As with anything that winds up in the internet, my Netflix “documentary” has begun to accumulate some, er, naysayers. That’s right, trolls. And mainly about me.
And let me tell you, it is great. (Not that I necessarily agree with everything that’s being said about me. Only most of it as I am in fact in my twenties.)
I guess this means that I’ve actually made it to showbiz. Bring it guys. No, really. I deserve it.
Stephen Tetsu 
I thought it was informative enough, but I didn’t really get any laughs out of it.
That being said, it was a daring project and I thought you did the best you could. I certainly don’t have the balls to do what you did. I love watching Manzai and think it would be near impossible to become that quick and snappy with Japanese simply by going to school. To be completely honest, I think you have the soul, but not so much the natural talent. There’s a lot of KY moments in your gags, but hey, if doing Manzai is what makes you feel alive then go all out! Perhaps you can use the “KY gaijin” moments to your advantage.
I found that getting a Japanese girl, or more than one (haha,) helped my Japanese immensely and I was able to develop more of a fluidity and flow. So maybe that is your next venture. I await your next Netflix video on “How to Get With Japanese Girls.”
You’ve got to have your critics mate, keep your chin up. 😉 I quite enjoyed it for what it’s worth.
Hey, I just saw the doc on Netflix. What happened at the graduation show though? Did things work out for ビックリ マーク？ I’d also be interested in hearing about some of the behind the scenes stuff. What stuff was scripted/re-written that differs from what actually happened? Anyway, keep following your dream!
Thanks for watching!
While I obviously can’t go into what was scripted and what wasn’t, I will say that ビックリマーク came to an amicable end shortly after the end of filming.
We actually filmed the graduation show but all the dudes above my pay grade (director, producers, editors, script editor, sandwich maker) apparently decided to cut it. Believe me when I say, I was just as surprised as you were to see that it wasn’t included.
Informative, cute but wasn’t funny at all, it was a bit cringey, I’m not hating at all, just what i felt.
Your writing is way better and funnier for some reason thou!
I’d say monst of the reviews are honest criticism whether you choose to believe that or not. More than likely there are only one or two trolls (if any), and the rest are just indignant people in general…. that doesn’t make them a troll either for being rude or obnoxious on the internet.
The thing is…. just because someone leaves a negative review doesn’t mean that they are being “a troll”. A troll on the internet maliciously attacks someone because they think it’s funny to do so, because they think it will get a rise out of them, and despite what their actual opinion might be. I don’t see very many of the negative reviews that don’t make some very good points that I whole heatedly agree with. In fact, some of them leave very good information on why they disliked the film. That leads me to believe that there are just several other people who really didn’t like it. They’re not trolls.
I was one of the people who left a negative review on the film. One of the first to do so as far as I could tell. I didn’t do so to be a troll, and I gave my honest opinion. I love manzai, yet I hated the film. I won’t go into yet another review rant here – you can check out mine or one of the other dozen or so scathing reviews there on netflix. The reason I left the negative review is because when I clicked on the film in the first place, I was judging it by its cover (and its title). I knew that it wasn’t enjoyable to me and knew of an entire group of people who would find it equally as disagreeable when they also clicked on the doc based on the title. My review was left as a warning to them more than a “stuff it” to you.
The only reason I even found THIS post is because someone else left it in another negative review on the video, and the reason I saw THAT was because your video now keeps coming up on my netflix feed under “continue watching” or “watch it again” or even just in my recommended videos despite my review and rating.
One thing to keep in mind though is that the review system on ANY product, website, streaming service, etc, is biased towards the negative. People leave comments much more frequently when they don’t like something and almost never when they do like something. That might not give you much confidence considering the sheer amount of negative comments left, but then maybe that’s just personal taste. The film obviously wasn’t for me, but hey – there were a few positive comments left here and left on netflix, so you at least catered to SOMEONE.
I just finished watching the documentary of which you were the primary focus.
While I’m still an amatuer stand up comedian I feel like I can give you some advice based on what i saw in the documentary. You need to realise that when a joke isn’t working you have to abandon it and try something else. All the material i have is based on years of either having a flash of brilliance that works every time i tell it or a joke that didn’t work initially but with refinement on what the ‘joke’ was eventually did.
About 40% of joke ideas i come up with that just don’t work at all and will never work.
Now this may have been the editing but i was disappointed that you laid most of the blame on your partner for the jokes not working. Sure it’s a double act but you should be looking inward whenever a joke fails to land. I hope your dream comes true and you become a Manzai master but please take the criticism on board when it is constructive.
I can understand when a troll tells you to go die or that you suck a fart and have jokes that fall as flat as A3 paper that’s been run over by steam roller. There’s nothing you can use there, it’s just meant to be insulting.
Anyway good luck.
The documentary sucked, but not as much as Stephen did. Not only were his jokes not funny AT ALL, but on top of that he has a really repulsive personality. His comments and criticisms really seem to be more a product of his self-serving bias rather than an honest look at his experiences with manzai. It kind of made me think of Cartman in the South Park episode on fishsticks where he just completely shuts out reality and has his own distorted view.
For example, rather than drawing lessons from the (ample) criticism he gets from his teachers on his lacking Japanese language skills and the bad quality of his jokes, he blames his comedy partner for holding him back and criticizes the lessons from his teachers.
My advice for Stephen would be to pursue something other than manzai. You clearly lack the talent, but, much more importantly, you also have an unlikeable personality which really is indispensable for any type of entertainer
PS
This is not a troll, just my honest opinion
Ok I just watched it on netflix i was interested avout knowing what manzai was but Stephen….stop following this dream of yours…seriously man you just dont have the talent . I think you are either funny or not. And clearly you are not, also blaming your partner for your failure… really? He obviously did a way better job than you as the “boke” since you were barely talking…. anyways i’m from Chile and this type of comedy is very common down there so i’m very familiar with the topic and let me tell you better look for something else to.do. I have no idea of how this got into netflix… good for you though. Cheers!
Ps: also every single exaplanation you presented about manzai … was just terrible I had to fast forward every single one….
Not trying to be mean.. it’s just what your documentary made me feel..
I’m not a troll. I’m home sick from work today and you made my illness worse. You definitely don’t understand how to respect other cultures. Do not blame your combi mate for your lack of talent. That soy sauce and salt demonstration was sickening.
Pingback: You’re a Minor Netflix Celebrity, So Now What? Part II – “Aren’t you that guy from that thing?” | Stephen Tetsu