Tobi (host)

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686 appearances 3 recordings 1 series first heard Jul 2026 last heard 31 Jul

Tobi (host)’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 3 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 3.

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Unpacking Japan · What Japanese comedy school is REALLY like · 31 Jul 2026 podcast

Is that often scripted or is this a lot of improv work where you really know your partner and you can change up the story based on the audience of the day?

Like the basic story and the joke with the cup stays the same, but the ending, the punchline, the ochi would change based on how you both feel that day and you play with it a little bit to give something new and spontaneous to the audience.

You mentioned that you were always kind of the funny guy in your group of friends growing up and you had this bro humor in the locker room during your soccer games and such.

When you go from that to this kind of very scripted, structured and culturally different kind of humor…

How was that for you with this dream of, I'm going to be a comedian, I'm going to be funny, but suddenly you're told, this is how you become funny.

But maybe you had some different ideas of things you wanted to do, but in the context of how the manzai is done, it's not applicable.

so they don't teach you what's funny they teach you the rules but then they let you answer everything then so it's like really what's a graduation looking like do you have to to perform in front of a panel of judges and only those that make the judges laugh graduate or kind of how do they objectively evaluate the the students oh man uh

Like ranking some of the students?

That's very, very little from... Yeah.

And I imagine the school is also maybe not free.

And you need to dedicate a lot of time as well.

You mentioned there's a ranking, but you also explained earlier that, you know, Manzai is an act done in pairs.

So your comedy depends a lot on your partner too.

So how does it work then for the rankings?

Are they individuals or are you already set up in pairs?

And then when it comes to signing, do they sign the pair or do this?

No, this person we see a little bit in that person will get them and give them a new partner as a pro Manzai comedian, so to say.

It's like speed dating?

We'll do partners this week and next week we try someone else.

So that's the beginning of Badonkadonk.

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