Yadan reveals “The happiest conversation with Hitoshi Matsumoto in my life

There is a comedy trio that has long been recognized for its ability, but has made its first appearance in the finals of the “King of Conte 2022. They are Honma Kid, Nakajima Kyo, and Long Size Ito of Yadan. The oldest group in the competition, they have steadily stepped up their game, despite the disappointment of the new Coronas in 2020 and 2021.

What was the driving force behind the activities of the three – and how did they do it? From the background of their change in tsukkomi, the unexpected similarities with The Drifters, the past of yearly struggles due to lack of results, the environment surrounding Sony comedians with strong storytelling skills, to their conversation with Downtown’s Hitoshi Matsumoto, who says, “It was the happiest moment of my life,” we will look into the essence that shaped their current state.

Background of the change in tsukkomi: “Reactor started to make us laugh.”

–When did the Tsukkomi change from Mr. Nakajima to mainly Mr. Homma?

Homma：What year was that?

Nakajima: Probably when I was about 30 years old.

Ito: Before, it was just me and Homma going wild, and Nakashi (Nakajima) would pick up the slack. However, Nakashi’s tongue is not so good, and his tsukkomi is not so powerful, so I think that’s why the style was changed.

Nakajima: When he got too out of control, I couldn’t stop him with my own power (laughs). (laughs) Also, it was a time when the form of comedy was changing. In the old days, it used to be the norm that the comedian would get a laugh out of the joke and the comedian would correct it.

Then King of Conte started, and the tsukkomi, or reactors, started to get a lot of laughs. Then, people thought, “This position should be filled by a funny person,” and Homma was chosen.

Ito: Exactly like Eiji Koge.

Nakajima: Yes, that’s right. The roles of “bokeh” and “tskkomi” have been reversed there as well.

–Ito: But you did not change after watching Baikingu, did you?

Nakajima: That’s right. When I adapted to the laughter of the times, I thought, “This is no longer possible.

ITOH: Another thing is that Nakashi said he was not good at acting. Nakashi played the role of a scary organization member who held a gun to my head when I was seized and said, “Hey! How did you hear about this hideout? Homma：To make it more powerful, we had to make it more dramatic.

Homma：To make it more powerful, I asked him to make his voice sound more doughy. Nakashi said, “Okay,” and got into it, and when he did it, he said, “How did you hear that? (the end rises) (laughs).

Ito: We got a lot of laughs during the pretending stage (laughs). There was no atmosphere at all, and we thought, “Oh, we’re screwed.

Homma: We couldn’t stop laughing either. Long and I kept laughing.

Ito: We were absolutely not supposed to laugh at that point.

Nakajima: I was scolded by my senpai at that time, too (laughs).

Similarities between Drift and Yadan, and the presence of a director who encouraged a leap forward

–Ito: So that’s how it all started (laughs). (laughs) In the first place, were you making situation comedy like you are doing now from the beginning?

Homma：We were basically situation comedy, but for a while we were swept up in the “God of Entertainment” (Nippon Television) boom, and we did some flip stories. But I got into my current style rather early on.

When I was in high school, I liked a five-member group called called Neptune and Joby Joba. That was probably a big part of how we ended up where we are today.

–Homma：Yes, that’s what makes it great.

Homma: Yes, I really like that kind of thing. In “Katochan Ken-chan Gokigen TV” (TBS), there is a scene in a room of a detective agency where they make people laugh. Joby Joba also does that kind of scene. I like that kind of scene.