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doronjosamaMy friends in Japan emailed me today to let me know that Ikariya Chosuke, leader of the Japanese comedy team The Drifters has passed away.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20040322wo33.htm
This is very sad news. I was introduced to the comedy of The Drifters by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hammerhand, who had watched them in his childhood and still had tapes of their show, Hachijidayo! Zeninshugo!. While my favorite on the show was Shimura Ken (closely followed by Kato Cha, or Kato-chan as they called him), their sketches would not be the same without Ikariya. Several of my Japanese penpals sent me the sometimes annual Drifters reunion shows that appeared in the 1990s, and it was always great fun to see the guys interacting with the various singing and film stars from their past shows. They did a lot of physical comedy, a lot of crazy stunts that wouldn't be out of place on modern US shock TV (very painful pranks on each other), a lot of musical numbers, character-driven pieces, and often a lot of skits with puppets. Hachijidayo was immensely popular with kids, and in Hammerhand's old tapes, you can hear the entire audience of Japanese kids yelling out famous punchlines or singing along with the little songs that sometimes closed out sketches. It was really an awesome show and it is a shame the Drifters have lost their leader. It's also sad because watching this show reminds me of my long friendship with Hammerhand.
In other things, my throat is worse. It is extremely painful to speak aloud, so I intend to remain mostly silent today.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20040322wo33.htm
This is very sad news. I was introduced to the comedy of The Drifters by
hammerhand, who had watched them in his childhood and still had tapes of their show, Hachijidayo! Zeninshugo!. While my favorite on the show was Shimura Ken (closely followed by Kato Cha, or Kato-chan as they called him), their sketches would not be the same without Ikariya. Several of my Japanese penpals sent me the sometimes annual Drifters reunion shows that appeared in the 1990s, and it was always great fun to see the guys interacting with the various singing and film stars from their past shows. They did a lot of physical comedy, a lot of crazy stunts that wouldn't be out of place on modern US shock TV (very painful pranks on each other), a lot of musical numbers, character-driven pieces, and often a lot of skits with puppets. Hachijidayo was immensely popular with kids, and in Hammerhand's old tapes, you can hear the entire audience of Japanese kids yelling out famous punchlines or singing along with the little songs that sometimes closed out sketches. It was really an awesome show and it is a shame the Drifters have lost their leader. It's also sad because watching this show reminds me of my long friendship with Hammerhand.In other things, my throat is worse. It is extremely painful to speak aloud, so I intend to remain mostly silent today.
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Date: 2004-03-25 03:06 am (UTC)heh heh. It ALWAYS does impress the manga artists when you can rattle off those catchphrases they remember from their youth.
I hope we get the boxset of DVDs.