is a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

comedic Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

act where two people wear the same large

coat A coat typically is an outer garment for the upper body as worn by either gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a ...

(''

haori The is a traditional Japanese hip- or thigh-length jacket worn over a kimono. Resembling a shortened kimono with no overlapping front panels (), the typically features a thinner collar than that of a kimono, and is sewn with the addition of t ...

'') and pretend to be one (

hunchbacked Kyphosis is an abnormally excessive convex curvature of the spine as it occurs in the thoracic and sacral regions. Abnormal inward concave ''lordotic'' curving of the cervical and lumbar regions of the spine is called lordosis. It can result fr ...

) person. One person is the "face" and the other is the "arms". Humor arises from the arms never being coordinated with the face. This type of

skit Skit may refer to: * * A short segment in a performance, such as: ** Sketch comedy ** Hip hop skit ** Puppet skit ** Promo (professional wrestling) * Skit note, parody of a banknote See also * Skete A skete ( ) is a monastic community ...

is considered a staple of Japanese comedy, traditional and modern, and is commonly used as a part of comedy shows; both live stage performances and ''

Owarai 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 ...

'' (television comedy).

Use in the media

* In

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

'' I"s'', Ichitaka and Iori are made to perform a ''nininbaori'' act. * The basic concept of ''nininboari''-type humour is seen in the comedy of many cultures. The

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

comedy show ''

Whose Line Is It Anyway? ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' is a short-form improvisational comedy show originating as a British radio programme, before moving to British television in 1988. Following the conclusion of the British run in 1999, ABC began airing an American ...

'' has a similar act called "Helping Hands".

External links

AnimEigo's liner notes on nininbaori
{{Owarai-stub Japanese entertainment terms Japanese comedy