Chapter 27: Shimada Tsukasa

  Zhou Xiao was shocked, and Uncle Jie suddenly came up with this, leaving him no time to react. Moreover, would doing something like this be effective? In Zhou Xiao's opinion, simply shouting here would be useless. If possible, it would be better to go find the people who watched the performance at the small theater that day to come and testify.

  For a moment, Zhou Xiao couldn't explain anything to the staff, and on the other hand, he was worried about Uncle Jing's safety. In this situation, Zhou Xiao could only make one choice, shouting "Misunderstanding, it's a misunderstanding!" while rushing forward and hugging everyone together.

  More than a dozen people were crowded together in front of the stage, and Zhou Xiao and Inoue were at an absolute disadvantage with only two people. In just a few moves, both of them were pressed to the ground. Zhou Xiao was helpless, but he was still relatively calm. Although he rushed up without any hesitation, he couldn't help but complain in his heart: "What's going on here? This is completely over, Uncle Inoue, you're really not worth it, do you know that?"

  When the last two people were pressed down, Zhou Xiao looked at Jing Shang, and Jing Shang also looked at Zhou Xiao. Then, Uncle Jing suddenly opened his mouth and said the most important sentence of the day: "I have video evidence!"

  Video? The video he plagiarized? After hearing Uncle Inoue say this, everyone stopped in their tracks, and many people had the same thought: "Damn it, why didn't you speak up sooner if you had evidence?"

  Just now, the main reason for everyone's obstruction is that this is a stranger's unprovoked slander against the performers. In such cases, anyone would come up to obstruct. But if there is real evidence, then the situation would be different.

  Unlike song lyrics, comedians' material is basically not protected by law, but it's precisely because of this that Japanese comedians especially protect their own material. Although there are cases of so-called "plagiarism", these are basically all done with the original author's consent, and involve reworking or using the material in a different way for comedic effect. However, Sakaguchi's behavior is absolutely not like this - his entire routine doesn't mention who created it, and from start to finish he presents himself as if he were the author of the material. If he is proven to have plagiarized, there will be no room for him to argue back.

  "Where is the video you're talking about?" At the time of the conflict, Ishibashi Takamasa was standing on the stage and didn't intervene, he was the biggest arm among all the people present, there was no need to get involved in this, but when he heard that Inoue had a video, he couldn't look down anymore.

  "It's in my backpack!" At this time, Inoue was still being held by several people and couldn't move at all, so he could only shout like that.

  "Let him down." said Ishibashi Takamasa.

  "What's going on? I just heard a commotion from backstage. Has something happened?" Just as Jingteng and Zhou Xiao were finally put in place, Jingteng pulled out his own bag to find the video when a voice suddenly came from behind the backdrop.

  Almost everyone who heard this voice felt a sudden tightening in their chest.

  It had only been a few days since Zhou Xiao came over, and he naturally couldn't tell who the person was with the rhythmic tone that wasn't too fast or too slow, but probably, he was the only one in the whole room who didn't know.

  As Zhou Xiao raised her head, she saw a figure turning around from behind the backdrop.

  Takahashi Kōhei may have a horse face, but strictly speaking, he's still quite handsome in his 40s; otherwise, it would be hard for him to win the heart of Suzuki Bonami. As for this newcomer, strictly speaking, he also has regular features, but from his face, probably no one will first think of the word "handsome".

  Looking at that face full of scars, dignified and intimidating without being angry, the face that can play a big shot in a gangster movie without any makeup, everyone's heart is trembling with fear.

  "Ah... Ah, Assistant Sango!" In the entire broadcasting hall, originally Ishibashi Takafumi was the biggest star, and after him was the director of the live broadcast. However, these two people, upon seeing this person, didn't hesitate at all and walked over to greet him!

  That's right, this person is Shimizu Shigehisa!

  Okay, it's time for some Japanese comedian trivia again.

  The earlier artists, even I am not clear about them, so let's start from Big 3.

  Japan's comedy entertainment circle has had the term "Big 3" for a long time, and the first Big 3 familiar to modern audiences were Kitano Takeshi, Tamori and Katsura Sanshiro.

  Kitano Takeshi is known even in China, where many people are almost completely unfamiliar with the Japanese entertainment industry. He can be said to be the originator of violent aesthetics in film, but actually, comedy is his true profession. As for movies? To put it disrespectfully, that's just something he does on a whim.

  Tamori, who has been in the Japanese entertainment industry for many years, is now just a smiling and kind sunglasses uncle. His afternoon show "Waratte Iitomo" is also harmless, and he's also famous for his music program "Music Station". Don't think he's not funny, he just doesn't show off his skills much anymore.

  As for Hibari Misora, the vast majority of Chinese people's memories of "Super Change" that year were hosted by him, and he hosted it for many, many years...

  Among these three, Ogata Kinnosuke fell into a slump for some time, and when he reappeared, although still powerful, his age had caught up with him and he could no longer compete with the younger generation. This young man was Akebono Taro, who replaced Ogata as one of the new top three sumo wrestlers.

  If we take these three as a sign, Tsutomu Hirano is almost the comedian of the previous generation. After that, Takeshi Kitano's debut was the earliest, and around the same time, Shofukutei Tsurube and Ken Shimura also debuted. These two are also big stars, but their names don't sound as loud as Big 3.

  And the next generation after them is Tamori and Akashiya Sanma's generation, of course, Tamori is older because he debuted later, at nearly 30 years old. And debuting at the same time as these two people is Katsura Utamaro and this person, Shimada Shinsuke!

  It can be said that Shimada Yoshio is completely on par with the Big 3, while Ishibashi Takashi, although his duo Tonneruzu has a big name and strength, still can only be considered as a junior in front of Shimada Yoshio.

  Of course, there is another very important reason why he can be so respected by people.

  Shimada Shinsuke, with a menacing scowl on his face, is not a gentle celebrity like Ishibashi Takafumi. He's a Kansai-born comedian with countless underlings and ties to the Kansai underworld.

  It can be said that in Japan's entertainment industry, if Shinsuke Shimada says he is not a yakuza, then no one is a yakuza!

  Unlike Akido Koyama, who is almost single-mindedly focused on his career, Shinsuke Shimada has excelled not only in the comedy industry but also in human relations. Over the years, he has brought up numerous comedians and entertainers, transforming himself from an ordinary performer into a force to be reckoned with. Anyone who wants to mess with him can be said to be colliding with a whole faction!

  In this case, Ishibashi Takafumi naturally didn't need to go up and explain anything, so the director had to go up and explain instead. In fact, in the entertainment industry, although stars shine brightly on stage, many times they have to listen to people behind the scenes. If the director of this show was from the same generation as Ishibashi Takafumi, it's likely that Ishibashi would be the one explaining things. However, the director of this show is almost 40 years old but has been in the industry for a shorter time and lacks experience, so he had to go up and explain instead.

  While the director was whispering explanations to Shimizu, Zhou Xiao also heard the whispers of other ordinary staff members: "Shimizu-san has arrived. If it's true, at least Sakaguchi will be safe?"

  Zhou Xiao's heart tightened as soon as he heard this, because the meaning of this sentence was very clear. Sakaguchi, it seemed, had indeed boarded the island of Tadashi Suda, and was able to perform a warm-up performance before today's show began. And Tadashi Suda came to watch the performance, probably not to see Ishibashi Takafumi and others, but Sakaguchi!