Chad Mullane (born November 28, 1979) is an Australian comedian, actor, writer, director, translator, academic and producer based in Japan.

Career

Chad became the first non-Japanese comedian to enter Japan's highest-profile comedy college

Yoshimoto New Star Creation The Yoshimoto New Star Creation, commonly called NSC or Yoshimoto Academy, is the comedy school established by Yoshimoto Kogyo in Japan. History There are currently two campuses, the original ''NSC'', established in 1982 in Osaka and the Tokyo br ...

(NSC) and join

Yoshimoto Kogyo is a major Japanese entertainment conglomerate. It was founded in 1912, Osaka, as a traditional theatre, and has since grown to be one of the most influential companies in Japan, employing most of Japan's popular owarai (comedy) talent, produci ...

in 1998. As an award-winning

manzai is a traditional style of comedy in Japanese culture comparable to double act comedy or stand-up comedy. usually involves two performers ()—a straight man () and a funny man ()—trading jokes at great speed. Most of the jokes revolve aro ...

artist he has since hosted, co-hosted and made guest appearances on thousands of comedy and variety television shows. Having ranked among the top 50 comedians in Japan by reaching the semi-finals of the prestigious

M-1 Grand Prix , formerly known as , is an annual Manzai competition planned by Shinsuke Shimada and run by Yoshimoto Kogyo. The supporter Asahi Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts live throughout Japan via All-Nippon News Network. it is the most prevalent ...

for a record eight-years consecutively, he still performs live at theaters across Japan as one part of his comedy duo (which is also called "Chad Mullane.") As an actor Chad has performed in many award-winning films, drama series and he has also been featured in several advertising campaigns. As a writer he has frequently contributed to publications at NHK Publications and

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched b ...

, and he has also authored the book ''The Peculiar Case of Japanese Comedy''. As an academic he teaches comedy at NSC, guest lectures at universities throughout Japan and will be one of the founding lecturers at Tokyo's 'i University' opening in 2020. Chad has been an advisor to the Japanese government and its promotion of Japanese culture through the

Cool Japan refers to the aspects of Japanese culture that non-Japanese people perceive as "cool". The Cool Japan strategy is part of Japan's overall brand strategy, aiming to disseminate Japan's attractiveness and allure to the world. The target of Cool ...

initiative since March 2019.

Influences

Growing up in Australia, Chad was exposed to American, British and Australian humor, but developed an interest in

owarai is a broad word used to describe Japanese comedy as seen on television. The word ''owarai'' is the honorific form of the word ''warai'' (by adding o- prefix), meaning "a laugh" or "a smile". ''Owarai'' is most common on Japanese variety sho ...

(Japanese comedy) after a student exchange program took him by chance to Osaka (a.k.a. "The City of Comedy.") Having been exposed to the rich culture of uniquely Japanese comedy (including

, conte, shinkigeki, oogiri and

batsu game A is a common element in Japanese ''owarai'' stage comedy and variety shows. The name comes from 罰, ''batsu'', meaning both "punishment" and "X", as in an incorrect answer. Definition Generally, a ''batsu'' game takes place after some sort o ...

,) and being particularly fascinated by the talent of comedy duo

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

's Hitoshi Matsumoto, Chad joined NSC, after which he spent two years as an apprentice to The Bonchi's Osamu (the first

artist to sell out the 14,000 capacity

Nippon Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts co ...

.) By taking Osamu as his mentor, Chad became one of only three "brothers" to cult comedian Jimmy Onishi (of Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!-fame) and shinkigeki leader Hiro Yoshida. Chad was recognized by Hitoshi Matsumoto in 2006, and after being nicknamed "The Osaka-ralian," was invited to appear on the bi-annual TV show all comedians aspire to be on: ''Hitoshi Matsumoto no suberanai hanashi''. Chad has since collaborated with Matsumoto on several TV shows and films.Newsweek Japan magazine article (Japanese). Retrieved on 2 September, 2019.
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Awards and nominations

Filmography

Film

Television

Drama Series

Daily Shows

Weekly Shows

Music videos

Advertising Campaigns

Publications

Books

Regular Contributions

Translation Works

Feature films

Web series

Illustrated Books

Impressions

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Setsuko from ''

Grave of the Fireflies is a 1988 Japanese animated war tragedy film based on a 1967 short story by Akiyuki Nosaka. It was written and directed by Isao Takahata, and animated by Studio Ghibli for Shinchosha Publishing. The film stars , , and . Set in the city ...

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Disney Witches

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mullane, Chad 1979 births Living people 21st-century Australian comedians Australian expatriate actors Australian expatriates in Japan 21st-century Australian male actors Australian male television actors Australian male film actors Male actors from Perth, Western Australia 21st-century Australian male writers Writers from Perth, Western Australia Australian television presenters Japanese television personalities