, better known by his stage name , is a Japanese comedian. He has enjoyed success since 2012 with a comedy routine that frequently uses a catch line in which he describes his own antics as "wild".

Early life

Sugimura was born on 24 August 1973 in

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefectur ...

, Japan. His parents operated a weaving equipment factory and performed an amateur magician show titled "Magical Takeshi and China Yuriko". He attended the Aichi Prefectural Bisai High School and was a member of the school's baseball club.

Professional career

Early career

Sugiyama commenced his career in entertainment in 1995 after graduating from the Nagoya branch of the

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 ...

talent school in 1994. He joined the Yoshimoto Creative Agency and was briefly in a

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 ...

duo named "Frankfurt" with a fellow Yoshimoto member. In April 1995, he formed the duo "Reiketsu Sunday" with Noriyuki Sawahara. In 1998, they moved to Tokyo and joined the

Asai Kikaku is a Japanese talent agency and entertainment production company headquartered in Higashigotanda, Shinagawa, Tokyo. It was found in 1968 by Ryoji Asai, who at the time was a manager working under Nakagawa Production, a talent agency for actors. ...

agency. Around the same time they changed the name of their act to "Mekadog" (lit. "Mechanical Dog").

As a solo performer

In January 2008, Sugiyama left Asai Kikaku, and in April, Mekadog disbanded. At this time Sugiyama started performing as a solo act. In April 2011, he joined the Sun Music management agency.

2012 break

Upon the advice of a fortune teller, Sugiyama adopted the stage name Sugi-chan in November 2011. In March 2012, he was runner-up in the annual "R-1 Grand Prix" for solo comedians, finishing behind Kenji Tada of

Cowcow Cowcow is a Japanese comedy duo managed by the entertainment conglomerate Yoshimoto Kogyo who perform manzai comedy. The members, , the ''tsukkomi'' of the group, and , the '' boke'', are both from Osaka Prefecture. They have been guests on quite ...

. His "Wild darō?" (lit. "I'm wild, right?") catchphrase brought him national attention and an increase in his workload. In September 2012, he fractured the T-12 vertebra in his spine when diving from a 10 m high platform while filming a variety show for

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

. In December 2012, his catchphrase "Wild darō?" was chosen as the "New/Vogue Word of the Year" by the U-Can correspondence education group.

Filmography

Television

* ''

Great Teacher Onizuka ''Great Teacher Onizuka'', officially abbreviated as ''GTO'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tooru Fujisawa. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from January 1997 to February 2 ...

'' (2012 version), Hajime Fukuroda * ''Yomedaikō Hajimemashita'' (2013), opening narration * ''Otenki Onēsan'' (The Weather Girl Knows) (2013), as himself

References

External links

* *
Sun Music profile

Asai Kikaku profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sugi-chan 1973 births Living people Japanese comedians People from Aichi Prefecture