¶ … young to tell my story, since so much of it has not yet been written, but I will approach this by telling it backwards. I'm pursuing stand-up comedy, and been opener at a comedy club twice this past year, and doing shows wherever and whenever I can find an open mic. There's an improv troupe on Saturdays at a local theater -- I love improv and it makes my stand-up better. I have a real passion for stand-up. I didn't choose comedy; it chose me. When I came out of the comedy closet, I pursued it aggressively. That's put me in the local newspaper, and I've placed as the only female in a local comedy competition, was part of the best improv comedy group -- in general, things have been working out very well for me. And yet, I've accomplished nothing. I need new ventures, new things to hunt and new places to conquer. The more I learn, and the more voices I hear, the more I am inspired. Ideas matter, and so the more ideas to which I'm exposed, the better I perform in the world, as I incorporate the best ideas to build myself into something better.

When I did my first improv class with ComedySportz, I was hooked. I was so happy, with a sense of greater purpose. I knew I needed to keep re-creating that moment to be at my best. Growing up in Japan and Hawai'i, my dad introduced me to SNL and In Living Color. I soaked up comedy movies, everything that could be rented. I look back now and realize that these were the roots of my passion for comedy. All these little things, leading to the moment where I am now. Wow ... here I am.

There's a lot that makes me interesting. At face value, I'm biracial Black and Japanese. If you ask my friends, they would probably tell you about my baking and cooking skills. Food is a good medium for expression, and if I wasn't a comedian I'd probably be in the kitchen with all those misfits. I almost did -- I graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2009 and was close to attending the French Culinary Institute for Pastry in 2014. It didn't work out, but that's because I was clearly meant to be somewhere else. I still earn my living making the best cupcakes in the city, as a head baker at the bakery the Lone Ranger's wife owns.

I wrote and directed a short film "The Bagel Chronicle." That was a lot of fun -- I collaborate...

You have to listen when people who know more than you about something are trying to talk. Some of t
I'm into photography, art, techno, classical music, sushi and interpreting dreams. I'll probably find ten new things to be interested in by the time you meet me. I have a newfound fascination with ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response). I have skills, too! I know a little bit about audio editing. I know some beginner level Japanese and French. Not a lot, mind you. I can order a pastry in Paris, but that might be it. But everyone wants to eat pastry when they go to Paris, so it's a valuable skill, all told.

I'm always trying to think of the next joke to try out. I want to know what my opener will be and what my closer will be. But I'm also looking for the meta-level narrative. In a routine, that's something you keep coming back to, a series of interrelated jokes that leave the audience with something more than just some sore abs. Some of the sharpest comedy actually helps people, by opening people up enough to put some meaningful ideas on the table. I would love to be able to stand up for someone, to fight for someone's rights. That's what makes me happy, and I'd rather be happy than rich. If I can get to the point where I'm infusing my comedy with the sorts of powerful ideas that change minds, I can hold my head up high.

Building my comedy chops has definitely been a challenge. It's not a game for the faint of heart. My first comedy show was good, but that's just a starting point. I landed some jokes that bombed, and had to recover from that immediately. If you don't, you lose the audience. And there's a lot of self-confidence stuff that goes on in comedy. It's taken time to build up that belief in myself, but for quite a few years now I've been working on it. For me, it's about building up your skills and putting emphasis on the things that you do well, and the milestones you've achieved. So for me, overcoming obstacles to building a name in a tough new career choice really required a lot of mental discipline, and the ability to tap into my inner strength in ways I wasn't sure existed when I started. But when you have that success, you…