Manzai , a comic form of storytelling told by a duo, is performed all over Japan, though it is strongly associated with the Kansai region, and Osaka in particular. Frequently vulgar, manzai nonetheless has a broad appeal, especially amongst a younger audience. Typically, the duo consists of a "boke" (idiot/dimwit) and "tsukkomi" (clever guy/bully) - not far removed from Laurel and Hardy - with the boke winding the tsukkomi up until the latter explodes in anger and/or frustration.

Kansai manzai duos have dominated TV comedy shows since the early 1980s: the duo known as Downtown (Matsumoto Hitoshi and Hamada Masatoshi) are two of the most famous entertainers in Japan, and certainly the most famous Japanese comedy duo of the 1990s. Downtown, who got their initial break through the enormous Osaka-based Yoshimoto Kogyo comedy "production company", are more than just comedians - when not making the nation roar with laughter they are busy releasing pop records, writing bestselling books and appearing on TV fronting serious shows. Matsumoto and Hamada were the nation's highest-paid light entertainers for much of the 1990s, and in 1996 had the dubious pleasure of paying the taxman some ¥500 million between them. Though they have now been overtaken by the equally long-running comedy duo Tunnels as the highest-paid entertainers in the land, Downtown remain the funniest comedians on the nation's TV screens - making it all the more pleasing for true Osakans that the pair are local lads.