Episode 13 | Technical Perfection Isn't the Same as Your Favorite

Yuna: 'If we're judging only how perfectly a sketch is constructed, is there a duo that matches or even surpasses Sandwich Man?'

Kai: 'On the perfection of the material alone, definitely Milk Boy.'

There was no hesitation in his answer.

Kai had been talking about Sandwich Man's 'ability to connect with the audience and outstanding construction.' Now he named Milk Boy.

What Yuna found interesting was Kai's qualifier: 'On the perfection of the material alone.'

They weren't trying to choose a single funniest comedy duo.

The answer depends on the criterion.

Consider Milk Boy's famous 'Cornflakes' routine.

The same basic pattern comes around again and again.

Normally, you'd expect a joke to get less funny once you can see where it's going.

But that sketch does the opposite.

Once the audience learns the pattern, they begin waiting to see how the next turn will unfold.

They hear an explanation and think, 'Ah, yes, that makes sense.'

Then the next explanation turns the whole thing upside down again.

The routine repeats, yet it never feels as though you're back where you started.

What caught Yuna's attention was the construction of that repetition.

The audience starts predicting the next line. Then there's a subtle deviation from that expectation.

And the overall rules of the routine never fall apart.

Surprise and clarity coexist inside the very same structure.

Put it into analytical language and it sounds painfully stiff.

But in the moment, you laugh before you even have time to analyze why.

That's the incredible power of a great act.

Still, Kai had more to say.

For technical perfection, Milk Boy.

But when he named the acts he particularly loved, he also mentioned Tutorial and Black Mayonnaise.

He brought up Masuda Okada as well.

That intrigued Yuna.

Admiring the precision of a perfectly constructed act and feeling affection for an act you want to watch over and over aren't necessarily the same thing.

Those feelings don't always point to the same duo.

Kai wasn't trying to force 'the best-crafted work' and 'the work that captures my heart' into a single ranking.

Perhaps that's because he truly pays attention to comedy.

So how are those different kinds of 'favorite' different from one another?

Tutorial.

Black Mayonnaise.

Masuda Okada.

As soon as those names were on the table, Yuna's habit of analyzing everything sprang into action again.