Downtown (ダウンタウン) is a Japanese comedy unit (kombi) consisting of two comedians (お笑い芸人, owarai geinin), Hitoshi Matsumoto (松本人志) and Masatoshi Hamada (浜田雅功). Downtown is probably the most influential kombi to come from Yoshimoto Kōgyō, and is arguably the most popular kombi in Japan today. While best known for their stand-up act and their role as host of numerous Japanese variety shows (including the long running HEY! HEY! HEY! MUSIC CHAMP), they also occasionally perform in movies and television drama, and in the past have even released music singles. Comedy is the use of humor in the form of theater, where it simply referred to a play with a happy ending, in contrast to a tragedy. ... Yoshimoto Kogyo is a major Japanese entertainment conglomerate, based in Osaka. ... Look up stand up in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A variety show is a show with a variety of acts, often including music and comedy skits, especially on television. ...

Starting out as a manzai unit from Hyōgo in 1983, it is now said that as a result of their massive popularity and the relative domination of their employer, Yoshimoto Kōgyō, the Kansai dialect (in which both performers usually speak) has come to be associated with Japanese comedy (owarai) as a whole. Manzai (漫才) is a style of stand-up comedy in Japan, where two performers—a straight man (tsukkomi) and a funny man (boke)—trade jokes at great speed. ... Hyōgo Prefecture (兵庫県 Hyōgo-ken) is located in the Kinki region on Honshu island, Japan. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Japanese language, in addition to to Standard Japanese, based on Tokyo speech, has dozens of geographic dialects. ... Yasuda Dai Circus, a popular owarai trio Owarai (お笑い, owarai) is a broad word used to describe Japanese comedy as seen on television. ...

On television, Mastumoto often goes by the name Ma-tchan (松ちゃん), and Hamada by Hama-chan (浜ちゃん). As with many owarai kombi, there exists a boke and a tsukkomi. Matsumoto is the boke of the two and often puts up with light physical abuse (it is common for the tsukkomi to hit the head of the boke whenever he says something rude or rediculous) from Hamada, the tsukkomi. Hamada is also known to attack other talents similarly, whether they are boke or not. Manzai (漫才) is a style of stand-up comedy in Japan, where two performers—a straight man (tsukkomi) and a funny man (boke)—trade jokes at great speed. ... Manzai (漫才) is a style of stand-up comedy in Japan, where two performers—a straight man (tsukkomi) and a funny man (boke)—trade jokes at great speed. ... Tarento (タレント) is a Japanese rendering of the Portuguese word talento (talent in English) and is used as a catch-all term for major media personalities who regularly appear on television, radio and other forms of entertainment. ...

Now showing

Downtown are currently listed as hosts of the following programs:

• HEY!HEY!HEY!MUSIC CHAMP on Fuji Television (Since 1994)
• ダウンタウンDX (Downtown DX) on Yomiuri Television (Since 1993)
• ダウンタウンのガキの使いやあらへんで!! (Downtown's Gaki no tsukaiyaarahende!!) on Nippon Television (Since 1989)

The Fuji TV headquarters in Odaiba is known for its eccentric architecture. ... Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV, 日本テレビ放送網株式会社, Nihon Terebi Hōsōmō Kabushiki Gaisha) TYO: 9404 is a television network in Shiodome, Tokyo, Japan owned by the Yomiuri Shimbun. ...

Movies

Both members of Downtown played major roles (Harada was a main character) in the popular 2001 movie, 明日があるさ (There's Always Tomorrow, Ashita-ga aru sa). 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

See also

Owarai
Manzai Yasuda Dai Circus, a popular owarai trio Owarai (お笑い, owarai) is a broad word used to describe Japanese comedy as seen on television. ... Manzai (漫才) is a style of stand-up comedy in Japan, where two performers—a straight man (tsukkomi) and a funny man (boke)—trade jokes at great speed. ...