London Boots Ichi-gō Ni-gō (ロンドンブーツ1号2号, meaning "London Boots #1 #2") are a

Japanese comedy is a broad word used to describe Japanese comedy as seen on television. The word ''owarai'' is the honorific form of the word ''warai'' (by adding o- prefix), meaning "a laugh" or "a smile". ''Owarai'' is most common on Japanese variety shows ...

duo ( kombi) that originally performed

manzai is a traditional style of comedy in Japanese culture comparable to double act comedy or stand-up comedy. usually involves two performers ()—a straight man () and a double act, funny man ()—trading jokes at great speed. Most of the jokes ...

-style stand-up, but now are mainly known for their TV appearances and as hosts of a handful of off-the-wall

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...

s. The two members are

Atsushi Tamura is a famous Japanese comedian from the Hikoshima area of Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. He and his partner, , form the known as . Though the two share the same surname, there is no family relation. The pair started their career by ...

(田村淳) and

Ryō Tamura is a Japanese actor from Kyoto. His father was silent-film star Tsumasaburo Bando. With his elder brothers, the late Takahiro and Masakazu, he is one of the Three Tamura Brothers. Ryō graduated from Seijo University and made his cinema debu ...

(田村亮), and though they have the same

surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...

, there is no relation and they in fact come from very different backgrounds. Atsushi is from the

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). Y ...

, and speaks with the standard accent of someone from

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. Ryō, on the other hand, is from

Takatsuki, Osaka is a city in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is located in northern Osaka's Hokusetsu region. As of 2020, the city had an estimated population of 347,944 and a population density of 3,300 persons per km². The total area is 105.31 km². The c ...

and speaks in a sometimes faltering

Osaka dialect The is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, is the common name and it is called in technical terms. The dialects of Kyoto and Osaka are known as , and were particularly referred to as suc ...

Members

* Atsushi Tamura (田村淳) Born December 4, 1973 in

Hikoshima (also called in Nihon Shoki) is an island on the south-west tip of Honshu, Japan. Geography The island is irregularly shaped and hilly. The strait, as narrow as , separates the island form the main island of Honshu. The parts of sprawling city ...

Shimonoseki is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. With a population of 265,684, it is the largest city in Yamaguchi Prefecture and the fifth-largest city in the Chūgoku region. It is located at the southwestern tip of Honshu facing the Tsushim ...

, Yamaguchi. Plays the '' boke''. The #2 of London Boots #1 #2, he is known for his style of talking out of context and leading others off-topic to create comedic effects. Atsushi appears more often as the talkative one of the duo, and acts as the MC for numerous television programs. * Ryō Tamura (田村亮) Born January 8, 1972 in

. Plays the ''

tsukkomi The following glossary of words and terms (generally of Japanese origin) are related to ''owarai'' (Japanese comedy). Many of these terms may be used in areas of Japanese culture beyond comedy, including television and radio, music. Some have be ...

''. The #1 of London Boots #1 #2, He is known for his docile personality and style of ''

''.

History

The two met through independent comedy groups in Tokyo, and eventually coupled and began performing on the highly populated streets of

Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...

. They auditioned to enter

Yoshimoto Kogyo is a major Japanese entertainment conglomerate. It was founded in 1912, Osaka, as a traditional theatre, and has since grown to be one of the most influential companies in Japan, employing most of Japan's popular owarai (comedy) talent, produci ...

in 1994 at the same time as

Penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

and DonDokoDon and were accepted by the company. After appearing on U-tchan Nan-chan's "UN Factory Kabosuke", they quickly found fame as they were recognized as two very talented ''manzai-shi'' (stand-up comedians). Though Ryō was most passionate about creating new ''manzai'' neta and arranging manzai acts, the much louder Atsushi began to see the potential of TV and his own ability to adapt to it. By the late 1990s, London Boots, or ''Lonboo'' (ロンブー, ''ronbū'') as they are often called in Japan, had already landed a spot as the hosts of their own show.

Style

Ryo and Atsushi take very different approaches to their humor; while Atsushi will often wield his quick-witted comedic sense at his guests' expense, Ryō appears much more polite, attempting (often unsuccessfully) to correct Atsushi's behavior. (Atsushi has revealed Ryō's sexual trysts at various fuuzoku locations on the air, though Ryō is married and has children.) Ryō tends to speak with a mixed Osaka and Tokyo dialect (for example: それ、あかんだろ (''sore, akan daro''), mixing ''akan'', common in the

Kansai dialect The is a group of Japanese dialects in the Kansai region (Kinki region) of Japan. In Japanese, is the common name and it is called in technical terms. The dialects of Kyoto and Osaka are known as , and were particularly referred to as suc ...

, with ''daro'', most common in

standard Japanese is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ma ...

), which only serves to accentuate his efforts at being polite. The irony of this situation is that Atsushi is supposed to be the boke and Ryō the

, which suggests a reversal of their comedic roles.

External links

Lonboo official homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:London Boots Ichi-go Ni-go Performing groups established in 1993 Japanese comedy duos Japanese comedy musical groups