Tamori Vaudeville Week: A New Door Opened by a Heretic in the Japanese Entertainment Industry in 1977

Tamori Vaudeville Week: A New Door Opened by a Heretic in the Japanese Entertainment Industry in 1977

The "Tamori Vaudeville Week" held in 1977 was an event that attracted attention as a unique experiment in the entertainment industry of the time. Tamori occupied a unique position in the stream of the entertainment industry of that era, and had an underground appeal that was different from that of existing TV personalities. His style was distinct from the "traditional entertainment" that had taken root in the entertainment world of the time, and combining this with the classical elements of vaudeville (popular theater) was in itself a challenge.

The State of the Entertainment Industry in 1977
The Japanese entertainment industry in the late 1970s was at a major turning point: the high economic growth that had continued since the 1960s had already made television the center of the nation's entertainment, and the status of celebrities was changing as variety shows grew rapidly. Broadly speaking, the entertainment industry during this period was at the intersection of "traditional geisha and performance culture" and "new styles of entertainment.

For example, while classic performing arts such as manzai and rakugo remained deeply rooted and popular, a manzai boom was sparked in the mid-1970s, and the next generation of performers such as Beat Takeshi and Shimada Shinsuke began to emerge. On television, the Drifters' "8 o'clock! All Together" continued to provide laughs for the masses, while programs that incorporated humor and satire for a more intellectual audience were also on the rise. In the midst of these changing times, Tamori emerged as a particularly strong presence with his "intellectual and experimental laughter.

Tamori's Heresy and Fusion with Vaudeville
Discovered by Fujio Akatsuka in 1975, Tamori made his television debut in 1976, but at first he was recognized more as an "enigma" who was talked about in the underground culture and jazz circles than as a general celebrity. His artistic style was very different from the TV variety of the time, breaking the boundaries of existing entertainment with improvisational tricks using unintelligible words called "Hanamogera language," bogus interpretation of various languages, and even parodies of music and movies.

The "Tamori Vaudeville Week" held by Tamori was not just a live event, but an experimental venue that attempted to fuse conventional entertainment culture with new forms of laughter. Vaudeville is a form of popular entertainment that developed in the United States at the end of the 19th century and is linked to the theater culture of the early Showa period in Japan. The show format, which interweaves song, dance, skits, magic tricks, and comedy, was one of the foundations of entertainment in prewar Japan. However, with the spread of television in the postwar period, vaudeville-style arts rapidly declined and were replaced by more calculated variety shows.

Tamori sought to reinterpret and present the concept of vaudeville in a new way, shedding light on this classic form of entertainment. His events featured guests such as manga artist Fujio Akatsuka and jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita, and were experimental, incorporating not just comedy and comic dialogue, but also music and theatrical elements.

Between tradition and avant-garde
The "Tamori Vaudeville Week" was not just a comedy show, but an attempt to fuse the nearly forgotten traditions of Japanese entertainment culture with the most cutting-edge underground laughter of the time. This event is thought to have influenced Tamori's later artistic style. He later became a regular guest on "Laugh It Away! and became a central figure in the entertainment industry, but at the time of his debut, he was actively involved in this kind of underground experimentation.

In addition, the year 1977 was a time when television entertainment was rapidly evolving and existing entertainment and new trends were jostling with each other. There were signs of a manzai boom, and in the music world, the new music trend was gaining strength, and the very nature of popular culture itself was changing. Against this backdrop, "Tamori Vaudeville Week" may have served as a kind of testing ground, throwing a wrench into the entertainment culture of the time.

Conclusion
The "Tamori Vaudeville Week" held by Tamori in 1977 was an experimental event that aimed to fuse traditional entertainment with new forms of laughter. On the eve of the comic boom and at a time when television entertainment was evolving, the approach to traditional entertainment by an underground figure such as Tamori was not just a passing project, but an event that symbolized a change in the entertainment culture of the time. Through this event, he may have begun to show his side as a cultural reformer rather than a mere performer.