One of the classic styles of Japanese comedy is 漫才 (manzai), a stand-up sketch routine usually involving a "clown" and a straight man, lots of puns or misunderstandings and a smattering of head-slapping, all delivered at high speed. A variant of this is コント (konto), a kind of short comedy sketch that focuses on a bizarre situation or encounter. Here's a fine example from the Japanese comedians Un-Jash, with confusion and misunderstanding firmly in charge.
Who could forget Monty Python's parrot sketch, probably one of the most famous British comedy routines of all time? OK, you can forget it, for now anyway. Here's something completely different - a Japanese parrot sketch featuring Jinnai Tomonori and his pet parrot オーちゃん (Ou-chan), who seems to be determined to make trouble for Jinnai... I was quite surprised to find that not many of my friends seem to know about the series of short videos "The Japanese Tradition", so I decided to post a couple of them for the first BJC Blog of 2013. I've chosen two of my favourites, the one about Japanese tea and the one about sushi. I think the more you know about Japan, the more you'll enjoy these, but they're essential viewing for anyone interested in the culture. There are some golden moments in these, so please feel free to comment on your favourite bits. And if you've ever wondered what gari is or puzzled over how to use a cha-sen, well, after you've watched these videos... you'll still be wondering. |
AuthorI'm David O'Keefe. I live and work in Bristol and I've been the organiser of Bristol Japan Club since 1996. Archives
October 2013
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