The birth of “Karada Goo-” – “Sanma’s Imitation Comedian” HOKENTA – “The art of being teased” that he arrived at when he was about to turn 60 years old
“Karada guu~ Natsu ni naru!”
Ah, you are… kurukku!”
These phrases have created quite a buzz among comedians. He is HOKENTA (58). He is popular for his imitation of Akashiya Sanma (68), but for younger comedy fans, it might be better to call him “Onirenchan,” or “Onirenchan who created a buzz.
Onirenchan” refers to the popular variety show “Chidori no Onirenchan” (Fuji TV). In this game variety show, challengers take on the challenge of “consecutive clear/consecutive correct answers” based on a specific theme, and Chidori and Kamaitachi in the studio watch on the monitor to see who can accumulate more consecutive successes (consecutive successes). In the “Karaoke Challenge,” in which the players must not miss a note, if they succeed in playing 10 songs in a row, they will win the “Oni Renchan” game.
Hoi appeared in the predecessor program of “Onirenchan” broadcast in 2008. At that time, she only succeeded in five songs in a row.
At that time, I sang seriously and ended up singing five songs in a row,” he said. I couldn’t do anything interesting, but I had confidence in my singing, but I wasn’t satisfied. But I never imagined that the footage from that time would be the catalyst for the current trend.”
Regular broadcasts began in May of 2010, but Hoi did not appear on the program right away.
Before the broadcast began, the producer asked me, ‘Mr. Hoi, may I use the footage from the last time you appeared on the show (in 2008)?’ So I went home and watched the on-air broadcasts every week. Then, about two out of every three times, my pictures and videos were used in the program. When someone sang, Chidori or Kamaitachi would say something like, “Hokkenta wa…” or “Hokkenta is better. I was surprised when I saw it.
I was surprised when I saw the video of me singing. The video showed me, a tall man (182 cm), bending down a little to look at a low monitor and singing while staring at the monitor. Chidori Nobu said to me, “Is he caught on the back? Daigo teased me in a very funny way, saying, “Hokentata’s eyes are like the eyes of a panty-peeping girl. It was like I was a semi-regular on Onirenchan.
Hoi made his second appearance in September 2010. After singing “Glass” by Ryuichi Kawamura in the fifth song, a staff member pointed out that she had sung “Ko-ko-koro wa” in the lyrics, saying, “You were singing ‘ko-koro wa.
I sang ‘u~’ not to be popular in the first place, but to get the sound caught on the pitch bar,” said the staff member. But it seemed to have a big impact on viewers, and people started clipping the video and uploading it to YouTube on their own. There were more than 100 patterns, and each one of them was gaining views.
Daigo teased me about it again. He said, “Your YouTube is great, too. How many subscribers does he have now? 800? Not many. That night, I had 2,000 subscribers. So I made a video and uploaded it for the viewers who subscribed right away. I uploaded a video of me singing, “Ko~ko~ko~ro~! I uploaded a video of me singing “Ko-Ko-Ro! I got a lot of flak (laughs). They said, “What are you getting yourself worked up about? It’s funny because it’s on a TV show! It’s funny because it’s on a TV show! But it got a million views because of the flames. I guess it had an addictive quality that made people want to watch it even if you beat them up. I found myself getting into this weird buzz, but for me, it was fun.
Hoi’s career is quite unique for a comedian. His debut was as an action actor, and after about three years he switched to being a comedian, but his hobby of magic was rewarded when he was cast in a musical starring Princess Tenko. He also performed in musicals starring Princess Tenko and accompanied her on overseas tours. As a comedian, he performed not only in Japan but also abroad.’ In 1993, he was invited to perform in the “Announcing! Japan Impersonation Awards” (Fuji Television Network) in 1993, where he performed an imitation of Sanma for the first time. Since then, he has been active as an impersonator, and in 1999, as a leading balloon art artist, he released a collection of his works and a book. Since 2001, he has been performing as a comedian in a bridal show at Disney Sea Hotel MiraCosta for seven years.
He says, “So I still don’t think of myself as a comedian. I’ve been thinking about shows and entertainment for a long time, so I like to talk about funny things, but as for karaoke, I was teased and this is what happened…”
In January of this year, Hoi sang “Karada ga Naru Natsu no Naru” in “High Pressure” by T.M.Revolution, and his fame spread quickly among young people.
The vowel in “Karada ga ga” is “a” and the final sound is a high-pitched “ga,” which is a muddled sound, so my voice doesn’t hold up. So I squeezed my throat a little and sang ‘gua. The guys laughed at me and said, “You can’t do this! They laughed at me and said, “This is disqualifying! That was the beginning of ‘Karadagu.
That said, when he performed this material at sales events, it did not go over well at all.
I did it once when I was invited to an event before a high school graduation ceremony, but it was a huge flop (laughs). (Laughs.) I knew I shouldn’t have left it there. That’s when I realized. I realized that it was funny to be teased by the MC.
The peak of the show was the July 22 broadcast of “FNS 27-Hour TV” (Fuji Television Network). In the last part of Fuse Akira’s “Kimi wa Rabi Yori Biyori (You’re More Beautiful than a Rose),” he sang, “Oh, you’ve changed…! was sung as “Ah~kimi~kurukku~! which became a hit and was picked up by many Internet news outlets. Hoi’s fame quickly spread nationwide.
He sang “Karadagu~,” too, only because his voice would not come out that way otherwise. It’s not like the Soramimi Hour, but when I see ‘Goo’ on TV, I tend to go along with it. Kurukku” was not “Kurukku” at first. But when it became so popular, I thought it would be better to use “kurukku~” completely.
That said, he has no illusions that this trend will continue indefinitely.
I have always tried to entertain the audience with balloon art, magic, and impersonations of Sanma-san,” he said. I still feel that entertainment shows are my main focus. However, this is the luck I received from television, so as long as there is demand, I will sing as you firmly expect.”
Hoi’s rapid progress is likely to continue.
PHOTO: Takehiko Kohiyama