View source for Manzai

[[File:Manzai.ptg.detail.working-print.png |thumb|A painting of a pair of ''manzai'' [[comedy]] actors]]

{{nihongo|'''Manzai'''|漫才|}} is a [[tradition]]al kind of [[Japan]]ese [[comedy]].<ref name="nussbaum">[[Louis-Frédéric|Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric]]. (2002). "Manzai" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 608.</ref> ''Manzai'' is a special kind of [[stand-up comedy]].<ref name="torikai">Torikai, Kumiko. (2009). [https://books.google.com/books?id=I1nu69nmlxgC&pg=PA116  ''Voices of the Invisible Presence: Diplomatic Interpreters in Post-World War II Japan,'' p. 116 n66.]</ref>  It is both [[dialogue]] and performance.

A comedy team brings together a straight man (''[[tsukkomi]]'') who feeds punchlines to a funny man (''boke'').<ref>[http://www.japanfortheuninvited.com/articles/manzai.html  "''Manzai'' (Double-act comedy)"]; retrieved 2011-11-21.</ref>  A pair of comedians with a special back-and-forth style is called ''kakeai manzai''.<ref name="torikai"/>
 	
== History ==
The history of ''manzai'' began in the [[Nara period]].<ref>Kodansha. (1985). "Mansai,"  ''Encyclopedia of Japan,'' Vol. 5, p. 111.</ref>

In the [[Edo period]], the traditional [[dialogue]] was performed on stage.<ref name="nussbaum"/>

In modern times, ''manzai'' performances are televised in Japan.<ref name="nussbaum"/>

===New Year's tradition===
In Japan's past, traditional ''manzai'' performers would go from house to house in the New Year's season.  They would sing songs<ref>Yamaguchi, Kenkichi ''et al.'' (1964). [https://books.google.com/books?id=NbGZAAAAIAAJ&q=manzai  ''We Japanese,'' p. 5.]</ref> and perform good-luck dances in return for a small amount of [[rice]] or money.<ref>Ueda, Makoto. (1995). [https://books.google.com/books?id=kmdWOrsYBgMC&pg=PA309  ''Bashō and His interpreters: Selected Hokku with Commentary,'' p. 309.]</ref>

==Related pages==
* [[Xiangsheng]]
* [[Stand-up comedy]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==More reading==
{{EnWiktionary|漫才}}
* Davis, Jessica Milner. (2005). ''Understanding Humor in Japan.''  Detroit, Michigan: Wayne State University Press. {{ISBN|9780814331651}}; [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/475380964  OCLC 475380964]


{{Japan-stub}}

[[Category:Comedy]]
[[Category:Entertainment in Japan]]