イースト駅前クリニック presents 川島明のねごと · Comedy
しずるとあの頃のよしもとの記憶を呼び起こそう！
Kawashima Akira invites Shizuru (Jun and Ikeda) as guests to excavate, through firsthand testimony, the so-called "dark age" of Tokyo Yoshimoto from roughly 2004 to 2011—an era that has left almost no trace on the internet. Legendary projects including Yoshimoto Omoshiro Suizokukan, Yoshimoto Game Amusement, Shinjuku Seven Camp Theater, Yoshimoto Prince Theater, and Dynamite Baka Soul are recalled one by one. The episode covers everything from the agege live (あげあげライブ) boom at Mugendai Hall to the pivot toward M1 Grand Prix supremacy, all through the memories of people who were actually there.
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What this episode answers
What bizarre incidents happened at the underwater manzai corner of Yoshimoto Omoshiro Suizokukan?
Fruits Ponchi's (フルーツポンチ) Tomo had been hiding his thinning hair with gel, which dissolved the moment he entered the water; he pulled a sausage from his pocket and smeared it on his head, then covered it with sardines—but another fish ate the sardines, drawing the audience's attention away from the manzai entirely.
What were the working conditions like for the Gag Ride performers at Yoshimoto Game Amusement?
Led by Haranishi (原西), gag comedians performed in front of audiences every 30 minutes with no chance to eat, since a fresh crowd arrived by the time they returned to the waiting room; whenever a 'cancelled today' notice came through, the whole group would pump their fists before heading out for a meal together.
What was the fundamental problem with the 5-meter yagura at Shinjuku Seven Camp Theater?
Performing from roughly five metres up forced the audience to look straight overhead, making it structurally impossible to laugh; according to Za Punch (ザ・パンチ), their opening cry 'do-bobobobo' was completely given away while they were still on the ladder, and a staff member spent an entire night sawing the yagura down to half its height—without solving the core problem.
What kind of atmosphere did Yoshimoto Prince Theater have, and what originated there?
It was a casino-comedy-show-style venue where a tuxedo-clad emcee guided proceedings with the line 'Stage Marshow, doudeshou,' which Kawashima described as 'jazzy and moody'; Kawashima also testified that the term 'oniinyan' (おにいやん) was born in this theater.
Why did the agege live boom come to an end, and what paths did the comedians take afterward?
The company forced Shizuru, Hannya (ハンニャ), and Fruits Ponchi to graduate from agege live and move to Lumine; as the M1-focused trend intensified, Za Punch quickly chose an independent path, Peace treated the stage as a place purely to try out new material, and Yoshimura (吉村) pivoted early to a talent-based career.
Yoshimoto Omoshiro Suizokukan (吉本面白水族館) (2004–, Yokohama Chinatown)
This theme-park-style aquarium opened in Yokohama's Chinatown in 2004, and is notable, among other things, for Sakanamun (さかなくん) appearing at its press conference. One of its headline attractions was an underwater manzai corner. Legend has it that Fruits Ponchi's Tomo, trying to conceal his thinning hair, had slicked it down with gel—which promptly dissolved the moment he entered the water. He retrieved a sausage from his pocket, smeared it on his head, and covered everything with sardines, but a nearby fish ate the sardines before the bit was done, leaving the audience far more interested in the fish than in the manzai. Kawashima described the chaos as "a Swimmy-style situation." Neither of Shizuru's two members ever visited the aquarium; they had only heard about it through rumour.
Yoshimoto Game Amusement (吉本ゲームアミュージアム) (2006, Inside Akishima Mori Town)
Yoshimoto operated this game-centre facility itself, with its star attraction being "Gag Ride." Led by Haranishi, gag comedians performed for visitors every 30 minutes with no break. Because a fresh crowd arrived by the time they returned to the waiting room, there was simply no chance to eat; whenever a "cancelled today" notice came through, everyone pumped their fists before rushing out for a meal together. In summer there was also an act called "Kaidan Hanashi" (Stairway Story), in which performers sat on cushions placed on a trolley—other comedians would bang on the trolley at the punchline to startle the audience—though it was recalled as feeling like "a school cultural festival play." Shizuru visited once and performed a short skit.
Shinjuku Seven Camp Theater and the 5-Meter Yagura (Okubo Park)
A venue set inside a giant custom tent pitched in Okubo Park, running for 49 days only. Sekiya Kiyoshi (関谷清) opened every show with his urban-legend talk, which still felt genuinely sensational at the time. Because the venue sat close to Kabukicho, whenever the comedy unit Ennichi (縁日)—whose members included Aipa Takizawa (アイパー滝沢)—performed a sketch using a name that appeared to belong to a real person, a car with fully blacked-out windows would pull up outside, and Ennichi's slot was ultimately cut. The biggest legend of the venue was the outdoor yagura (scaffolding tower) standing roughly five metres high. Comedians climbed a ladder to perform from the top, which meant audiences had to look straight up—making it structurally impossible to laugh. According to Za Punch, their signature entrance cry "do-bobobobo" was completely telegraphed while they were still on the ladder. A staff member spent an entire night sawing the yagura down to half its height, though that still failed to fix the fundamental problem.
Yoshimoto Prince Theater (吉本プリンスシアター) (April 2009–November 2011, Inside Shinagawa Prince Hotel)
This venue had the atmosphere of a casino comedy show, with a tuxedo-clad emcee guiding each night with the line "Stage Marshow, doudeshou" (ステージマーショー、どうでしょう). Kawashima described it as "jazzy and moody—like comedy slotted between casino games." Yoshimoto's first idol group YGA, tap dancer Hidebo (ひでぼう), BMH, and others all appeared on stage. Kawashima testified that the term "oniinyan" (おにいやん) originated from this theater. He also recalled arriving at 11 a.m. one day to find a children's appreciation live by Pirameki (ピラメキー) already underway before his own set, with the audience "laughing so hard it practically made a popping sound."
The Agege Live Boom and the Shift to M1
Starting around 2008, the Agege Live at Shibuya's Mugendai Hall (無限大ホール) drove the comedy boom of 2009 and 2010. Shizuru, Hannya, and Fruits Ponchi were so popular that simply announcing their names at Lumine was enough to set the crowd off. Cheap summer tickets drew high-school and university-age women to the shows, and Peace (ピース), Chimon Chochuchu (チーモンチョウチュウ), Choco Planet (チョコプラ), and Sisson Nu (シソンヌ) all rose to prominence during this era. Alongside this, at Dynamite Baka Soul (ダイナマイトバカソウル, 2010–), music-based and rhythm-based comedians thrived, with KJ's Hage Rap drawing crowd-hyping energy that rivalled actual rappers. Then the company stepped in: Shizuru, Hannya, and Fruits Ponchi were made to graduate from Agege Live and move to Lumine. As M1 Grand Prix became the dominant priority, Za Punch quickly concluded "this isn't for us" and carved out their own path; Peace treated the stage purely as a proving ground for new material; and Yoshimura made an early pivot to a talent-based career. The former Mugendai Hall was eventually repurposed as a cinema screening 100 films, and those who were there recalled that even at the height of the boom, audiences had already begun to thin out.
Takeaways
- The unconventional Yoshimoto projects of 2004–2011—an aquarium, a game centre, a tent theater, a hotel venue—have left almost no record on the internet, making firsthand testimony the only surviving account of what actually happened.
- The 5-meter yagura at Shinjuku Seven Camp Theater had a fundamental design flaw—it forced audiences to look straight overhead, making laughter impossible—serious enough that a staff member spent an entire night sawing it down to half its height.
- The agege live boom was ended by the company's decision to force its biggest acts to graduate, and as M1 supremacy took hold the comedians each found their own survival strategy: an independent path, a new-material workshop, or an early move into entertainment talent work.
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.