Tom Brown’s Reflection: Why Those Not Aiming for Victory Often Win in Their Final M-1 Year

Hiroki Nunokawa (41) and Michio Nunokawa (40) of Tom Brown left their mark in the final of “M-1 Grand Prix” last year with their one and only chaotic material, such as shooting a gun to avoid the host’s call for one drink and killing themselves by singing and dancing para para. Michio (40).

Although they came in 6th place, the impact they had on the audience was immeasurable. We asked them to talk about their recent activities as a duo of comedians from Hokkaido, who became a topic of conversation when they performed together on the program, stories related to last year’s M-1, the background behind their combined manzai and violent blurring, and their goals for the future.

Because of Takatoshi-san, many strange people from Hokkaido have emerged

— In February of this year, during the “Street Walk-1 Grand Prix” on Aisekishokudo (ABC Television), where M-1 finalists competed to showcase the fun of street walks, Tom Brown appeared with the legendary Hokkaido comedy duo Aqua Gelato and won. It seemed like the two who had been at odds had patched things up, but has Aqua Gelato resumed their activities since then?

Nunokawa: No, they haven’t (laughs). Hirasawa (Knight), the one whose nose hair doesn’t show, works at a bar in Hokkaido, so I went to visit him after the recording, and he said, “I still get irritated.”

On the show, Yato just comes across as making excuses, but Hirasawa isn’t exactly a responsible guy either. So, I understand why Yato doesn’t want to apologize. However, personally, I don’t like seeing people I’ve known for a long time in a falling-out, so I hope they’ll work together again as a duo.

— When did Aqua Gelato perform in Tokyo live shows?

Nunokawa: I think it was around 2004 or 2005. Aqua Gelato started comedy because they admired B-RAP HIGH SCHOOL on Gakkou e Ikou! (TBS), so they often did comedy with musical sketches, similar to what they did on Aisekishokudo at that time.

Michio: Like Park Manser. Once you’ve seen it, you can’t forget it and you get addicted to it. But Aqua Gelato was so weird that they didn’t become popular at all (laughs). Their Tokyo live shows were a reward for winning the Sapporo live competition, right?

Nunokawa: Yes. And they only won that one time. Every month, the comedians who won the Sapporo Yoshimoto live shows would go to Tokyo, and Aqua Gelato just happened to hit it big that time. Other than that, it was always just me, El Kabuki’s (DeLorean) Hayashi, and Aqua Gelato performing in the smaller, lower-tier shows.

Michio: This was back when Nunokawa was still a solo comedian at Sapporo Yoshimoto. At that time, it was almost a miracle that Aqua Gelato won, wasn’t it?

Nunokawa: It was a miracle. Sapporo is the kind of place where that kind of comedy doesn’t really get accepted. But for some reason, something just clicked at that moment.

Michio: And because Takatoshi-san were already established mainstream comedians, maybe after that, a lot of weird comedians started coming out of Hokkaido. People like us, (Hikaru) Yasumura, and Heisei Nobushikobushi, who all have that “Where did they find these people?” type of comedy, and they’re all loud, which feels very Hokkaido comedian-like.