The thought of living with a degenerative neuromuscular disorder would not occur to most people as a laughing matter.

But in the case of Asodog, who claims to be Japan's first and only "bedridden" comic, getting audiences to laugh at his expense is precisely the point.

In one bit, the 38-year-old, who lies upright on a wheelchair stretcher, has a gag written on a page of a flip paper storyboard near his dangling feet that reads: "Bedridden. It happens."