Comedy is universal, and visitors to Osaka the weekend before last had many opportunities to get into the laughter. The second OSAKA COMEDY FESTIVAL ran from 10 to 12 October 2026 and welcomed 73,658 attendees across its three days, with a programme built around nonverbal comedy and performers who have been recognised internationally.
Organised by Osaka Prefecture, Osaka City and the Osaka Cultural Arts Project Executive Committee, the festival forms part of the Osaka International Cultural Arts Project, which aims to carry forward the international attention generated by Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai through ongoing cultural and tourism exchange. The first festival was held during Expo 2025, while this year’s edition moved to Minami, one of Osaka’s major entertainment and shopping districts.
The goal was to share Osaka’s comedy culture, best known through the double-act comedy of manzai and the traditional comic storytelling of rakugo, with audiences from around the world using physical and nonverbal performance. Free street performances were held at Namba Square across all three days, while theatre shows took place at SPACE14 on the 14th floor of Shinsaibashi PARCO, with two performances of CHALLENGE on 10 October and the SKIT COMEDY SHOW on 11 October.
Alongside the festival, Cirque du Soleil Casting held auditions from 7 to 9 October in the clown and circus act categories, marking the first time the company has held clown auditions in Japan. Charlie Burrows, who oversees casting for all of Cirque du Soleil’s resident shows, travelled from Las Vegas for the auditions and attended the festival’s opening ceremony.
On the main stage at Namba Square, comedy unit THE TOKYO IDIOTS performed a set that included bringing audience members up on stage. The group is made up of TONY (Tonikaku Akarui Yasumura), WES-P and GASSY (Koikuchi Ichikawa). TONY was a finalist on Britain’s Got Talent in 2023, and WES-P has appeared on Got Talent shows in more than 10 countries and regions. The trio has also performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and received the Sea of Laughter Award at the Busan International Comedy Festival in South Korea.
Indoors, CHALLENGE brought its nonverbal comedy to SPACE14. The production received a five-star review at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and was written, directed and produced by Akira Ishida of comedy duo NON STYLE. It tells its story through facial expressions, movement and music rather than dialogue, and incorporates Japanese elements such as sword-fighting choreography and kendama, a traditional skill toy. Many international visitors were in the audience.
The festival closed with a performance from nonverbal duo GABEZ, known for their pictogram routine at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Their set mixed pantomime, dance and audience participation.
OSAKA COMEDY FESTIVAL is set to return in 2027 and beyond, with dates and programme details for the next edition to be shared in the near future.
