#229 ベロスピードUP
Six months after relocating to Tokyo, the duo of Hachikuchi Double Higashi (はちくちダブルヒガシ) cap off a chaotic September with a single unforgettable incident: nerves sent their tongues into overdrive at a mandan contest, shrinking a five-minute set to four and a half. Episode #229 "Bero Speed UP" covers that contest, a three-generation Shibuya showdown where middle-aged comics were treated as a bathroom break, an emergency MC assignment that produced 80 stumbles, and the fourth check-in on an ongoing diet that has quietly abandoned its original target.
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What this episode answers
When the duo performed last at the mandan contest, how many minutes did their five-minute set actually run?
In rehearsal the set ran about five minutes and forty seconds, but on the night it finished in four and a half minutes — a full ninety seconds shorter than in practice.
Why was Garigari Garikuson eligible to compete in a contest limited to performers aged 40 and under?
The contest was open to performers aged 40 and under, and Garigari Garikuson is reportedly right at the 39–40 age limit, making him just barely eligible.
What happened to the middle-aged comics' game-corner slot at the Shibuya Three-Generation Showdown?
The moment the middle-aged (ossan) team's turn came up in the pompadour-wig-and-ball game corner, the audience quietly drained away as if a bathroom break had been announced, which one of them found genuinely hurtful to experience as a participant.
What went wrong — and how badly — when one of them was suddenly appointed MC during the Dub Channel recording?
He was suddenly pressed into service as emergency MC after a scheduled participant went dark, and he had to introduce the Singers by name but stumbled over his words eighty times, calling it the first time in his life he'd ever been that bad; there was no time for a retake so the footage aired as recorded.
How much has the dieter's weight changed across the four months of check-ins since the project began?
Starting at 97.3 kg on May 8, he went up to 98.9 kg at check-in 1, down to 96.8 kg at check-in 2, and down only to 96.6 kg by check-in 3 (his birthday) — a net change of about 0.7 kg lower than his starting weight over the roughly four months of check-ins, far short of the 85 kg goal.
Six Months in Tokyo — Then a Mandan Contest Closer Slot
Exactly half a year has passed since the pair moved to Tokyo. "Still feels like we just arrived," one says; "honestly feels like we're the ones visiting Osaka," adds the other — neither has fully settled in, and they laugh about it. Against that backdrop, the biggest event of September was appearing in a mandan (漫談) contest.
The format: solo episode-talk in front of roughly a hundred audience members, five minutes each. One of them drew the closing slot — the coveted, pressure-heavy final position. In rehearsal the set clocked in at around five minutes and forty seconds. On the night, nerves kicked in and the tongue (bero, ベロ) accelerated on autopilot. The result: the set finished in four and a half minutes, a full ninety seconds short of where it had been in practice. "You totally rushed it," his partner pointed out afterward — and the phrase "Bero Speed UP" became the episode's title. Because the event ran as a live radio-style program with a tight schedule, there was no padding the time back. The MC had carefully carved out exactly the right window, which made the self-inflicted shortfall sting all the more.
The Contest's Memorable Cast
The competition was open to performers aged 40 and under, which made for an interesting lineup. Garigari Garikuson's presence surprised everyone. "When we were watching him back in the day he was a teenager and looked so cool," they recall, noting he still looks lean and youthful — though he's probably right at the 39–40 age limit. He reportedly mentioned having few performance opportunities, prompting a sympathetic "There just aren't slots for solo comedians, especially in Osaka."
Maxi drew praise bordering on accusation: he had quietly road-tested his mandan material at a separate event called Mandan Geki (漫劇) before polishing it up for the contest. "That's cheating — in the best possible way," they say. His partner, watching from the wings, thought "he's going to crush this." They conclude it's a privilege available only to comics who work solo.
A high-school stand-up comedian also performed — a minor from Hokkaido whose travel costs reportedly came to 3 million yen. After the contest he headed straight to Nagoya for another stand-up show. "Amazing. Genuinely amazing." Nomu-san (ノムさん) was praised for bringing back his old self. Miyashita Kusanagi's seniority relative to the pair — same year or one year ahead — remained unresolved even after multiple searches, becoming a minor running joke.
The Shibuya Three-Generation Showdown and the Tokyo Mandan Fest
The same week as the contest, the duo appeared at an event called the Shibuya Three-Generation Showdown (渋谷三世代決戦). It featured a game corner in which performers balanced a pompadour wig on their head and rolled a ball — lighthearted stuff. The problem: the moment it was the middle-aged (ossan) team's turn, the audience quietly drained away as if a bathroom break had been announced. "They thought it was toilet time," one says, adding with unusual candor, "That one actually hurt." Imai-san and company managed to spin it into laughs, but living through it as a participant was genuinely rough.
The Tokyo Mandan Fest also came up. It fielded even more performers than comparable Osaka events, and the schedule ran nearly two hours over. Audience members and comics alike had started heading for the exits by the end. The duo's unsolicited proposal: split the event across two days and allocate slots based on popularity.
Sudden MC Duty and 80 Stumbles
Also in September, chaos broke out during a Dub Channel (ダブチャンネル) recording. One scheduled participant went dark — possibly running late from a Mandan appearance, possibly having overslept — and the other arrived at a Samoyed café to find staff saying "We're about to open; what's happening?" He was pressed into service as emergency MC on the spot and had to introduce the Singers (シンガーズ) by name. He stumbled over his words eighty times. "First time in my life I've ever been that bad." He expected a retake; instead he was told "No time, it's fine" and the footage went out as recorded. The flood of relief he felt the moment a familiar face finally walked through the door, he says, is something he will never forget.
Diet Project: Fourth Check-In
The ongoing diet project launched with a starting weight of 97.3 kg as of May 8, with a target of 85 kg by the end of September. The four check-ins so far:
- **Check-in 1 (June 19):** 98.9 kg — *up* from the starting point - **Check-in 2 (July 17):** 96.8 kg — down 2 kg - **Check-in 3 (August 25, his birthday):** 96.6 kg — down just 200 g (described as "a 200-gram birthday present") - **New rule for this check-in:** If he breaks 93 kg by the end of September, the project continues. If he's around 94.5 kg, the remaining five days and the first few days of October are factored in, with a final grace deadline in early October — clear 93 kg by then and he carries on.
The 85 kg goal is long gone. Still, "I think I'm a bit slimmer," he offers with cautious optimism. The episode closes with him stepping onto the scale to find out.
Takeaways
- Nerves caused a genuine tongue-speed blowout at the mandan contest — a rehearsed five-minute-forty set collapsed to four and a half minutes on the closing-slot stage, giving the episode its name.
- The Shibuya Three-Generation Showdown's game corner exposed the brutal reality of age-bracket comedy events when the middle-aged slot was silently treated as an intermission, while the Tokyo Mandan Fest's two-hour overrun pointed to persistent structural problems in large-scale comedy showcases.
- Four months into the diet project, the original 85 kg target has been abandoned after a cycle of gains and negligible losses, with a revised continuation condition of breaking 93 kg by early October now in play.
This article is edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. It is not an official summary — please listen to the episode itself.