Michael Naishtut

Michael was born in Brooklyn, NY, but quickly moved to the safety and boredom of Long Island suburbia. After graduating from SUNY Oneonta with a BS degree in Theater, Michael appeared in several productions in NYC including at the Ensemble Studio Theater, Theater for the New City and the NY Public Theater. He then toured the country in a small van playing Mark Twain and Hansel, and wound up in Florida where he performed in a Commedia Dell' Arte show in the Italian pavilion at EPCOT center in Disney World, as well as in "Scapino" at the Riverside Theatre and as Puck in "Midsummer Night's Dream" with the Florida Shakespeare Festival. But, the feminine wiles of a dancing geisha lured Michael to Japan's shores where he performed in major theaters with some of Japan's biggest stars including famous Kabuki actors like Ichikawa Ebizou. He was also frequently seen on television starring in popular children's programs like "Eigorian" and was active in computer game narrations, like "Shenmue" and "Ace Combat", commercials, film and documentary voice over. He starred in the film, "Legal Aliens" with Julie Dreyfus, and performed the hit Broadway solo show "Defending the Caveman" in Tokyo in English and is the director of the Japanese version of the show. He also wrote and starred in the bi-cultural marriage comedy, "John and Yoko" directed by Yoko Narahashi. Michael directed the translation of all the live shows at Universal Studios Japan and was often seen as an MC and Ring Announcer for "Pride Bushido" "K-1" and "All Japan Wrestling" He is a founding member of the Tokyo Comedy Store, which was instrumental in bringing improv and western style stand-up comedy to Japan. Michael developed a great love and respect for Japanese traditional performing arts, having taken intensive workshops in Noh theatre with Kanze Hideo and Kabuki with Nakamura Matagoro through the International Theatre Institute. He studied Kyogen with Don Kenny and performed with Rakugo master storyteller Katsura Kaishi touring throughout Japan and even off-Broadway. Michael studied Taiko drumming with Miyauchi Yukihiro and is the founder of "Akaonidaiko" performing at the KODO Earth Celebration fringe stage for 10 years. He performed Japanese style stand-up and sketch comedy as one half of "The Sushi Brothers" with Yoshimoto Kogyo comedian Zenjiro. Michael earned a third degree black belt from the Nihon Karate-do Shotokai. In Los Angeles, Michael is continuing his career performing in theatre, TV, film and as a bi-lingual MC. He was nominated for an acting ensemble Ovation award for the musical "Memphis" has performed with The Second City Hollywood, continues to tour with "Old Jews Telling Jokes" and can be heard narrating the novel "The Arrow Catcher" on Audibles.