[1] Cold Tofu was founded in 1981 by Denice Kumagai, Marilyn Tokuda, Irma Escamilla, and Judy Momii.
The four friends were sitting in Kumagai’s living room laughing at one another’s stories, and Tokuda suggested forming a comedy group.
Early members included Amy Hill, Phil LaMarr, Jim MacNerland, Jerry Tondo, Geoff Rivas, Joey Miyashima, Glen Chin and Robert Covarrubias.
[3] In its early years, the group trained with Stephen Book (founder of Improvisational Acting Technique and a co-worker of Viola Spolin), Gary Austin (creator of The Groundlings) and Andy Goldberg (director of Off The Wall at The Improv).
Marilyn Tokuda and Denice Kumagai led Cold Tofu and shared the role of artistic director.