Exclusive Interview: Machiura Pink Credits Three Mentors for Victory as 22nd Champion of R-1 Grand Prix
After 20 years of hard work, he won the top of 5,457 people with his unique "fantasy comic storytelling"!
“After the final, SNS was filled with negative reactions. Everywhere I looked, it was ‘No! No! No!’ (beep beep beep) (laughs). But I don’t think my laughter is wrong.”
The one who declared this was Machiura Pink (39), the champion of the “R-1 Grand Prix 2014”. In a fictional fantasy storytelling with numerous celebrities, he stood at the pinnacle among a record-breaking 5,457 participants, but received criticism such as “just seems to be yelling”.
When I interviewed him after winning, he revealed the presence of three mentors who had cultivated his style behind the scenes after speaking as mentioned at the beginning.
“I’m particularly indebted to Hollywood Zakoshisyoh-san. My style is nothing but eccentric, but Zakoshisyoh always encouraged me to ‘challenge what I want to do, things that haven’t been tried before’. I’m grateful.”
Even prominent emcees offered advice multiple times.
“Master Shoufukutei Tsurube told me, ‘Audiences won’t like someone who insists on their own jokes’. At the beginning of the year, he said, ‘Be able to do clichés’. Thanks to Tsurube master, I’ve come to think that besides being sharp, it’s necessary to make things easy to understand.”
An unexpected piece of advice came from the scriptwriter Osamu Suzuki.
“He said, ‘Become like Bakarhythm!’ (laughs). That was around ’17 when I was only doing stage performances and not appearing in the media. Using Bakarhythm, who continued to climb to the top by staying on stage as an example, I felt like I was told that my current way is fine, and it gave me confidence.”
Despite often being misunderstood due to his intimidating appearance, he doesn’t gamble or drink. He has earnestly faced his craft for 20 years.
“My dream is to tour the country with storytelling. Also, I want to work with my respected figure, Hitoshi Matsumoto. There are so many things I want to do. There are dreams in ‘R-1’.”
On stage, Machiura speaks false storytelling, but behind the scenes, he shares true stories with the big names. With their advice in his heart, he takes the first step as a champion.
From the March 29 , 2024 issue of FRIDAY
PHOTO： Shinji Hamasaki
