Captivated by the classic form of Japanese comedy known as manzai, Stephen, an American, sets out to break into Japan's entertainment world.
Social & External
The people behind it
Stephen Tetsu
Himself
Ryō Hashimoto
Masashi Kumada
Shun Tawarayama
Tatsuo and Ikuo have been raised by hard-working parents who run a funeral home. For relief, they practice games of manzai, a Japanese comic vaudeville. Tatsuo grows up to be a handsome chick magnet, while Ikuo is nerdy and unappealing. He spies on his brother to get material for their reality porn show. The show is bleeped heavily, and their bleep language becomes trendy and makes them stars.
This is a story about a son who pursue his career as a comedian by forming a comedy duo with his demented father. "Kazuki, are you still doing comedy?" "Yes, I am. Right now!" The Abe family is a rice farmer in Nishikan Ward, Niigata. The first son, Kazuki is unemployed, living at his parents' house, and writing comedy plot everyday. One day, his father Yoji fell down from a stroke while he was practicing for the local comedy competition. While facing the severe reality of becoming a home helper to his demented father, his companion, Masakazu told him he is giving up on comedy. Struggling between his dream and the reality, childhood and adulthood, he decides to enter the competition as a comedy duo with his demented father. Can miracle happen on stage for the father who lost his memory and the son who finally made up his mind?
The popular comedy duo "Tarinai Futari" draws the curtains on their legacy in their final "manzai" performance.
Up-and-coming manzai stand-up comedy duo Emi-Abi has lost consummate funny man Unno (a surprisingly touching Tomoya Maeno) to an accident, leaving conceited straight man Jitsudo (Ryu Morioka) to contend with his diminished career prospects as a bland, pretty face entertainer. Guided by his manager Natsumi (Haru Kuroki), who demonstrates stronger comedy chops than her own star, Jitsudo comes to learn the circumstances of his friend's passing, as well as the life-and-death stakes of a career in comedy. Demonstrating a careful balance of tone across tragedy and deadpan and gross-out humor, writer/director Kensaku Watanabe expands "Emi-Abi"'s hilarious premise into a strikingly assured meditation on artistic rivalry and self-actualization.
Tsukaguchi, a comedian, is disliked by the public for his bad behavior and vile style, and shows no signs of selling at all. He and his partner, Kunimatsu, spend their days doing MANZAI (comedy dialogue) at a small theater. One day, the two receive an offer to appear on TV. However, Tsukaguchi has a big problem with his girlfriend, and in the midst of the mixture of reality and delusion, he soon finds himself involved in an irreversible situation as a comedian.
Tobio Kurosawa (Ryuta Sato), who has been part of a manzai (stand up comedy) duo for ten years, finds himself in trouble after his partner Tamotsu Ishii (Yuji Ayabe) quits due to their declining popularity and mounting debts. Tobio then attempts to drink his problems away, but the next morning finds himself locked up in a detention center. At the detention center Tobio meets tough dreadlocked Ryuhei Onizuka (Yusuke Kamiji) who has an uncanny knack for comedy. Tobio attempts to recruit Ryuhei to become a partner in a new comedy duo. Once on the outside, they start practicing ...
Before he hit it big, Takeshi Kitano got his start apprenticing with comedy legend Fukami of Asakusa. But as his star rises, his mentor's declines.
A brief dive into the history and modernity of the "Russian Barbizon" — the House of creativity "Academic Cottage named after I. E. Repin" near Vyshny Volochok. Breathtaking landscapes of the Upper Volga and touching emotions of novice artists and established modern masters of the brush.
Rodolfo, a man who enjoys reading obituaries, reads his own epitaph. By trying to correct the mistake, he ends up fulfilling the fatal destiny announced in the newspaper.
Ring....BRrinng....BBRRRIING!. Paul, a pool boy, picks up a telephone he has no business answering. The voice on the line invites Paul to a party in exchange for a favor. But Paul doesn't realize what is truly at stake.
A workaholic dad, trying to win over his kids, heads to the coast of Durban for a big work meeting — under the guise of a family road trip vacation.
Despite being only a five-minute boat ride away from Cebu City, at the foot of the country’s record-breaking new expressway, Shell Island is an unfamiliar name to many Cebuanos today. “Dalangpanan” sheds light on the island, following a day in the life of one of its residents to uncover the stories and struggles of living on a forgotten, desolate land amidst progressive, bustling cities. Through the voices of the Shell locals, audiences learn why and how they ended up settling there, and what their future could possibly be. The documentary’s title, which literally translates to “refuge” in Cebuano, is a nod to what the island might mean to those living on it—a home, a source of hope, or even more.
This is a 20 minute documentary based on interviews with the organizers of a queer wrestling circuit in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Each event features a different substance that attendees wrestle in— Jello, mud, oil, snow, etc. This film explores the ideas of consensual violence, the necessity of an event-centered community based on performance, aggression and sexuality. The film encapsulates this scene as it was during the year of 2023, with interviews conducted in the winter of 2024.
A story about the life of the writer, poet and translator Ivan Alekseevich Bunin, who left Russia forever in 1920, and in 1933 became the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Demolition workers are tearing down Urania 4-10, an office building designed by Werner Düttmann in the 1960s. Meanwhile, experiments in urban coexistence take shape in a tiny but dense jungle in the middle of the city. 'Interferences' is an urban portrait of Berlin at the transition between winter and spring 2024. Revealing the tension between development and spontaneous rewilding, this observational documentary depicts Berlin as a city of ambiguous form, overlapping narratives, and endless material cycles. 'Interferences' implies a disturbance, but also hints at new possible alliances.
Stand-up comedian Kevin Hart talks about his family, travel and a year full of reckless behavior in front of a live sold-out crowd in London.
Forging his own comedic boundaries, Anthony Jeselnik revels in getting away with saying things others can't in this stand-up special shot in New York.
Kevin Hart serves up laughs and brick oven pizza from the comfort of his home, and dishes on male group chats, sex after 40 and life with COVID-19.
Trevor Noah riffs on national anthems, derailing a German sightseeing tour and getting roasted in Paris in this comedy special about his world travels.
Jerry Seinfeld returns to the club that gave him his start in the 1970s, mixing iconic jokes with stories from his childhood and early days in comedy.
Comedian Kevin Hart performs in front of a crowd of 50,000 people at Philadelphia's outdoor venue, Lincoln Financial Field.
Richard Pryor's stand-up act includes his frank discussion about his freebasing addiction, as well as the infamous night on June 9, 1980 that he caught on fire.
HBO presents one of the most gifted and revered performers of our time, Academy-Award winning Robin Williams, starring in his fifth exclusive HBO special, taped before a live audience at Washington's Constitution Hall.
A look at the work of two stand-up comics, Jerry Seinfeld and a lesser-known newcomer, detailing the effort and frustration behind putting together a successful act and career while living a life on the road.
Bad Grandpa .5 gives you a whole new perspective on the world of Irving Zisman with bonus scenes and pranks also featuring Spike Jonze as "Gloria" and Catherine Keener as Irving's wife "Ellie", plus a look at the evolution of Johnny Knoxville's naughty alter-ego, the makeup effects, and a behind-the-scenes peek at the idiocy it takes to make a hidden camera movie in public.
Patton Oswalt, despite a personal tragedy, produces his best standup yet. Focusing on the tribulations of the Trump era and life after the loss of a loved one, Oswalt continues his journey to contribute joy to the world.
Fresh off the heels of appearing in movies like Superhero Movie and The 40 Year-Old Virgin, fast-talking comedian Kevin Hart stars in his second live stand-up performance in Cleveland, Ohio, where he makes fun of everything and everybody - especially himself.
What does it mean to be a successful comedian? How far can the boundaries of taste be pushed to get a laugh? Four top comics, Ricky Gervais, Louis C.K., Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock, discuss and debate their craft.
An inspiring, triumphant and wickedly funny portrait of one of comedy’s most enigmatic and important figures, CALL ME LUCKY tells the story of Barry Crimmins, a beer-swilling, politically outspoken and whip-smart comic whose efforts in the 70s and 80s fostered the talents of the next generation of standup comedians. But beneath Crimmins’ gruff, hard-drinking, curmudgeonly persona lay an undercurrent of rage stemming from his long-suppressed and horrific abuse as a child – a rage that eventually found its way out of the comedy clubs and television shows and into the political arena.
A behind-the-scenes mockumentary of Tropic Thunder.
One of comedian Richard Pryor's later stand-up performances. As foul-mouthed as ever, Pryor touches on most of the same topics as in his previous live shows. Filmed at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans.
Armed with boyish charm and a sharp wit, the former "SNL" writer offers sly takes on marriage, his beef with babies and the time he met Bill Clinton.
Documentary about the making of American Pie (1999), American Pie 2 (2001) and American Wedding (2003).
Patton Oswalt delivers a fresh hour plus of stand-up, covering everything from misery to defeat to hopelessness. It's his most upbeat special to date.
The deleted scenes and additional stunts and sketches that originally were not presented in the original series.
