Air Force spouse AMarie Castillo has worked with The Howard Stern Show, hosted for comedians, including Louis CK and Rachel Feinstein, and worked radio row at last year’s Super Bowl. (AMarie Castillo)
The Catalina Wine Mixer is revered by many fans of American comedy as a not-to-be-missed gathering.
Japanese people who joined a version of the fictional mixer, depicted in the 2008 comedy film “Step Brothers,” earlier this year at Tokyo’s New Sanno Hotel seemed confused by the name, according to AMarie Castillo, an Air Force spouse who performed there.
The locals, it appeared, hadn’t heard “Step Brothers” Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly sing about boats and the world’s oldest professionals, the comedian and sports broadcaster recently told Stars and Stripes over coffee at Yokota Air Base’s Kanto Lodge.
That didn’t stop them from laughing along with the Americans as Castillo and other standups cracked jokes for wine-tasters at the hotel, Castillo said.
The wife of a CV-22 Osprey flight engineer has been a regular performer at Tokyo Comedy Bar in Shibuya since arriving in Japan in February.
Also know as Part Time Bro, Air Force spouse AMarie Castillo has worked with The Howard Stern Show, hosted for comedians, including Louis CK and Rachel Feinstein, and worked radio row at last year’s Super Bowl. (AMarie Castillo)
Castillo also works remotely, talking football on radio stations in her hometown, Albuquerque, N.M., and New York City, where she spent 15 years doing standup on Broadway, she said.
Known as the Part Time Bro, Castillo said she’s worked with The Howard Stern Show, hosted for comedians, including Louis CK and Rachel Feinstein, and worked radio row at last year’s Super Bowl.
The Tokyo Comedy Bar is the only English-language comedy club in the city, Castillo said.
“There’s a lot of turnover with foreign standup comedy here,” she said. “Just like the military people, they come and go.”
The bar worked with the New Sanno on several comedy performances before Castillo arrived.
“They thought it would be great to capitalize since I’ll be here for four years to have my own show at the hotel,” she said.
Air Force spouse AMarie Castillo has worked with The Howard Stern Show, hosted for comedians, including Louis CK and Rachel Feinstein, and worked radio row at last year’s Super Bowl. (AMarie Castillo)
Her first gig there — the Catalina Wine Mixer — was so successful that it will be repeated with another wine mixer in May, according to hotel director Paul Savarese.
The event wasn’t supposed to be a snobby wine-tasting evening. Instead, there was a band playing 1980s music and comedians telling jokes on stage, he said.
“We made it like the movie a little bit,” he said, adding that Castillo’s routine that night was awesome.
“She wowed a lot of people, so we wanted her for quarterly comedy,” he said. “We are going to use her as much as we can.”
The New Sanno held its first quarterly comedy evening, hosted by Castillo and featuring several other standup performers, at its Fair Winds cocktail lounge in September, Savarese said.
“It’s a cozy place and we have a small stage in there,” he said, noting there’s not a lot of American standup in Japan.
“We wanted to start something where customers can know what to expect,” Savarese said of the quarterly comedy show.
The next quarterly comedy event featuring Castillo will be at Fair Winds in February, he added.
Castillo said she’ll also perform on New Year’s Eve at Yokota’s Enlisted Club.
Catalina Wine Mixer
Directions: The New Sanno Hotel is at 4-12-20, Minami-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0047, a short walk from Hiroo subway station on the Hibiya line.
Times: The next quarterly comedy show is scheduled for Feb. 14 at the New Sanno’s Fair Winds cocktail lounge.
Costs: The comedy shows are free.
Food: Fair Winds’ menu features everything from ribeye steaks to pizza, sandwiches and burgers.
Information: DSN 315-229-8003 or 03-6868-2333.
