Tomohisa Orita (bottom), Hiroki Matsuyama (top), and Tomoyappu (middle) of the comedy trio Monkey Base, who have won the Ota Productions’ office live “Geksho” for two consecutive years (PHOTO: Ryosuke Watanabe)
“I think the trend in comedy will be “beat” in the future.”
–What do you think is the reason for the recent momentum?
Orita: Until last year, we used to make minor corrections only before a big live performance like “Tsukihara”. Since the number of live performances has increased this year, we have more opportunities to try out and revise in the first place. I think it’s significant that the final material is completely different from the initial script.
Tomo: Last year, we were doing about 10 shows a month, but now we’re doing more than 30 shows a month. We’ve been busy with live performances. I think that we have finally entered the group of young people who can handle a large number of live performances.
Matsuyama: In a word, we have grown in our ability to modify our material. Until last year, it was difficult to get into the top ranks with material that we thought was strong. This year, on the other hand, we were able to win for the first time after making a lot of revisions to material that we were not that confident in.
Orita: Also, last year, Asuwa (Yasuyoshi) from Ushiro City, with whom I co-starred in “Alpytale” (TV Asahi), told me that I was saying too simple things, so I tried various things, but they did not go well. Then, I tried to keep in mind the rhythm of monkey-based comedy, like when Matsuyama and Tomoyappu would say “Pan-pan-pan-pan” and I would say “bang” loudly.
Tomo: To put it another way, when we were in the quarterfinals of this year’s “King of Conte,” Jumbo (Takao) of Rainbow saw our material and said to us, “You guys have a ‘beat’ that gets people talking.” We had been doing our material with an unspoken rhythm, and it was refreshing to hear him praise us for it.
Moreover, Mr. Jumbo said that his seniors had advised him that “Contrast has a ‘beat'”. I was very happy because I felt like I was getting a push from him saying, “You’re not wrong.” I think the trend in comedy will be “beat” in the future.
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