どうもー and もういいよ: how manzai duos open and close a routine

The set phrases that start and end a manzai routine, what each one literally means, and which ones you can use in everyday life.

Ukeru notes · counts are from the current library (2,334 routines, 215,569 machine-transcribed lines) and update as it grows

Textbook words, stage jobs

Your textbook taught you どうも as a vague "thanks" and もういい as "that's enough". Neither prepares you for what happens on a manzai stage. A duo runs out, says どうもー, and is already into the routine. A few minutes later one of them says もういいよ, the two bow together, and it's over. These bookend phrases are so fixed that Japanese audiences barely notice them. Learners who don't know them can miss that the routine has started, or that it has ended.

The counts below come from machine-made transcripts of the 2,334 routines in our library, so read them as rough guides rather than exact figures.

The opening: どうもー

The classic entrance is a long, bright どうもー！, often followed straight away by the duo's name and a greeting:

• どうもー！〇〇です。よろしくお願いします！ (Hi there! We're 〇〇. Thanks for having us!)

どうも on its own is a shortened greeting, and it means very little. As an intensifier it means "truly, very much", as in どうもありがとう and どうもすみません. On stage, the rest of the phrase is dropped and only the friendly sound remains, something like "Hi, hello, thanks!" all at once.

In our library, 2,099 lines start with どうも, from 235 of the 284 comedians. That count catches both ends of a routine, though. The sample lines are a mix of the opening どうもー！ and the closing どうもありがとうございました, so this number tells you how common どうも is at the edges of a routine. It cannot tell you how often it opens one.

Next comes よろしくお願いします, roughly "please treat us well" or "thanks in advance". It is the same phrase you use when you meet new coworkers. お願いします, with or without よろしく in front, appears on 2,081 lines in our library, but many of those have nothing to do with openings. Characters order coffee and make requests inside sketches, so treat that number as a sign of how useful お願いします is in general.

A stock line you may also hear early on is 名前だけでも覚えて帰ってください, "please at least remember our name on your way home". It is a self-deprecating joke that the audience has heard many times before.

The middle: comebacks

Between the bookends, the boke (the one who says silly things) and the tsukkomi (the one who calls them out) go back and forth. That's where you hear comebacks like なんでやねん, "why the heck…?!". Most of them come in the middle of a routine, not at the edges. The tsukkomi note covers them in detail. The important part for this note is that the ending grows out of them. The final line is usually one last comeback, the one where the tsukkomi gives up.

The closing: もういいよ, もうええわ, いい加減にしろ

When the boke's nonsense has gone as far as it can go, the tsukkomi ends it with one of a few set lines:

• もういいよ — "That's enough." Literally "already + fine": "it's fine now, we're done". The textbook equivalent is もう結構です. See もういい.
• もうええわ — the Kansai version. ええ is Kansai for いい, and わ adds an exasperated, matter-of-fact edge. See the Kansai-ben note.
• いい加減にしろ — "Cut it out!" A blunt command, literally "make it the right amount". See いい加減にしろ.

In our library, lines with もういいよ or もうええわ outnumber lines with いい加減に by about 2 to 1. The first pair appears on 285 lines from 97 comedians, and いい加減に on 125 lines from 47 comedians. Again, these phrases are not only closers. The samples include もういいよ in the middle of an argument, and いい加減に as part of longer complaints like "please stop this". Still, both counts give you a good sense of how often you'll hear them.

Right after that line, often in the same breath, both performers say:

• どうもありがとうございました！ (Thank you very much!)

and bow. Notice the past tense: ありがとうございました, not ありがとうございます. You thank people in the past tense when the thing you're thanking them for is finished, such as a meal, a lesson or a performance. On stage, that た marks the end of the routine. ありがとうございました appears on 1,449 lines, from 248 comedians. Not all of these are closers, since shop clerks in sketches thank customers the same way. But the sample lines suggest the stage ending どうもありがとうございました makes up a large share.

So a full ending often sounds like this:

• もういいよ。どうもありがとうございました！ ("Oh, forget it." / "Thank you very much!")

The joke is that the routine ends because the tsukkomi has had enough, and then both of them turn to the audience as themselves.

Using them yourself

• どうも is a light, friendly greeting or thanks to people you know a little: a neighbor, a shop clerk, a colleague in the hallway. On its own it is too vague to be a full thank-you to someone senior. For that, use the whole どうもありがとうございます. The stretched-out どうもー！ is a stage or party voice.
• よろしくお願いします is safe with anyone, from coworkers to clients. You'll say it constantly. With close friends, the short よろしく or よろしくね sounds more natural.
• ありがとうございました is polite and fine with anyone. Use it when something is finished: leaving a shop, after a class, at the end of a meeting.
• もういいよ is for friends and family only, and be careful even there. In real life it often sounds hurt or cold, like "forget it, never mind". On stage it is a cheerful ending. In a real argument it can feel like a door slamming. Never say it to a boss or a customer.
• もうええわ is the same, with a Kansai flavor. Unless you actually speak Kansai-ben, it's better to recognize it than to use it.
• いい加減にしろ is a rough command. Treat it as a phrase to understand, not one to say. Even the polite いい加減にしてください is a serious complaint, not a polite request.

Try it

• Search the library for どうも, もういいよ and もうええわ. For each line, decide whether it opens a routine, closes one, or comes from the middle.
• Watch the scenes on もういい and いい加減にしろ. Say the closing line and どうもありがとうございました out loud as one unit, with the drop in energy between them.
• Practice the safe pair for real life: よろしくお願いします when something starts, and ありがとうございました when it ends.