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Owarai

Owarai ( owarai) is a broad word used to describe Japanese comedy as seen on television. The word owarai

is the honorific form of the word warai, meaning "a laugh" or "a smile". Owarai is most common on Japanese

variety shows ( , baraeti bangumi) and the comedians are referred to as owarai geinin

( ) or owarai tarento ( ). Presently Japan is considered to be in an "owarai boom", and

many minor talents have been finding sudden fame after a gag ( , gyagu) or skit became popular.

Characteristics

Manzai ( ), a traditional form of Japanese comedy that became the basis of many modern acts today, is

characterized by a pair of usually older male comedians acting certain roles in a constant comedic battle against

themselves. This tradition is continued in the acts of many modern talents. While there are many women talents, they

are largely outnumbered by the men, and they tend to take more minor roles.

Whereas manzai performers traditionally wore kimono (traditional Japanese dress), these days a western suit is the

outfit of choice for many owarai kombi ( , combination; referring to a pair of comedians in a unit) and manytalents who begin their careers performing in a style very similar to stand-up comedy, usually including aspects of

manzai and conte.

Some minor characteristics include frequently used sound effects (cheap, old-fashioned sound effects are used

intentionally for comic effect), dajare ( , a Japanese-style pun), and dokkiri ( , a hidden-camera

prank like those seen in the popular American show Candid Camera).

Owarai geinin

On television, most owarai geinin are introduced using their kombi name (e.g. Yoiko Hamaguchi) and some geinin

even retain the name of their former groups after they have parted ways.

A few popular kombi include:

Cocorico

Audrey

Untouchable

Impulse

Othello, a rare female kombi

Cream Stew

Summers

Jich Kach

Speed Wagon

Downtown

TIM TIM

Tutorial

Ninety-nine

Bakush Mondai

Penalty

Yoiko

Regular

Many owarai units have names based on English words or phrases.Kombi are usually included as guests for shows,

though some (namely Downtown, Cream Stew, and Ninety-nine) often act as hosts as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yoikohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bakusho_Mondaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ninety-nine_%28owarai%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=TIM_%28Owarai%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Downtown_%28Owarai%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jicho_Kachohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Summers_%28Owarai%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cream_Stew_%28comedy_duo%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Othello_%28Owarai%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Audrey_%28owarai%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cocoricohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Candid_Camerahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Glossary_of_owarai_terms%23dokkirihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Punhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dajarehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sound_effecthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Glossary_of_owarai_terms%23contehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stand-up_comedyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Glossary_of_owarai_terms%23kombihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Suit_%28clothing%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kimonohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Manzaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Glossary_of_owarai_terms%23gaghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tarentohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Glossary_of_owarai_terms%23geininhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Honorific_speech_in_Japanese%23Honorific_prefixeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Televisionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Comedyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japan

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Some popular talents that usually don't perform in units are:

Sanma Akashiya

Koriki Chsh

Hiroshi

Tsutomu Sekine

Shinsuke Shimada Ken Shimura

Beat Takeshi

Tamori

Tokoro George

Teruyoshi Uchimura

Takashi Fujii

Hori

Sayaka Aoki, another rare female act

Tomonori Jinnai

Of these, Sanma, Tamori, and Beat Takeshi are sometimes referred to collectively as the "big three" because of their

massive popularity. Talents such as these often act as hosts for shows, or perform together in small or large groups,

something almost unimaginable for most western comedians.

Variety shows

Japanese variety shows are the main outlet for most owarai geinin and along with drama and anime they are some of

the most popular shows on Japanese television.

As a general term in Japan, "variety show" can refer to "straight" variety shows with an appropriate myriad of topics,

segments, and games. It is also used for comedy oriented shows that focus more on stand-up and skits, and

quiz/trivia type shows featuring comic elements. It is not to be expected that a variety show will always follow thesame format, and guests from Japanese music and talent pools or frequent.

The variety style shows generally divided into segments of games, features, and "corners", some very short and some

shows focusing (for a special episode) solely on one game or feature. Trivia, quiz, or game shows in Japan are often

considered owarai as the contestants of such shows are often a mix ofowarai geinin and other Japanese talents of

various descriptions. Game shows without any famous characters playing the role of contestants are rare.

Of these sections and games, many can be seen recurring on a variety of shows all across Japan. It may even be

possible to classify Japanese variety shows (or at least the individual sections of the shows) according to the

following formats:

Quizzes or trivia (with subjects as varied as

(zatsugaku, general or useless knowledge), math, science,history and other school subjects, kanji (testing peoples' knowledge of difficult or rare characters), English, and a

mishmash of typical quiz-style trick questions

Food judgement/tasting/making (various types of food are also commonly used as prizes for the winner of a

game)

Travel (often travelling within Japan to view someones estate or around the world producing short,

documentary-style segments about world culture, with a comic twist)

Physical challenges, tests of strength/endurance etc.

Tests of improvised comic skill (for example, a dajare contest)

Obstacle courses/collections of strange games or activities

Music (Either with real Japanese musicians, or with owarai geinin trying their hands at music (often karaokestyle), covering popular songs or showing off their own)

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Karaokehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=English_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kanjihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sciencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mathematicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Triviahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Quizhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Game_showhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Quizhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Triviahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Animehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Japanese_dramahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tomonori_Jinnaihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sayaka_Aoki_%28comedian%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Takashi_Fujiihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Teruyoshi_Uchimurahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tamorihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Takeshi_Kitanohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ken_Shimurahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hiroshi_%28Owarai%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Koriki_Choshuhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sanma_Akashiya

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Some concepts of variety shows are consistent over most of Japanese television, though they may be considered

quite different than those seen in the western world. Many shows are made up of what are called VTRs, or video

segments, and are usually introduced with a hand gesture and the word dzo (the implied meaning is "let's have a

look"), though this procedure is usually made into a joke with strange gestures instead of the usual wave.

A few popular variety/comedy shows of varying contents are:

King of Comedy (showcasing the stand-up acts and skits of new and popular talent, oftenfeaturing VTR segments of the activities of various talents)

The god of Entertainment (similar to King of Comedy, though focusing on stand-up acts)

Apron of Love (talents lacking cooking skill are asked to cook difficult dishes and are given harsh,

though honest, judgements)

SMAPSMAP Smap Smap (the five members of the immensely popular group SMAP host many different shows,

presenting segments such as music, cooking, and news)

Zenigata Kintar (this show's segment bimb batoru (battle of the poor) showcases the life of two or

more people living in Japan who support interesting life styles on minimum amounts of money; the funniest, or

most inspiring bimb wins)

Matthew's Best Hit TV+ (hosted by the comedian Takashi Fujii, this show features musical guests and a strange

variety of games and unrelated segments)

Spring of Trivia (showcasing interesting and strange facts (or strange interpretations of boring

facts) of little or no importance using a trivia-style format)

Nep-league (featuring the owarai trio Neptune on one of the two teams of contestants, this quiz show

features various "levels" of play challenging the players' knowledge of everything from world events to reading

Japanese to spelling simple English words)

Ken Shimura's Baka Tono-sama (hosted by comedian Ken Shimura)

External links

.com (oowarai.com)[1]

Japanese site promoting owarai and owarai talents

(owarai geinin skanzu)[2]

Japanese site with information on various owarai geinin and the

relationships they have with other talents

(owarai geinin zukan)[3]

Japanese site, so called encyclopedia ofowarai geinin

References

[1] http://www.oowarai.com

[2] http://homepage3.nifty.com/-_-_/geinin/

[3] http://stmc.sakura.ne.jp/geininzukan. html

http://stmc.sakura.ne.jp/geininzukan.htmlhttp://homepage3.nifty.com/-_-_/geinin/http://www.oowarai.com/http://stmc.sakura.ne.jp/geininzukan.htmlhttp://homepage3.nifty.com/-_-_/geinin/http://www.oowarai.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ken_Shimurahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kanjihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kanjihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hey%21_Spring_of_Triviahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Takashi_Fujiihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Matthew%27s_Best_Hit_TV%2Bhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SMAPhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=VTR

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Article Sources and Contributors 4

Article Sources and ContributorsOwaraiSource: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=416134887 Contributors: After Midnight, Andycjp, Apoc2400, Claytonian, DocWatson42, Eastlaw, EdmundWong, Fg2,

France3470, Freshgavin, Goldom, Hatto, Kintetsubuffalo, Lainagier, MaTT, Michael Devore, Mkill, Moonriddengirl, Nigholith, Nihonjoe, Nlu, Scorpie, Viralxtreme14, ZayZayEM, 21

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