Goooood Comedy

There is a terrible comedian on Japanese tv who I can’t stand. Her name is Edo Harumi and her shtick is to do a little song and dance routine to ‘My Sharona’ while shouting, “good good gooooood!” which sounds more like “goooo!” Read the Japanese TV Part I and II posts for more about horrible one-dimensional comedy acts. This woman’s (mercifully waning) popularity has left a lasting impression upon my students, like Kojima Yoshino’s lawn mower dance but much more annoying and frequently used.

This is a video of her doing her routine. She comes on at about :45.



When I teach kids English I use a lot of body language when I talk. When a student gives a right answer I generally give a thumbs up and say, “good job!” NOW because of Miss Edo whenever I say “good” I am received with mocking laugher and kids screaming “goooo!” back in my face. In English, especially teaching English, I say ‘good’ a lot, good morning, good afternoon, good job and so forth. I might not even mind the students ridiculing me with “goooo” if it was in any way funny, but it’s not. It’s horribly insane and stupid.

Riding the train to Tokyo a few weeks ago and I saw Edo Harumi in an ad for a new soft drink. She was giving her characteristic thumbs up and hideous ‘O’ face while a word bubble above her head claims that the new drink tastes “GOOOOOD!” Since the train was crammed I had to stare at her creepy plastic face for 50 minutes. In fact I’ve seen her in quite a few ads proclaiming with a double-fisted thumbs up that the product is very GOOOOOD.

Not all Japanese comedy is bad, in fact sometimes it’s hilarious. Such is the case for the comedy troupe Downtown. When I hear somebody say, “nande yanen” (what the hell!?) to the boke (idiot) character it’s so livid and malicious that it cracks me up every time. London Boots is funny too, the way they expose and completely humiliate cheaters is hilarious, but Downtown is the best.

Here is a short skit by Downtown totally ripping on English teachers in Japan. Awesome.