/hanging out around Tokyo.

First, have you heard of people holding "Free Hugs" signs in busy cities all over the world? Well, they do it in Tokyo too, so we came up with a great bit using those people (don't you dare steal our idea either!) I go up to someone holding the "Free Hugs" sign and say "Wow, free hugs? Yaaaaaaaay!" and hug them. Then, I reach into my pocket and pull out my sign, which reads, "Hugs 500¥" Yeah, awesome, I know. So far we haven't gotten any money...but I was able to haggle the price of a shirt at the Yoyogi flea market down from 200 yen to 100 yen plus a hug. (I think the guy selling the shirt got the better deal) If you want to see me in action, watch the low-quality video that Erin took with her camera and put up on Youtube:

I have to go now, because Erin and I are performing for the Canadian Ambassador tonight, but stay tuned for more tales of Guerilla Manzai...next time: Sarah tries to get deported by refusing to tell police what country she is from.