It’s a balmy Sunday evening in Shibuya. Most folks are heading home to brace for the work week ahead — but at Tokyo Comedy Bar, just a two-minute walk from Hachiko Square, a crew of comedians are preparing to help a crowd of two dozen ward off the Sunday scaries.
That’s the goal of Roles for Initiative, a monthly improv comedy show that uses Dungeons & Dragons as a storytelling medium.
Jon Sabay, 41, a Filipino American who’s lived in Japan for over a decade, started the show three years ago at Good Heavens in the Shimokitazawa neighborhood. But as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the population indoors, Sabay wasn’t sure if he could continue.