Brotaku and Close the Door Behind You

We sponsor two things in this city. One is a podcast. The other is a live comedy show built around a video game tournament, where comedians sit at the side of the stage and roast you while you play.

They sound unrelated. They are the same story, and it starts with a ramen account.

The Ramen Years

I met Christos in our first year of being open, around 2018. He was running ramenreviewsnyc back then, going bowl to bowl across the city and writing them up.

That is a particular person to meet when you are new. Someone reviewing ramen in New York is eating at places with a lot more money behind them than a first-year izakaya on Ludlow, and he kept coming back anyway. After that we stayed in touch the ordinary way, which is to say not on purpose and not on any schedule.

Then He Started Doing Comedy

A few years later he was doing stand-up as christoscomedy, and we reconnected properly. We did a few collaborations. Nothing enormous. Just the two of us being useful to each other the way a bar and a comedian can be.

I want to be clear about this part, because it is the part that gets skipped. There was no plan. Nobody pitched anybody. A guy who used to review our ramen started doing something else, and we were still in each other's phones.

Close the Door Behind You

Then he started a podcast, Close the Door Behind You, which he hosts with Doc Jud. It runs as a podcast and as a live stand-up show, and it pulls in comedians who have worked with Netflix and Hulu. Episodes go up on YouTube. The live shows run first Sunday and last Saturday of the month.

I went on as a guest a few times before we sponsored anything. That order matters to me. I had been in the room before we put our name on it.

Brotaku

Then came Brotaku, from the same crew. Close the Door Behind You is the podcast. This is the live show, and it is a different animal.

The pitch is three lines and tells you everything: play games, win cash, get roasted. Their own site says it better than I can. The players take the game seriously. They do not.

A tournament runs on stage, bracket style, and while it plays out the comedians commentate. Not politely. The roasting is the show. It opens as a four-player free-for-all and narrows to one-on-one, and the crowd is not just sitting there either. They heckle, and they can swing wildcard slots.

That wildcard rule is the thing I would steal if I ever ran a tournament. Getting through is not only about winning. Some slots go on style points, which means if you are fun to watch you can advance anyway. One rule, and it tells you exactly what the night is for. Their site puts it plainly: this is not for the sweats. Casuals welcome. It is a comedy show.

The games rotate. Tekken 8, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario Party, and a Pokémon bracket run inside a card expo out in Queens. Prize pots have been $200 to $250.

It has grown since we came on. Brotaku was selected for the 2026 New York Comedy Festival, it is partnered with OS NYC, and the comedians come from Netflix, Hulu, Don't Tell and The Comedy Cellar. They are talking about touring it in 2027.

It is a live show first, but you do not have to be in the room for it. The tournaments stream on Twitch and on YouTube, and past ones stay up on the channel.

Christos runs it. The credits on their site list a dozen people, which is about a dozen more than most people assume is behind a night like this.

He asked whether we would handle the food. I like video games, so that took about as long to answer as you would expect.

We are the food sponsor now, alongside KarlsBalls Takoyaki. Karl and his crew are the only takoyaki business outside Japan recognised by the Japan Konamon Association, and they bring a kei tora kitchen truck to these things. So it is karaage and takoyaki at a comedy club, which is a better night than it has any right to be.

None of it happens at Juraku. Most nights have been at EastVille Comedy Club, some at OS NYC, one out at Sanger Hall in Queens. I am saying that plainly so nobody turns up on Ludlow looking for a tournament.

What I Bring

The karaage.

If you have eaten it here you know the one. Same recipe we run in the restaurant. Cut, marinated, coated in potato starch, fried twice.

The second fry is the whole trick. It drives off the surface moisture that would otherwise steam the crust soft from the inside while it sits. That is why it still has structure by the time it reaches you at a comedy club, twenty minutes after it came out of the fryer. Fry it once and it is fine on the plate and sad ten minutes later.

So if you go, come find us. We are the ones handing it out.

Why Both

People ask how a restaurant decides what to sponsor. For us it has almost never been a marketing decision, and it certainly was not one here.

I met a guy in our first year who was writing about noodles. He became a comedian, then a podcast host, then the person running a game show where comics heckle strangers playing fighting games. I said yes every time because I knew him, not because I ran any numbers.

That is the whole method. It does not scale and I am not trying to make it.

Brotaku: brotakulive.com · Twitch · YouTube · Instagram · TikTok Close the Door Behind You: YouTube · Instagram

Dates move around, so check their pages for what is next. Ours are on the events page.