We were all gathered in the basement of an East Village restaurant for “Batsu!” This Japanese game show-themed improv comedy performance runs every Monday night at 8 p.m. Upstairs, customers at the Pan-Asian dining spot Je’Bon feasted on sushi while I was downstairs getting the shock of my life.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Electrifying: Japanese Game Show in the East Village, Village Beat
An hour after I signed a waiver saying I’d never sue, Noriko Sato tied a shock collar meant for dogs around my wrist. The audience watched in anticipation as she pushed a button on a handheld device. Suddenly, a spike of electricity tore deep into my skin. I yelped in pain as the crowd laughed.
“Can you confirm that the shock is real?” asked “Batsu!” co-host Kenji America as he held a microphone to my mouth.
“God, yes,” I said, clutching my wrist. As I walked back to my seat, someone handed me a plastic cup of beer and a strip of thick paper that read, “I survived BATSU! and won this free ticket!”
Batsu, which means “penalty” in Japanese, is a game show format where participants are punished when they bungle a task. Je’Bon’s “Batsu!” is the brainchild of Jay Painter, who co-founded the New York improv group Face Off Unlimited. When Je’Bon owner Joe Yipp was looking for ways to serve up more than just food in his restaurant, Painter offered his idea.
“It just hit me -- a Japanese game show!” said Painter. Batsu TV programs are extremely popular in Japan, and given the lively presence of Little Tokyo in the East Village area, Painter thought the format would translate. “Schadenfreude transcends cultural boundaries,” he added. Sato and America, both actors and comedians, were cast as co-hosts after nailing their auditions. And six months ago, “Batsu!” was born.
Rounding out the cast are Painter himself and his fellow Face Off Unlimited performers: Joe Tex, Eric Robinson, and occasionally Steve Zegers. At the June 13 show I attended, audience members got drunk on beer and sake while performers and volunteers eagerly received punishments such as shocks, paintballs to the torso, and slaps to the face.
I’d resolved not to drink during the show, but after I walked off the stage dazed, still clutching my arm, I took my seat and downed the cup of beer I’d been given. Then I joined about three dozen other audience members in the packed basement in cheering on Sato, 26, who is from Saitama, Japan.
If I had it bad, Tex and Zegers had it worse: A smiling Sato tied collars around their necks. Then, based on suggestions from the audience, each performed a character. If the audience didn’t find it funny, they shouted “Batsu!” and Sato activated the collar.
Tex’s impression of Tony Soprano (my suggestion) was a failure: Tex accidentally mentioned baklava instead of cannoli. “That’s Greek, not Italian!” shouted an audience member. “Batsu! Batsu!” chanted the crowd. Sato shocked Tex, and he clutched his neck in pain. Later, Zegers’ dead-on impression of a proper, crusty old Margaret Thatcher elicited roars of approval, and granted Zegers a reprieve.
And there were other games as well: In one, the ensemble improvised “a-man-walks-into-a-bar” jokes. If the joke fell flat, Sato smacked the joke-teller in the face with an oven mitt covered in talcum powder. In another, the performers and volunteers from the audience were divided into two teams that raced to consume the beer in identical yellow kegs. The losing players were forced to pop enormous yellow balloons against their bodies, inflicting stinging pain.
“How’d the collar feel?” Tex asked me after the show.
“Let’s put it this way,” I replied. “That’s the first time I ever decided to drink while covering a story.”
“Glad you got into the spirt of it!” Tex said.
I sure did. Batsu! is a blast: A shock to the system, but worth it.
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