Interview with Shunsuke Ito, Oswaldo: “I will participate in M-1 until I win. But if I win, I will never appear again.

I’m basically a person who doesn’t get nervous. But the M-1 final is different. I get extremely nervous. Why is that? Is it because the rankings are clearly displayed? I don’t think I could ever get used to being in a place like that, no matter how many times I go.”

Oswald Shunsuke Ito (33) looked back on his fourth consecutive year on the big stage.

In 2022, Oswaldo was considered a major contender to win the “M-1 Grand Prix,” and although he was eliminated once in the semifinals, he received overwhelming fan support in the loser’s bracket and advanced to the finals for the fourth year in a row. However, once again, he fell just one step short of becoming the champion.

Oswald, who is now one of the most popular young comedians, says that the reason he wanted to enter the awards race in the first place was because he had no other weapons to help him rise to the top.

To be honest, Oswaldo and his duo have no special skills or unusual backgrounds. So the only way we could think of to get out there in the world was through M-1.”

In 2019, they will be in the finals for the first time. The group that appeared just before Oswald was Milk Boy. They scored the highest point in history with their “cornflake” material, which became a social phenomenon.

They said, “It’s impossible to top that stuff. It’s not a level that can be managed with just a little bit of spirit or anything like that.
I had my sights set on the M-1 competition for a year, and I had been working on one story for almost the entire year. From the time I woke up in the morning until I went to bed, all I could think about was the M-1 competition, but that story made me laugh.

He had made it to the stage of his dreams. However, the COVID-19 crisis struck Japan just as he was about to launch his business.

I had a vague idea that if I made it to the M-1 finals, I would sell well, but I was wrong. For the next year, I made only six or seven TV appearances.

The following year, in 2020, he improved his ranking to fifth place in the finals, and in 2021, he reached the finals for the third year in a row. In 2021, he reached the finals for the third year in a row and was listed as the favorite to win the championship. As expected by most, he entered the final round in first place. The championship was within reach, but Nishikigoi pulled off a major upset.

Nishikigoi was amazing. I felt like we lost to Nishikigoi’s life up to that point. After the first run, I thought we were going to win, for real.

Last year, too, the competition ended in disappointment in the midst of high expectations.

He deserved to be funny,” “deserved to make the final,” “deserved to win. The higher the expectations for Oswald, the higher the bar for laughter. Still, Ito said, “I’m going to compete until I win.

I’m going to compete until I win. Of course, of course!　But if I win once, I’m done. I will never enter again. I won’t ever appear again (laughs). (Laughs.) I want to make manzai without thinking about the awards race. I’d like to do live performances of just comedy. But I won’t enter the “King of Conte” (laughs).

What kind of comedian does Ito want to be in the future?

I don’t have a goal for what I want to be doing in 10 years. I just want to sell like crazy. I want to be famous and be called funny. I just want to make a lot of money. I haven’t won the M-1 yet. I don’t think I have any results that I can proudly boast about.

Humble and hungry. Oswald is entering the year 2023 with full of fighting spirit.

Click here for the long version of the interview.