Japanese has several words for “I”. 私 is neutral and polite, 僕 is soft and male, 俺 is casual and male. It is all over male comedians’ routines, and switching between 僕 and 俺 is a quick way to change character.
Casual men’s speech. At work, 僕 or 私.
A comedian is telling a strange story about the end of a movie they saw at a theater.
“The End.” So with that, I opened the theater door, and—
Textbook終わりでした。それで、私が劇場の扉を開けたら…Neutral 「私が」 becomes casual, male 「俺」; casual speech also drops particles: 「俺シアターの扉開けたら」 has no 「が」 or 「を」.
The comedian imagines being reimagined as a beautiful girl, with busty and flat-chested versions made as trends swing back and forth.
Culture note Japanese games and anime often reimagine famous men from history as cute girl characters.
riding it is me, and I become the perfect beautiful girl!
Textbook私だけがこのメビウスの輪に乗って、完璧な美少女になるのです。Polite "私" becomes "俺", the casual, masculine "I". The stage line also uses "乗っかった", from colloquial "乗っかる" (= "乗る", to get on).
The duo begin playing high school girls and introduce their characters' nicknames.
I'm tall, so I'm "Big."
Textbook私は背が高いので、「ビッグ」と呼ばれています。「俺」 is a casual, masculine 'I'; the neutral textbook word is 「私」. The sentence also ends on the bare noun 「ビッグ」 with no 「です」.
The performers are playing human batteries that are now connected "in series," one behind the other.
Okay, then I'll go in front next.
Textbookでは、次は私が前に行きます。Casual male "俺" replaces polite "私"; the plain "行く" replaces "行きます" to match the casual tone.
One performer melodramatically laments that Tokyo is a cold city, as if writing a letter home to Mom.
Culture note 拝啓 (haikei) is the formal opening of a Japanese letter. Writing home to Mom about struggling in Tokyo is a classic image of a young person who moved from the countryside to the big city.
This is what my days off are like, though.
Textbook私の休みの日はこのような感じなのですが。Polite 「私の」 becomes casual male 「俺の」. 「こんなん」 is casual for 「こんなもの」, and the topic particle 「は」 is dropped.
One person asks another to recommend a movie.
Coming to me like that,
Textbook私にそのようにして聞いてくるのは、何回目ですか。Neutral 「私」 becomes casual, male 「俺」: 「俺に」 'to me', paired with casual 「そうやって」 instead of 「そのようにして」.
From other routines in the library. Automatic transcripts, not yet checked line by line.
俺 means “I, me” (casual, male). Japanese has several words for “I”. 私 is neutral and polite, 僕 is soft and male, 俺 is casual and male. It is all over male comedians’ routines, and switching between 僕 and 俺 is a quick way to change character.
With friends: OK. With coworkers: careful. With a boss or teacher: avoid. Casual men’s speech. At work, 僕 or 私.
In 1,905 live comedy routines, 俺 appears in 5,582 lines from 238 comedians.