# #74 「メロいランキングへの道」(ゲスト：ジグザグジギー)

- Show: こたけ正義感の聞けば無罪
- Published: 2026-09-27
- Canonical: https://podc.club/en/episode/1754897606_0589628f7167.html
- Audio: https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/7e360234-755c-43f9-8509-ae92005f0b89/0ea59c78-4209-4037-98bb-b1a000417b1b/482f03c0-80c8-41c2-9383-b4d200309ee1/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=95511e3f-5948-42af-885a-b1a000434501
- Source: Edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. Not an official summary.

On this episode of Kotake Seigikan no Kikeba Muzai (こたけ正義感の聞けば無罪), host Kotake Seigikan recalls a Watanabe Production office live show where Yonsentoshi (四千頭身) pulled off their first-ever two-man manzai set without a single meta-joke and walked away with the audience vote — then shares the chaos that ensued when his seven-year-old son showed up backstage with a pair of boxing gloves. Guests are Zigzag Ziggy (ジグザグジギー), Higuchi and Ikeda, in their 19th year as a duo, who open up about the lucky shuffle-combo draw that turned into a real partnership, a decade-plus of contest wins that somehow never translated into mainstream exposure, and the grueling adjustment they had to make when King of Conte extended its time limit from four minutes to five.

## What this episode answers

### How did Zigzag Ziggy end up forming as a duo?

Higuchi's original duo Big Bang broke up, so after working up the nerve for six months he courted his classmate Ikeda (traveling to meet him, a long dinner in Yokohama Chinatown), and the two officially became a duo on the spot after they were paired by lot in a shuffle-combo segment at the self-produced live "Ultra Sea" and their impromptu set clicked.

### Why did the King of Conte time-limit extension from four minutes to five cause them so much trouble?

Their style relied on getting the punchlines in early for a short, unbroken sprint, so when the format grew by one minute they had no idea how to fill the newly added back half of the set once their laughs had already landed early.

### They appeared in the ABC Comedy Grand Prix three years running, won the final broadcast of NHK's On-Battle, and performed fifty manzai sets on television — so why do they say they got the short end of the stick?

Because none of it translated into real recognition: ABC had no Tokyo broadcast so only die-hard fans saw them, the early King of Conte rounds were stacked with established acts in a structure they felt was designed to hurt younger performers, and their On-Battle win came on the show's final broadcast so it never reached anyone.

### What kind of mayhem did Kotake Seigikan's son cause backstage at the office live show?

He got hold of boxing gloves and went around punching and kicking the seated comedians backstage one by one, and multiple comedians—including several senior performers—reported during the ending segment that they'd been hit.

### How do Higuchi and Ikeda divide the work when they write new material?

Higuchi comes up with the concept and Ikeda writes the full script.

## Article

## Yonsentoshi wins with their first two-man manzai set — tears backstage

The headline moment at Watanabe Production's in-house live "Well" (ウェル), which Kotake Seigikan was MC-ing, was Yonsentoshi (四千頭身) stepping up to perform manzai as a duo for the very first time. Comedians and staff packed the wings, fully expecting the trio-turned-duo to wink at the elephant in the room with some self-aware gag. Instead, Yonsentoshi barely acknowledged the situation — a brief glance, then straight into the material. Goto took the tsukkomi role while Ishibashi talked at a relentless pace; the crowd ate it up, and the set closed to the loudest applause of the night. The audience vote put them in first place, a result that stood even against strong competition including Kin no Kuni (金の国) and Fire Thunder (ファイヤーサンダー).

Backstage, Watanabe staffer Sakiyama was watching from the wings, fighting back tears, and quietly asking people around her at what point they should all rush out together to give the guys a group hug. That backstory spilled out during the ending segment and left the whole room with a warm glow. Kotake reflected: "Even in what has been a tough period for the agency, this ended up being something special — everyone pulling together."

## Kotake's son goes on a rampage with boxing gloves

That same day, Kotake had brought along his first-grade son, age seven. The plan was for the boy to stay home with a babysitter, but he had somehow acquired a pair of boxing gloves and was completely hyped up. He zeroed in on the seated comedians backstage and went around punching and kicking them one by one; by the time Kotake got back to the dressing room after MC duties, his son's hair was drenched in sweat despite not having done anything that should have caused it. During the ending segment, multiple comedians stood up to report that they had been punched or kicked — and the list of victims included several considerably senior performers.

This was not the first incident. At the previous office live, the boy had handed every senior comedian a self-portrait drawn in ballpoint pen, instructed them to color it in, then come back around once they finished and graded each picture in red pen. Kotake laughed it off: "Put a kid around comedians and he just gets full of himself. I might bring him again."

## How a shuffle-combo draw created Zigzag Ziggy

Guests Zigzag Ziggy — Higuchi (樋口) and Ikeda (池田) — are fourth-generation graduates of the Watanabe Comedy School (渡辺コメディスクール) and are in their 19th year of performing. Their classmates include Saraba Seishun no Hikari (さらば青春の光), Kinzoku Bat (金属バット), Ranjatai (ランジャタイ), and Henderson (ヘンダーソン).

Higuchi had entered Watanabe as part of a duo called Big Bang (ビッグバン) — he insists they had the name before the Korean group did — but that partnership dissolved three months after they were selected for the graduation showcase. Not wanting to go solo, he spent six months working up the nerve to ask Ikeda, a classmate he got on well with. The courtship was gradual: he got Ikeda to travel all the way from Yokohama to Asakusa, took him to a Chinese restaurant in Yokohama Chinatown for an hour-long meal, and slowly closed the distance. His reasons for picking Ikeda were straightforward: "He had things I don't have. He looks good. He's tall."

The turning point came at a self-produced live called "Ultra Sea" (ウルトラシー), which featured a shuffle-combo segment where pairs were drawn by lot. Higuchi and Ikeda happened to draw each other, performed a set together on the spot, and it landed. The audience vote put them second — first place went to Forin Love (フォーリンラブ) — and they decided on the spot to make it official.

## Nineteen years of "getting the short end": three ABC runs, an On-Battle finale win, and fifty TV sets that went nowhere

From their first year together in 2008, Zigzag Ziggy entered King of Conte (キングオブコント), made it to the second round, and decided to focus exclusively on conte from that point on. They appeared in the ABC Comedy Grand Prix (ABCお笑いグランプリ) in 2012, 2013, 2014, and again in 2016. Their television performance count reached fifty sets in total. On NHK's On-Battle (オンバト), they won — on the show's final broadcast.

The word "損した" (got a raw deal) comes up again and again. When they were competing in ABC, the show had no Tokyo broadcast, so only dedicated fans would travel to Nagoya to watch. In the early years of King of Conte, Banana Man (バナナマン) and other established names were routinely showing up in the second round, a structure that Higuchi and Ikeda laughed about as "designed to hurt younger acts." And their On-Battle win led to nothing because the show was already ending. "The evaluation itself was fair," Higuchi said. "It just never reached anyone. That's a loss." Ikeda did not disagree.

## The one minute that broke everything

Their creative process has always been a clear division of labor: Higuchi comes up with the concept, Ikeda writes the full script. From 2008 through around 2017, the King of Conte time limit was four minutes, and their goal was a short-sprint style set — something that roared from start to finish without a lull. They consciously avoided solo shows because "lining up three- or four-minute sets doesn't satisfy an audience."

When the time limit moved to five minutes around 2017, everything fell apart. "Our punchlines come early, so the laughs come early — and then we have no idea how to fill the back half," Higuchi explained. He noted that Nyanko Star's (にゃんこスター) set was probably only three and a half minutes long, and that adapting to the Fire Thunder approach — a full ninety-second build-up before the comedy lands — took time. By around 2021 they finally felt they could construct a natural five-minute set from their own instincts rather than forcing it, and that shift led directly to their King of Conte final appearance in 2023.

## Takeaways

- Yonsentoshi performed their first two-man manzai set at a Watanabe Production office live, skipped every meta-joke, and won the audience vote over a lineup that included several established acts.
- Zigzag Ziggy formed out of a lucky shuffle-combo draw, racked up three ABC Grand Prix appearances, an On-Battle finale win, and fifty television sets, yet consistently feel the exposure never matched the results.
- The King of Conte time-limit extension from four to five minutes derailed their approach for years until they adapted around 2021, setting up their 2023 final run — with Higuchi on ideas and Ikeda on scripting throughout all nineteen years.