Kuniko Yamada Spilled the Behind the Scenes of the M-1 Judging that Can Only Be Revealed Now

The response to ‘M-1’ was amazing. People have been saying that since the beginning of the year. For a moment, it was like I was the most popular. I wonder why. I wasn’t even a contestant (laughs). (laughs). Among the young people, they were like, “Who is this old lady? Teenagers and people in their twenties don’t know who she is. Well, they don’t know now that she rarely appears on TV (laughs).”

The winner of last year’s “M-1 Grand Prix” was Kuniko Yamada (62), who was serving as a judge for the first time this year. What was it like behind the scenes?　We asked her to recount the excitement of the audience and the judging process behind the scenes.

I heard that people were already talking about my score on social networking sites during the broadcast. Of course, I didn’t know that during the broadcast, but as soon as it was over, I was told that the response was amazing, so I looked on social media. I went on social media and found out that people were saying things like, “That’s no way to score a competition,” “You don’t know anything about comedy,” “Don’t ever be a judge again,” and so on. And it was a wonderful sentence that really got to me (laughs).

(Laughs.) But eventually, some people came to my defense, saying things like, “People who don’t know Kuniko Yamada are amateurs. After that, it seemed that the attackers and followers were arguing with each other to the point that I am not their topic anymore. That was interesting.”

At the time, more people may have had a rather negative image of her because critical comments were more often covered in the news. However, Yamada also speaks of the people who wrote critical comments, saying, “But even the anti-fans followed me.”

But all of the people who were against me and all of the people who followed me were people who saw the show. That’s a lot better than people who haven’t seen the show. I guess everyone is a judge, too. It made me happy to think that everyone is so interested in manzai. I heard that people don’t want to do it because they are judged by the judges, but now I understand how it works.

The “anti” judges were particularly critical of the first round’s first pair, the “Kabeposters,” who scored an outstandingly low 84 points, while many judges gave them a score in the 90s. Yamada explained the reason for this score.

I think the luck of the draw had a lot to do with ‘Kabeposter.’ Since it was the first one, the audience was very nervous and the atmosphere was heavy, so I felt like I came out in a very cold place. The show itself was interesting. They won out of 7,000 groups, so it was only natural that they should be funny. But even after “M-1,” when they slip up on other programs, they make a gag saying, “Kuniko-san are you watching? I’m very grateful (laughs).”

The “Vacuum Jessica” stuff was funny. The elderly and welfare are two things that people don’t like to do. I was impressed that they were able to pull it off. I was making mistakes and getting caught up in it, though. But it was exciting, thrilling, and fun. I am currently taking care of my parents, and I thought that since I am doing comedy, I could do it with a smile on my face even though I am going through a difficult time. I thought, “I’ve been beaten by these contestants.”

But Matsumoto (Hitoshi) didn’t seem to like it and gave it an 88. But this is the judging process.

When the topic of “M-1” was brought up, he was still very passionate about it. He also talked about the other comedians who had participated in the competition.

“The first marathon by ‘Long Coat Daddy’ was the winner in my opinion,” she said. “There were so many crazy things that came running one after another. It was wonderfully funny. I want to see it again. What I regret a little bit is that in my comment, I said, ‘Isn’t it already a winner?’ I put too much pressure on them that might have put unnecessary pressure on them. I feel bad about that.”

On the other hand, “Westland” had a good pull. I thought it was last in the first round, but it drew first in the final round. That was like doing the story continuously, and I didn’t need to grab it. So I was able to start off on a high note.”

It was around the beginning of fall that he received the offer to be a judge. Since she was not allowed to tell anyone that she had accepted the job, she felt the period of secrecy was very long.

When I got the offer, I thought, ‘Oh, my God! There were so many people of my generation on the jury, so I thought, ‘It probably won’t come to me. I watched all the videos from the first and second rounds on YouTube for two months. On the day of the competition, until the very last minute, Matsumoto-kun kept telling me, “Just be straight and honest with your feelings. So I went into the show thinking I would enjoy it. But I guess I tend to favor my favorite type of material.”

Now that more than a month has passed since the day of “M-1,” more people follow Yamada. This is because there were a number of people who analyzed her scores on social networking sites and found that she had the lowest and highest scores in the first and second groups, but that there was nothing particularly wrong with the balance of the competition. In the end, it seems that for Yamada, the “turmoil” was an extremely positive experience.

Whenever I appeared on TV or radio or was interviewed, I was praised very highly everywhere, and no one complained, so I guess it was good (laughs). I judged seriously and I have experience being judged, so I know how it feels to be judged. But the excitement of having 10 million yen at stake. That’s different from a regular rookie tournament, isn’t it? I think it is a tournament with a dream.

It was interesting, very interesting. I was grateful to be able to see everyone’s funny material for free and even get paid for it (laughs). (Laughs.) Since I often perform at the theater, I was inspired to do my own material this year as well.

In fact, Yamada is still active on stage. We asked her what she would like to do in the future.

I wonder if being a judge is a genre (laughs)?　I’ve been asked to judge everything lately. Yesterday, there was a party to celebrate Ozeki Takaketsune’s victory in the recent Grand Sumo Tournament, and we drank in private. (Laughs.) “Please give me a dry review!” (laughs). (Laughs.) I wonder if there isn’t a frame of reference for judges.　You haven’t been on TV too much, why don’t you use me more? I can still move (laughs).