漫 才(まんざい)

まんざい

noun

manzai

1. manzai, stand-up comedy duo

A traditional form of Japanese comedy featuring two performers: a straight man (tsukkomi) and a funny man (boke) in rapid-fire dialogue.

漫才(まんざい)を見(み)て笑(わら)った。

I laughed watching manzai.

漫才(まんざい)コンビを組(く)んでいる。

I'm part of a manzai duo.

大阪(おおさか)は漫才(まんざい)で有名(ゆうめい)だ。

Osaka is famous for manzai.

ボケと突(つ)っ込(こ)みの掛(か)け合(あ)いが漫才(まんざい)の面白(おもしろ)さだ。

The back-and-forth between the funny man and straight man is what makes manzai entertaining.

友達(ともだち)と二人(ふたり)で漫才(まんざい)をやってみたら、思(おも)った以上(いじょう)に難(むずか)しかった。

When I tried doing manzai with a friend, it was harder than I expected.

Compound: 漫(まん) (random, comic) + 才(さい) (talent)

Key roles

ボケ (funny man) - delivers absurd/silly lines
突(つ)っ込(こ)み (straight man) - corrects and reacts to boke

Common collocations

漫才(まんざい)をする/やる (to do manzai)
漫才(まんざい)コンビ (manzai duo)
漫才(まんざい)師(し) (manzai performer)
M-1グランプリ (M-1 Grand Prix - famous manzai competition)

Similar words

漫才(まんざい) - duo comedy, dialogue-based
落語(らくご) - solo comedic storytelling
コント - sketch comedy
一人(ひとり)ボケ突(つ)っ込(こ)み (solo routine playing both roles)

Osaka connection

Manzai is strongly associated with Osaka and the Kansai region. Major talent agencies like 吉本興業(よしもとこうぎょう) are based there.

Related Words

Related: 落語(らくご) (rakugo)

Compare: コント (sketch comedy)

Compare: 漫談(まんだん) (comic talk)

core

Added 2026.1.14 23:59 · Revised 2026.9.4 21:29

04000/04458_manzai