I want to adapt these for the school festival! A roundup of comedians’ manzai, sketch comedy, and one-liner gags
Many students are probably thinking about putting on a comedy show as an attraction for their school cultural festival.
It sounds fun to perform a one-liner, do a manzai routine or a sketch, and make everyone laugh by showing your material on stage! But the tricky part is deciding what kind of material to perform.
It would be great if you could create your own original material, but that’s not so easy.
That’s why we recommend imitating or arranging popular comedians’ routines and performing those! In this article, we’ll introduce recommended bits from popular comedians—whether manzai, sketches, or one-liners—without limiting the format.
- Cultural Festival: Ranking of Popular Booth Ideas
- [Hilarious] One-Liner Gags That Kill at Parties and Events
- One-liner gags that will have your school in stitches: a collection of bits to make you the class favorite.
- Popular comedy and manzai bits that elementary school kids will love. Simple one-liner gags.
- [Comedy] Summary of Recently Popular Bits and Gags
- Recommended plays for a high school cultural festival: popular, crowd-pleasing ideas
- [Comedy Skit] A Roundup of One-Liner Gags Recommended for High School Students!
- [Simple Impressions] Fun Classic Bits Even Beginners Can Do [2026]
- [Hilarious] Rhythm Gags That Kill at Parties and Performances
- Classic plays performed by elementary school students: recommended works roundup
- [Definitive Guide] Guaranteed Crowd-Pleasers! Party Acts and Gags Everyone Will Enjoy
- A show-stopping party trick that energizes the crowd at a school cultural festival
- Ideas for stage events and attractions that will liven up a school festival
Want to adapt these for the school festival! A roundup of comedians’ manzai, sketches, and one-shot gags (31–40)
Nakagawa family
A manzai routine in the Nakagawake impersonation style that recreates a middle-aged Kansai man you could totally run into in everyday life.
It has that irresistible charm where anyone watching goes, “I know a guy like that!” The lines feel like things you’d really overhear on a train or in town, and the way the brothers handle timing is a highlight—spot-on observational detail balanced with sharp tsukkomi is the key.
If you’re doing it at a school festival, mix in local ‘that’s so true’ material or mimic the way a classmate talks like an old dude to get the crowd going.
The distinctive intonation and movements are easy to copy, and the more the performers get creative, the wider the possibilities become—that’s the beauty of this bit.
Built around classic ‘relatable’ humor, it’s a structure you can rely on to land laughs steadily on stage.
koi (nishikigoi)
This is a NISHIKIGOI sketch with an impressive structure: what looks like a serious moment—a formal greeting for a marriage—gradually unfolds into an exchange that makes you laugh in spite of yourself.
Although the characters are supposed to ask politely over and over, a string of slightly off-kilter remarks keeps coming, and the laughs vary greatly depending on the performers’ facial expressions and tone of voice.
For a school festival, you can swap roles or change the setting to teachers and students to create an arrangement only you can pull off.
Because the structure alternates between tension and release, the key to success is to keep delivering the silly lines with a straight face.
The more the distinctive back-and-forth is repeated, the more the audience is gently enveloped in laughter.
It’s a piece packed with the fun of exploiting a comedy template—and then breaking it.
plover
This is a Chidori sketch where the catchphrase “Kuse ga tsuyoi!” (“What a strong quirk!” / “That’s so extra!”) becomes the comedic anchor as the characters’ actions and lines veer further and further off course.
It picks up everyday scenes, but the characters and setups are exaggerated, so normal interactions spiral into absurdity—and that escalation becomes the hook.
If you’re performing it at a school festival, you can hype it up by amplifying your classmates’ traits and turning them into gloriously quirky characters to get real crowd energy.
The key is the rhythm between the boke and tsukkomi, so just being mindful of timing and pauses can change the quality of the laughs.
The material is easy to adapt, which makes it appealing—you can craft a truly original rendition of your own.
It’s a unique piece that really pops on stage.
ZAZY
ZAZY is a comedy talent extremely familiar to people in Kansai.
It’s pronounced “Zajee.” His signature material is like a ‘step into the future,’ mixing flip-board comedy with rhythmic routines.
Lately he’s been evolving even further, turning the flip-board into a computer screen and more.
The finals of the 2021 R-1 Grand Prix were a huge hit! It’s especially recommended for people good at tongue twisters, so give it a try.
If you can rattle off a barrage of nonsensical gags in time with the unique rhythms of “kon-ko-kon…” and “ton-to-ton…” while showing funny illustrations—without tripping over your words—you’ll already feel like ZAZY.
Add pink hot pants and big wings on your back, and you’re all set!
Comedian Shinchii for seeing people off
Shinichi, the send-off comedian who won the R-1 Grand Prix 2022, is known for his guitar-based musical bits.
Like “Things I Like,” which he performed in the R-1 Grand Prix finals, his appeal lies in sharp, biting lyrics set to beautiful melodies.
By skillfully weaving in ironies that everyone has felt at least a little, he provokes laughter accompanied by a small sense of guilt.
When performing in front of a large crowd, some people might feel they’re being personally criticized, so be prepared for that risk and deliver your poison with full force.
It may be important to balance the wording—don’t overpack the irony with venom; keep it just enough to be funny.
I want to adapt these for the school festival! A roundup of comedians’ manzai, skits, and one-liner gags (41–50)
Westland
A fun “Aru-nashi Quiz” turns into a sharp-tongued manzai routine! The 2022 M-1 Grand Prix champions, Westland, are at their best when they do bits based on the “Aru-nashi Quiz.” When asked, “What do idols have that actors don’t?” the straight man, Iguchi, snaps back, “Ambition—actors don’t have a shred of ambition!!” It’s exhilarating how Iguchi nails those common feelings we all have but can’t easily say out loud, firing them off in punchy, short lines.
It makes you want to hear even more of their edgy material.
Their bit “There’s no dream in R-1” even trended on Twitter!
Mama Tart
Mamatart, who also made it to the semifinals of the M-1 Grand Prix 2022, is known for the instantly funny presence of Ototsuru Himan, the boke, whose distinctive appearance is a highlight.
Their strength lies in weaving gags that make use of Himan’s look into a classic manzai structure.
They transform the trait of obesity—which could carry negative connotations—into positive, relatable humor.
By turning his own appearance into laughs to the fullest, they’re a duo that can give courage to people with insecurities.
It’s material that people who are overweight can easily relate to, and it would also be interesting to adapt the bits to other kinds of appearances.