Someta Hayashiya is a Japanese comedian. Worried about his English, he tests it on the audience, throwing out words, phrases and simple jokes to see if we get it. Mostly, we do. Big applause. Next he tests our willingness to participate by making us mimic his sounds, words or gestures. Mostly we do. Big applause. Gaining confidence and taking his audience with him, Hayashiya then begins to explain Rakugo to us.
Rakugo was first performed in Japan over 400 years ago. Literally translated as 'fallen words' it describes a comic form of Japanese storytelling, which involves a particular setup and basic props; the solo storyteller must be sitting down (as opposed to stand-up comedy), the tale must involve dialogue between two people and only a fan and small face cloth can be used as props. Do we get it? Mostly we do. Big applause.
Hayashiya teaches us Rakugo slowly, building up the dialogues and checking we understand, adding facial expressions, using hand gestures and showing us how the tools can be made into different items, until he feels we can handle a complete tale. He then tells us two; the Zoo and the Magic Tea Leaves. Both are lightly humorous, though possibly you have heard the jokes before. Much funnier are Hayashiya's facial expressions as he contorts his visage and pronounces with his flailing arms.
Hayashiya also entertains us on the shamisen - a Japanese guitar which resembles a lyre. It's played with something that looks like a wallpaper scraper, rather than a plectrum. What sounded like a bit of country and western was quite melodic, with a woody overtone. Finally, the multi-talented Hayashina entertains us with some Japanese blind throwing, using something that looks like a bamboo table mat. A good one to remember for parties.
Unfortunately, it is quite easy to tune out of the Japanese-English and miss the crux of the jokes, but as long as you pay attention, it all translates. The nuances probably don't and what appears quite light and amusing here, is probably hysterical in Japan. Although the audience joined in and laughed diminutively throughout, there's not quite enough to entertain for an hour and thus, the show ends under-time, in 50 minutes. Wee applause.
