Atsushi Tamura
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. You can assist by editing it now. A how-to guide is available, as is general documentation. This article has been tagged since February 2007. |
Atsushi Tamura (田村淳?) is a famous Japanese comedian who is from Hiko Island near Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. He and his partner Ryou Tamura (田村亮?) form the Japanese comedic duo (お笑いコンビ owarai kombi?) known as "London Boots, mark1 and mark2" (ロンドンブーツ1号2号?). Though the two share the same surname there is no family relation. The pair started their career performing comedy on the streets of Tokyo.
The London Boots act is typical of Japanese comedy duos in the sense that one person in the duo criticizes and abuses his partner who in turn plays the part of a stooge. While Atsushi was once on the receiving end of the duo's jokes, he has since taken the dominant role and will not hesitate to subject Ryou to severe acts of embarassment.
As London Boots, Atsushi and Ryo also serve as the hosts of many shows and specials on Japanese television. These programs often derive humor from tricking and humilliating other people, often in very cruel and calculated ways. An example of this could be seen on a former segment known as "Stinger". This segment begins with a man who comes forth with doubts over his girlfriend's faithfullness. In an attempt to settle these doubts, a hired actor known as the stinger is brought to the program. The stinger's objective was always the same. He must introduce himself to the unsuspecting girlfriend in public and quickly try to seduce her in to accompanying him to a hotel room. Secret cameras and microphones follow the progress of the stinger to see if he is successful. If this is the case, the woman will step in to a hotel room and unexpectedly find herself standing in front of her boyfriend, London Boots and a camera crew. Atsushi will use this and other similar opportunities to instigate shame and callously assign blame. Not even Japanese television personalities and other celebrities are exempt from Atsushi's trickery. Another example of Atsushi's style of humor is when he filmed and exposed his partner Ryo going to a Japanese style brothel.
Before he was famous, Atsushi attended an Industrial high school in his hometown of Shimonoseki. He was suspended twice during that time, once for smoking and once for cheating on a test. Atushi was also a member of a band before becoming interested in comedy. For his first comic act Atsushi teamed up with a classmate from school. They called themselves Umaseki Fugutarou and Fugunosuke, a name they derived from Shimonoseki, and fugu or pufferfish a dish famous in the region. Atsushi eventually teamed up with Ryou Tamura after relocating to Tokyo. They chose to go by “London Boots” initially because it was the name of a fictional comedy team who themselves took it after some high-heeled shoes. While “London Boots” does not have any particular meaning in English, in Japanese it refers to the knee length platform shoes worn by some Japanese girls. Recently Atsushi has gained a role as an actor in a large NHK historical drama. Atsushi who loves Japanese castles and the Japanese age of provincial wars, also collects Japanese swords. He once wanted to become a voice actor, but audition judges often pointed out that he has a hard time changing his voice. However, he finally became a voice actor (seiyuu) of Hiruma Youichi (Eyeshield 21), who like Atsushi often tricks people, and has as a "servant" like Ryo. He is currently the host his own show "London Hearts", along with his partner Ryo.
