Behind the Counter: Japanese Comedy About Customer Service

Why the service counter works so well as a comedy stage

Anyone who has worked a register knows the job comes with a script: greet the customer, take the order, ring it up, thank them. In Japan that script tends to be especially polite and especially fixed, with set phrases that clerks are expected to use whatever is happening on the other side of the counter.

That makes the counter an ideal setup for comedy. One person is bound by the rules of the job and the other isn't, so the scene has built-in tension before anyone says anything funny. The pieces below include manzai (duo comedy, which often slips into acted-out scenes, with the two performers taking on roles mid-routine), konto (scripted sketch comedy), and pin (solo performance). Every one of them takes place at a counter.

Convenience Store — Galoin (Manzai)

Galoin's routine turns into a small play: one member becomes a convenience-store clerk and the other becomes a customer. The clerk is ready for an ordinary transaction.

Keep your eyes on the clerk's side of the counter. Much of the fun lies in watching someone whose job is to stay helpful keep trying to do exactly that.

Trip Planning — Ohayo Wayama (Solo)

A travel agent sits across from a customer who is planning a first trip abroad and suggests a package to Guam.

Since this is a solo piece, the customer is never seen or heard, and you only get the agent's half of the conversation. Notice how much of the unseen person you start to picture from one side of the exchange, and follow the agent's sales pitch as it builds.

Canned Coffee — Galoin (Manzai)

A customer comes into a convenience store to buy a can of coffee, and the other member of the duo plays the clerk at the register. In Japan, canned coffee is an everyday item sold at convenience stores and vending machines, so this is about as routine a purchase as it gets.

In manzai terms, the customer is the boke (the one who pulls things off course) and the clerk is the tsukkomi (the one who reacts and tries to set things straight). Hold on to that single can of coffee as the thread running through the whole routine.

The Video Rental Clerk — Galoin (Manzai)

A clerk is working the counter at a GEO video rental shop when a customer comes up with a request that has nothing to do with renting a movie. GEO is a Japanese chain that rents videos and sells secondhand goods, the kind of familiar neighborhood shop where you'd go to borrow a DVD.

Watch the clerk, who has to answer each new turn while the whole exchange stays at the rental counter. Listen, too, for the bits that the routine returns to again and again.

Where to go next

If a piece pulled you in, the performers' profiles for Galoin, Coffee Rumba, and Ohayo Wayama are a good next stop. For more background on the settings, look for guides to Japanese convenience stores and everyday shops, which will make the next round of counter comedy even more familiar.

Watch this one Your First Trip Abroad A first trip abroad brings out a travel agent's wildly excessive enthusiasm. 3:45 A Can of Coffee The customer wants a can of coffee but keeps dragging the clerk into unrelated problems. 4:30 Trouble at the Checkout A customer jumps from topic to topic while the person playing the clerk tries to keep up. 3:51 Can the Video Store Help? A video-store clerk tries to keep up with a customer whose story won't stay put. 3:40

We use AI as part of how we create our articles.

Subtitles on this video: AI translation from the Japanese.