Heights Friendship Club: The Quiet Passion of an M-1 Semifinalist in Three Years
Portrait of 7 energetic groups that will enliven Japan in 2023
It’s slowly coming! Rotation & Kyoto Words
The “M-1 Grand Prix” is a festival of laughter where young comedians compete against each other. The manzai duo “Heights Tomonokai” is unique in that their “Hirakata Daijiku Ningyo” (Hirakata Grand Chrysanthemum Dolls) routine, which they performed in the losers’ round in 2010, has been trending on social networking sites.
Both were born in Kyoto Prefecture. Nishino (30), who wanted to become a comedian, approached his partner Kaname Shimizu (25) at a “partner search meeting” held by a training school.
Nishino said, “ At first, I was like, ‘I don’t know anyone like this. From early on, I was told that the tension in my material was low. When I make my stories, I am conscious of the content that I would think so if I were told so.
Shimizu: “ The comedians I admired as a child were so amazing that I still don’t have confidence in calling myself a comedian. …… But I want to do my material live, and I want to make it to the finals of the award shows I haven’t been able to enter yet.
XXX is xxx, right?” and his unique sensibility draws sympathy–. The laughter of the Kyoto dialect slowly penetrates into the hearts of those watching.
From the January 20 and 27, 2023 issues of FRIDAY
PHOTO： Hiroyuki Komatsu
