# #９１ MEGUMIとか出てる番組だよ？ ゲスト：ヤッホイ - Show: 永野はミスターTBS - Published: 2026-10-01 - Canonical: https://podc.club/en/episode/1788816551_220745e52ef8.html - Audio: https://pdst.fm/e/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.megaphone.fm/TBS2880881230.mp3 - Source: Edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. Not an official summary. Comedy duo Yahhoii (ヤッホイ) — Nagai and Izumi — join Nagano (永野) on Nagano wa Mister TBS (永野はミスターTBS) fresh off their King of Conte 2024 finals qualification. Nagano reveals he had initially refused to book them, insisting a show that features celebrities like MEGUMI was no place for an unknown act, before a stubborn push from his manager and a TBS Radio producer changed his mind. The episode digs into how Yahhoii was formed, and shares the backstage moments that have stayed with each member. ## What this episode answers ### Why did Nagano initially resist booking Yahhoii? Nagano felt that inviting an unknown act onto a show that features celebrities like MEGUMI was beneath the show's standing, but he reluctantly agreed after manager Yoshida and JUNK producer Miyazaki both pushed hard for Yahhoii. When Yahhoii officially made the King of Conte 2024 finals, he immediately changed his tune. ### How was Yahhoii formed, and how did they join Grape Company? Each member had been in a separate duo through their university comedy circle, but when both of their respective partners chose regular employment at graduation, Nagai and Izumi teamed up and went professional; they joined Grape Company in 2024 and reached the King of Conte finals in just their third year as pros. ### What is Nagai's personality like, and how does it feed into their comedy? Nagai prefers going it alone — he has traveled solo to 46 of Japan's 47 prefectures, deliberately leaving Aomori so there is no finish line — and his history of repeating a high school year and struggling with attendance reinforced an early conviction that he was not built for an ordinary company; that natural strangeness carries directly into the characters he plays. ### What is Izumi like as a person, and what was he doing on the day of the King of Conte semifinal? Though Izumi comes across as calm and composed, he is actually the sociable one backstage; on semifinals day, with an hour and a half before the results came in, he realized he hadn't washed his hair since morning, searched for a nearby sento without success, and ended up at a head spa — not knowing what one actually was — and came back feeling great. ### What were the circumstances of Yahhoii's first encounter with Nagano, and what happened? At a Grape Company event, Nagai and Izumi were helping out as staff in the agency's standard black T-shirts when Nagano told them they didn't need to be wearing that; Nagano then introduced them to the audience during his MC set with a joke about them having previously done illicit part-time work, and Nagai still recalls both moments as some of the most meaningful recognition he had received from a senior. ## Article ## The Booking Story — "This Show Has MEGUMI on It, You Know" This episode was recorded around the time the King of Conte 2024 finalists were announced. Manager Yoshida had been campaigning loudly for Yahhoii, insisting they were going to make the finals, but Nagano pushed back hard. "This show has MEGUMI on it, you know," he grumbled to those around him, making clear he saw it as a show that did not gamble on nobodies. Even a senior comedian from their shared talent agency, Grape Company, had told him not to "use Yahhoii for inspiration porn." Adding to Nagano's discomfort, Miyazaki — producer of TBS Radio's JUNK — had been spotted in the hallway raving about the duo and muttering that he wanted to "start something with Yahhoii." Nagano was skeptical enough to tell Miyazaki directly that his radar must be off. But when Yahhoii officially qualified for the King of Conte finals, Nagano did a complete about-face and moved forward with the recording without further complaint. ## Profile — College Circle Origins, Finals in Their Third Year Yahhoii is a two-man comedy duo made up of Nagai and Izumi. The two met through their respective university comedy circles, where each had been paired with a different partner. When graduation came, both of those partners chose to enter the workforce rather than pursue comedy professionally. Nagai and Izumi, unwilling to job-hunt, teamed up on the spot and went straight into the industry. They joined Grape Company in 2024 and are currently in their third year as professionals. This was their fifth King of Conte entry — their previous best result had been the quarterfinals — which made their run to the finals in only their third year as pros a remarkably fast rise, one that visibly surprised everyone on the show. ## Nagai's Personality — Solo Trips to 46 Prefectures, Only Aomori Remains In Izumi's words, Nagai is "an oddball through and through." In their sketches, he frequently plays characters with long, rapid-fire, offbeat monologues — an extension, Izumi says, of who Nagai simply is. He rarely joins after-parties, and has traveled solo through 46 of Japan's 47 prefectures. The one he has not visited is Aomori, and he is keeping it that way on purpose: "If I go, it becomes the finish line." Nagai also spoke openly about having repeated a year in high school and going through a period when he could not attend school at all. He said he had understood from his student days that he was not the kind of person who would fit inside an ordinary company, and that comedy had always felt like a world where he could remain exactly as he was. Inside the sketch worlds Izumi writes, he says, he never has to force himself. ## Izumi's Personality — He Thought a Head Spa Was Just Hair-Washing Where Nagai is a loner, Izumi is the social one — often chatting freely in the dressing room. His low, calm voice gives a composed first impression, but he has a surprisingly scatterbrained side. On the day of the King of Conte semifinals, with an hour and a half to kill before the results came in, Izumi suddenly realized he hadn't washed his hair since morning. Worried about how he'd look in the filmed announcement footage, he went looking for a nearby sento. When he couldn't find one, he headed to a head spa instead — without actually knowing what a head spa involved. He came back feeling wonderful. ## First Meeting with Nagano — "You Don't Need to Wear That" The moment that has stayed with Nagai most vividly came at a Grape Company event where he and Izumi were helping out as staff, dressed in the standard black T-shirts handed out for such occasions. Nagano spotted them and said simply, "You guys don't need to be wearing that." He explained afterward that seeing people who were going to make it someday dressed like stagehands had felt sad to him. For Nagai, who had considered Nagano one of the seniors he most wanted to meet, those words hit hard in the best way. Nagano went further. During his MC duties at the same event, he pointed to the two of them — standing there in short-sleeve black T-shirts in the dead of winter — and told the audience with a straight face that "these two used to do illicit part-time work, but they're doing great now." Being acknowledged by a senior in front of a live crowd, even as the setup for a joke, is a memory Nagai still holds onto warmly. ## Takeaways - Nagano initially opposed booking Yahhoii, calling it beneath the show's standard, but reversed course after manager Yoshida and JUNK producer Miyazaki both pushed for them and the duo confirmed their King of Conte 2024 finals spot. - Nagai's unconventional history — high school repetition, an inability to attend school, and solo trips to 46 prefectures — reflects a lifelong conviction that comedy was the only world where he could be himself, and that authenticity feeds directly into his performances. - Izumi is unexpectedly scatterbrained and sociable, a sharp contrast to Nagai, as illustrated by the head spa incident on semifinals day when he wandered in without any idea what a head spa actually was.