＃９２ カミナリはオーラがすごい！ ゲスト：ヤッホイ
Young comedy duo Yahhoi (Nagai and Izumi) of Grape Company (グレープカンパニー) wraps up a two-week guest run on Nagano wa Mister TBS (#92), recorded just ahead of their King of Conte finals appearance. They open up about tailoring their material for competition, and share nerve-wracking first encounters with senior agency acts Kaminari and Sandwich Man.
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What this episode answers
What advice did Nagano give after a listener called their promo photo 'scary'?
Nagano told them to leave the straight faces exactly as they are — at 26 with three years in the business they still have an air of mystery, and whether they ride the look all the way to the finals or eventually switch to smiling, either outcome becomes material for laughs.
How does Yahhoi's King of Conte finals material differ from their regular sets?
Their regular sets run 7–8 minutes and often push compliance limits, so they prepared entirely separate material for the finals — cleaned up on the compliance side but deliberately left a hint of danger, a balance Nagano praised as a mark of the current generation's professionalism.
What was the atmosphere like when Yahhoi first ran into Kaminari at a TV studio?
They bumped into Kaminari by chance near the TV Tokyo studio exit; after Yahhoi introduced themselves, Kaminari's Takeru replied in formal, polite Japanese with 'Takeru desu,' and Izumi described it as feeling completely out of reach even standing right in front of him — 'the aura was incredible.'
What happened when Yahhoi gave their first greeting to Sandwich Man in a hallway?
At Fuji TV, with managers coordinating in advance, they staged a hallway intercept: Date gave a clear 'Ou,' Fuze produced a barely audible 'Ou,' both removed their masks, and an overwhelmed Yahhoi could only manage 'Thank you so much' — earning Nagano's retort, 'If you're a comedian, at least make them laugh.'
What is the current state of Grape Company's young talent scene and the Under Live?
Under Live (the young-talent showcase) has been selling out regularly with capacity increases under discussion, drawing both dedicated Yahhoi fans and fans who love the whole generation, while cohort duo Muscle Opera has returned to performing after illness, surgery, and hospitalization.
The Promo Photo 'Straight Face' Debate — Nagano Says Leave It
Listener Honmamon-san wrote in after spotting Yahhoi's official promo photo on the show's X account, noting that both members looked intimidating — especially the one on the right — and wondering why they hadn't smiled. The member on the right is Izumi; neither was consciously trying to look cool, it just came out that way naturally.
Nagano pushed back on the idea of changing it. There is cultural pressure these days to always smile in photos, he said, but at 26 and three years into their career, Yahhoi still has an air of mystery — and that is an asset. If they ride the serious look all the way to the finals, that is inherently cool. If they later switch to smiling, the change itself becomes something that can be teased, which is more material. Either way it turns into laughs. He also noted that the contrast between their cheerful name — Yahhoi — and those dead-serious faces is itself part of the charm.
The King of Conte Finals — Keeping Two Sets of Material
Listener Oban Koban-san asked whether Yahhoi separates competition material from what they perform at regular club shows. The duo confirmed they do: their normal sets tend to run 7–8 minutes and often contain content that would run into compliance issues, making them unsuitable for broadcast competitions as-is. For the King of Conte finals they have prepared entirely different material — content that clears the compliance line but, in their words, still 'smells of danger.'
Because the King of Conte format allows any duo that passes round one to perform a second routine, Yahhoi is heading into the finals with two sets ready. Nagano praised the approach as distinctly of-its-time, contrasting it with an older generation of comedians who used to blame compliance restrictions for their lack of success. Today's young acts, he said, adapt without making excuses and without dropping their quality — and that is what makes them feel current.
A Fleeting Encounter with Kaminari — The Aura That Wouldn't Reach
Fellow Grape Company act Kaminari (カミナリ) are kept busy with YouTube shoots — including a hip-hop fashion haul series — and are rarely seen around the agency offices. Yahhoi happened to cross paths with them near an exit at the TV Tokyo studios, and approached to introduce themselves: 'We're Nagai and Izumi of Yahhoi; we joined the agency three years ago.' Kaminari's Takeru (竹瑠) responded in formal, polite Japanese — 'Takeru desu' — which somehow made the encounter feel even more surreal.
Izumi struggled to put it into words: 'He was standing right in front of us, and yet it felt like we couldn't reach him — the aura was incredible.' They also got a handshake, which prompted Nagano to point out that the reverent phrasing Izumi used to describe receiving said handshake was already funny in itself. Nagano's only regret was not having been in the booth at the right moment so he could have put on a stern face of his own.
The Sandwich Man Hallway Ambush
Yahhoi's first meeting with Sandwich Man (サンドウィッチマン) — the agency's flagship act — required considerably more logistics. It took place at Fuji TV during a competition appearance aimed at younger acts. Managers on both sides coordinated in advance, and Yahhoi positioned themselves to intercept their seniors in a corridor — what they described as a 'limit-mode operation.'
When Yahhoi introduced themselves as three-year Grape Company members, Date (伊達) gave a clear, audible 'Ou,' while Tomizawa (富澤) produced an 'Ou' that was barely a sound at all. Both removed their masks. Nagai added helpfully that you can tell the two apart by the difference in how they've filled out. Yahhoi were so overwhelmed they could only say 'Thank you so much' and leave it at that. Nagano ribbed them for it — 'If you're comedians, you should at least make them laugh; you'd say more than that on Hakase-chan' — but admitted that hearing what that single quiet 'Ou' actually felt like had completely pulled him in.
Grape Company's Young Talent Scene — Under Live Selling Out
Cohort duo Muscle Opera (マッスルオペラ) is back on stage after illness, surgery, and a hospital stay. They were never particularly muscular to begin with, and the hospitalization left them even thinner — at one point their doctor reportedly told them that working out would kill them. They have since recovered and are performing again, with plans to start training once more.
The Under Live — a showcase exclusively for the agency's younger acts — has been selling out with growing frequency, with talk of expanding the venue capacity. Audiences include both dedicated individual fans and a growing contingent of 'group fans' who simply love the entire generation. On the senior end of the spectrum, Kakaroni (カカロニ) made their first appearance at an agency live show, performed a ten-minute set that ran over time, and were walked off stage. Nagano confessed he'd actually rather see Kakaroni getting ribbed on television than in a live setting anyway.
Nagano closed both weeks of Yahhoi's guest run by rallying listeners to tune in for the King of Conte finals — broadcast on the 17th — signing off with a rousing 'Let's aim for the title, Yahhoi!'
Takeaways
- Nagano backed Yahhoi's straight-faced promo photo, arguing that at 26 and three years in the business the mystery is an asset, and that whichever way it goes — staying stone-faced or eventually switching to smiles — becomes fodder for laughs.
- Yahhoi prepared separate King of Conte finals material that clears compliance hurdles while preserving an edge of danger, a balance Nagano held up as proof that today's young comedians adapt without excuses and without sacrificing quality.
- First encounters with senior Grape Company acts Kaminari and Sandwich Man both left Yahhoi awestruck by sheer star power, with Nagano raising the bar by suggesting that comedians, of all people, should be able to get a laugh out of a corridor greeting.
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.