As I stand in the cramped wooden gangway at the side of the stage, going over my lines in a frantic whisper, I am reminded of something that American comedian Patrick Harlan had told me when we first met four months ago.
"The importance of having the language not interfere with the art is huge," he had said, when I explained that I wanted to write a story about the Japanese art of manzai comedy by going through the experience of writing and performing a routine myself rather than just interviewing comedians. "If everyone is paying attention to your pronunciation or accent, or you're flubbing your words, then the music is not going to come through. It's just going to be the sound of you dropping your violin."
Back in the theater's wings, I exchange glances with my partner, a 25-year-old named Ryuichiro Nagayama who has agreed to help me with my project. Together we have written a four-minute routine and rehearsed it relentlessly over the course of two months, and now we are going to perform it in front of an audience at a comedy club.