What is rakugo? Rakugo is Japanese "sit down" comedy. It is a traditional form of comic story telling that began in the early 17th century. Rakugo originates from monks' sermons at temples. In order to keep the audience interested, those preaching spiced up the sermons with occasional comic tales. While kabuki, noh and kyogen were to entertain the nobility, rakugo was an art form to appeal to the plebeian audience. Of course, the modern rakugo performer is no longer a monk but a professional actor and comedian, or talento in Japanese.

Rakugo is a reasonably priced live entertainment. An ordinary rakugo performance costs between \1000 and \1200 for an audience of fifty to one hundred people. Performances are often staged in meeting rooms in temples, community centers or schools as well as other public buildings and theaters. Usually a live performance features three rakugo story tellers, called rakugoka in Japanese, who tell four stories. The junior performer goes first and the senior of the trio finishes up the set, telling two stories. The total time is about 90 minutes.

Rakugoka kneel down and sit with their legs under them in traditional Japanese fashion. They have a cushion (zabuton) under them, and carry a folding fan (sensu), and a towel (tenugui). Rakugo stories are accompanied by music provided on the shamisen, flute (fue), and Japanese drums. Generally, rakugoka play the drums and flute for themselves. Shamisen accompaniment is more often provided by professional shamisen players, who are usually older women. Performers appear in kimonos and traditional Japanese garb, down to the undergarments.

Stories are about 15 to 20 minutes on average. Long stories can be up to an hour, though they are rarely told. Katusra Beicho, a veteran rakugoka who has been designated a living national cultural treasure (kokuho) by the Japanese government, if famous for telling such long stories. Some of his stories are revived from the Edo period, which ended in 1868. Katsura is the name of a "family" of rakugo performers. There are five branches in the Kansai area - Katsura Beicho, Katsura Bunshi, Katsura Harudanji, Hayashiya, and Shofukutei, another Katsura family branch. In Tokyo, where the dialect used is different, stories and style are different. There are several rakugo families there.