Mama Tart reveals how to challenge the hard door of the M-1 quarterfinals

Otsuru Masashi and Yohei Hinohara of Mamatarte have been steadily making their presence felt as regular finalists in TBS Radio’s “Mynavi Laughter Night Champion Live” and “Tsugikuru Geinin Grand Prix.

What are their hopes for this year’s M-1 Grand Prix? We asked them to speak candidly about what they felt in last year’s M-1 final, what it takes to break the quarterfinal barrier, their rivals in this year’s competition, and why they are now able to say, “We will definitely win the championship.

Things have changed a bit since the days of the Kansai duo with their good manzai

–Nishikigoi won the M-1 Grand Prix last year. Mogrider, Vacuum Jessica, and Ranjyatai made it to the finals for the first time.

Obesity: When I found out that Shinku (Jessica) had made it to the finals, I said to myself, “Don’t go ahead of me! It took me about one or two days to sort out my feelings. After that, I was in a completely supportive mood.

Hinohara: I had been getting along well with Jessica Vacuum, so I felt that I wanted to go to the finals at the same time as her. I was originally good friends with Rohin, and I remembered the same feeling when SHIMOFURI MYOJO went to the finals and won in 2018.

But it’s impossible for all of us to make it all at once, so I’ve had people close to me make it to the finals little by little, and I’m like, “Next time, I’ll do it myself.

–Hinohara: I saw that in 2015, when you won the competition, you were able to win the final.

Hinohara: When I watched M-1 from 2015 to 2017, I had the impression that the finalists were people from Kansai who were very good at manzai, such as Ginshari, Torosamon, Super Maradona, and Kamaitachi.

If you belong to an agency other than Yoshimoto and perform in Tokyo, there is no one around you who is as good as the masters. So, I had one-sidedly thought that I would never make it to the finals because of my manzai skills, but I feel that things are changing a little bit.

Obesity: It’s like a sharp, pointed stone is better than a polished, clean stone. So when Maple (Chogokin), who did that at the beginning, made it to the finals, I was really happy.

2015 In 2015, I was still in my first year of my career as a performer or a student at Ota Productions’ training school. At the time, I was watching Maple at live performances and thought, “This is interesting,” and “I hope she makes it to the finals,” and she did. I was always aspiring to be like him.

If you can make the world feel a bright atmosphere, you have potential.

–The two of you have stepped up year after year, reaching the second round from 2016 to 2018, the third round in 2019, and the quarterfinals in 2020 and 2021. How do you perceive these results?

Hinohara: We are doing quite well. Every year, I fall in the M-1 qualifying round thinking, “This is my max,” but when I listen to the recordings on my Apple Watch, I always think, “I wasn’t this good last year.”

2019 I thought I had a really good story in 2012, and when I did it in the third round, it wasn’t very well received. I was pretty much finished when I was eliminated, so at the time I was quite shocked and wondered how I could do any better. But the next year, after the quarterfinals, I listened to the soundtrack of last year’s performance, and I was like, “This is much better than last year.

So, even if we didn’t make it this year, next year or the year after that, when I see this year’s sound and video, I’m sure I’ll feel the same way.