A Review on One Episode of ‘Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!’

ダウンタウンのガキの使いやあらへんで!!

No Laughing Hospital (2007)

Basic Overview:

Gaki No Tsukai is a Japanese variety show, hosted by comedian duo Hitoshi Matsumoto and Masatoshi Hamada. They are regularly accompanied by Hōsei Yamasaki, Naoki Tanaka and Shōzō Endō. In this episode the five of them enter a hospital for 24 hours and are not allowed to laugh at anything that happens otherwise they get punished. In the form of a smack on the behind.

Themes:

The humour is very visually based which is different to the one liners in Western comedies, eg. Having 5 grown men change into nurses outfits, one guy ends up with a skirt that’s way too short.
Other common trends in the humour are: elements of surprise, awkward too-long pauses, unusual social situations, random but rare inappropriate touches, punishment/pain jokes, culture shock (slightly), exaggerated reactions and many personal appearances so people the comedians know spontaneously and unexpectedly showing up.