Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka says social media has enabled her to build an international audience and tour countries where many American stand-ups do not perform. Speaking at Montreal’s Just For Laughs festival, she said viral clips removed barriers to global reach while industry recognition from fellow comedians remained personally important.

Okatsuka became only the second Asian-American woman to receive an HBO comedy special in 2022, following Margaret Cho in 1994, and noted that no third comedian has yet followed. She has more than five million social-media followers; clips from her specials have accumulated over 100 million views, exceeding the audience for watching her HBO special in full. Her family connections to Japan and Taiwan also helped make internet use and an international outlook central to her career.