A Fringe Quickie (#140) with ‘Yuriko Kotani: The Meanings of Life’

What coffee would you/your show be, and why?

Hario V60 drip coffee. Just like brewing the drip coffee, after many trial-and-error attempts at new material nights, I want my material to leave the audience warm and uplifted and for them to have a great rest of their day. I have learned that making drip coffee needs good speed and timing skills, as does performing so I’m working hard to earn those skills. Lastly, I was born in Japan and so was Hario.

How do you keep your performances fresh every night?

In Japanese we have a word “Shogyo mujo” – this means that all things that exist in the world are impermanent and everything is changing. So I try to do a show as if it is my last opportunity ever and to enjoy every single moment. I still feel grateful that we can do live shows and festivals again as we experienced the lockdown and cancellation of all the live shows. And I want to do each show by giving it my all.

If you/your show were a school subject what would you/it be and why?

My show would be Physics. There is a quote from Albert Einstein “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” The venue, the performer, the team and the audience – everyone comes together to make a show happen. It must be so beautiful that I feel “it was a miracle” after doing each performance. And also I talk about Physics a bit during the show.

About the show