The Drifters: The Gambling Skit
Posted by Michael Pinto on May 15, 2009 in Japanese TV
As part of my obsession with Japanese comedian Ken Shimura I came across this clever comedy skit from 1984. In 1974 Shimura joined the Drifters who started life a rock band and comedy group in 1964 (think old school variety show routines). They had a very popular show on TBS from 1969 until 1985 which was called Hachijidayo, Zen’inshugo! (It’s 8 p.m., Everyone Together!”). The humor in the show pretty low brow by Japanese standards, although what I like about watching it is that you don’t need to speak Japanese to get the jokes which in this case can be very visual. One friend of mine once derided Shimura as “the Benny Hill of Japan” but as someone interested in animation I rather appreciate visual comedy, so to me Ken is a treasure.
