History Main / BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine

->'''Aori (Callie):''' The contestants are: the one who throws out words like curveballs - the "Boke"! And--
->'''Hotaru (Marie):''' The one who calmly hits them right back! The "Tsukkomi"~

* One of Creator/JunjiIto's stories (''Ghosts of Golden Time'') features a profoundly unfunny duo who force the audience to laugh via possession, some of them dying from the strain.

* Creator/RickyGervais (tsukkomi) and Creator/KarlPilkington (boke) have this exact dynamic in their routines on ''Radio/TheRickyGervaisShow''. Karl, an "idiot", is brought in and asked to talk about various SeinfeldianConversation topics, which soon derail into [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} total nonsense]], at which point Ricky corrects him by shouting "[[CatchPhrase Don't. Talk. Shit.]]"

It is common in Osaka so both members of the comedy duo frequently speak in [[KansaiRegionalAccent Kansai-ben]]. Manzai teams commonly dress in one of two ways: 1) similarly tailored outfits with complementary color schemes; 2) one (usually the ''boke'') wears casual clothes, and the other (usually the ''tsukkomi'') a respectable business suit. Ironically, the most famous ''manzai'' duo of all time, [[Series/GakiNoTsukaiYaArahende Downtown]], reversed this -- Hitoshi Matsumoto, the ''boke'', always wears a suit and tie (albeit with the tie tucked neatly into his trousers beffiting the ''boke'' buffoonishness), and Masatoshi Hamada, the ''tsukkomi'', always wears something casual. (They're also pretty much single-handedly responsible for the equation of Kansai-ben with funny characters.)

* The premise of ''Manga/LovelyComplex'' is the budding romance between HugeSchoolgirl Risa and TheNapoleon Ootani, who has trouble seeing Risa as anything more than his partner in their boke and tsukkomi routine. [[LampshadeHanging Everyone calls them "All Hanshin-Kyojin,"]] after a famous tall & short ''manzai'' comedy duo, and the show even takes place in Sakai, Osaka with everyone speaking in a KansaiRegionalAccent, just to drive it home.

* A RunningGag in the ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' omake comics has Hayate [[http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/4272/asnano59.jpg being portrayed as a master]] of the Boke and Tsukkomi routine due to having a KansaiDialect.

* On ''Manga/SgtFrog'', Natsumi frequently refers to Keroro as ''boke-gaeru'' (usually translated as "stupid frog"). Episode 18 of the series involves Natsumi being [[OvernightAgeUp turned into an adult]] and given a KansaiRegionalAccent by Kururu's latest inventions, so she can perform ''manzai'' in a beauty pageant/comedy contest.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'''s Tiger Dojo, which you go through every time you screw up and die and get a Bad End, is set up much like this. Taiga Fujimura, the leader of the Dojo, is the resident tsukkomi, with Illyasviel von Einsbern being the resident boke who often has to be whapped upside the head with Taiga's shinai when she says something insensitive, unproductive or stupid.

* ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'' has this as a lot of it's humor. Hiruma tends to play a sneaky boke to his team, though almost everyone the team has their boke moments. Kakei and Mizumachi are this pretty much all the time.

* ''LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}}'s'' often odd dialogue centers around the main character Araragi as the tsukkomi and the other person in the conversation as the boke. Whether or not the boke is acting as such intentionally is a matter of debate.

* ''LightNovel/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'' has Mashiro and Sorata, an IdiotSavant and her CloudcuckoolandersMinder, doing the boke and tsukkomi respectively. Many of Sorata and Mashiro's conversations end with Sorata freaking over Mashiro's latest outrageous line/act.

* This is a good part of ''Manga/OnePiece'''s humor. A character will say or do something completely absurd and act like it's no big deal, while someone else will flip out. About half the crew tends toward one side and the other half to the other, so even when the crew splits up, each subgroup will almost invariably contain characters with a tendency toward ''boke'' reactions and at least one ''tsukkomi''. A more literal example would be the interaction between ''Anime/OnePieceFilmStrongWorld's'' GodCreatedCanonForeigner villains Shiki and Dr. Indigo, who, apparently, have been doing it for over 20 years.

** Later, [[TheCameo an actual manzai duo]], named Audrey, guest-stars in one episode of ''Anime/FreshPrettyCure''.

* ''Film/TheThreeStooges'' is the strongest example to this comedy routine in amarica. With the boke being Larry, Curley and Shemp always making some kind of crazy claim and getting smacked around or beat up by Moe who is the tsukkomi of the group.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Sakura, occasionally Sasuke, tends play the tsukkomi to Naruto's boke.

* In the "Tower of Terror" episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', the Ghost Pokemon trio (Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar) are first seen watching such a routine on TV.

** Doubles partners Hikaru "Dabide" Amane and Harukaze "Bane-san" Kurobane from Rokkaku frequently pull these off. More often than not, ''boke'' Dabide makes some rather bad word puns, and ''tsukkomi'' Bane kicks him ''on the head'' as a punishment. That even happens during matches, where Bane [[ArmorPiercingSlap slaps]] Dabide across the face if he's slacking.

* ''LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}}'s'' often odd dialogue centers around the main character Araragi as the tsukkomi and the other person in the conversation as the boke. Whether or not the boke is acting as such intentionally is a matter of debate.

* This is a regular occurance between Sousuke and Kaname on ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'', with one of Sousuke's school nicknames even being [[LampshadeHanging "War Boke"]]. Later on, Sousuke finds himself as the tsukkomi to [[SapientSteed Al's]] boke, an irony not lost on Sousuke's coworkers.

** Playing on the AnachronicOrder in which the anime's episodes were first broadcast, the next-episode announcements at the end of each show of the first season were a compressed boke-tsukkomi exchange between Haruhi (giving the number of the episode in chronological order) and Kyon ("correcting" the number according to the broadcast order and stating the episode title).

* ''LightNovel/ThePetGirlOfSakurasou'' has Mashiro and Sorata, an IdiotSavant and her CloudcuckoolandersMinder, doing the boke and tsukkomi respectively. Many of Sorata and Mashiro's conversations end with Sorata freaking over Mashiro's latest outrageous line/act.

* Referenced in the ''Calibur'' arc of ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', As the group runs down a long set of stairs to Jotunheim, Kirito points out that they should be grateful for it, since it's the quickest way there. Sinon snarks that he's talking as though he's the one who built the stairway himself, and Kirito quips, "Thanks for the tsukkomi" before pulling her tail.

* In the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]], This was the schtick of legendary announcer duo of [[Wrestling/BobbyHeenan Bobby "The Brain" Heenan]] and Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon, beginning when they were first paired up in 1986 and lasting until Heenan left the promotion in 1993 (appropriately thrown out of the building in his last appearance by Monsoon). Together, they were the very first heel/face announcing tandem to do comedy, as opposed to Monsoon's work with the more serious Wrestling/JesseVentura, interacting as much with each other as the action in the ring. Often, the Brain would say something obviously biased or [[BlatantLies obviously untrue]] in support of a heel wrestler, with Monsoon reacting with an exasperated "Will you stop?". This formula has been copied by the WWE for their announcing teams ever since, now going on 35 years since they debuted as a duo (and tried by various other promotions to varying degrees of success). This trope could well be called the Monsoon-Heenan routine.

* In the early '90s in the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]], this was the schtick of legendary announcer duo of [[Wrestling/BobbyHeenan Bobby "The Brain" Heenan]] and Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon. Together, they were the very first heel/face announcing tandem to do comedy, as opposed to Monsoon's work with the more serious Wrestling/JesseVentura, interacting as much with each other as the action in the ring. Often, the Brain would say something obviously biased or [[BlatantLies obviously untrue]] in support of a heel wrestler, with Monsoon reacting with an exasperated "Will you stop?". This formula has been copied by the WWE for their announcing teams ever since, now going on 35 years since they debuted as a duo (and tried by various other promotions to varying degrees of success). This trope could well be called the Monsoon-Heenan routine.

* In the early '90s in the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]], this was the schtick of legendary announcer duo of [[Wrestling/BobbyHeenan Bobby "The Brain" Heenan]] and Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon. Together, they were the very first heel/face announcing tandem to do comedy, as opposed to Monsoon's work with the more serious Wrestling/JesseVentura, interacting as much with each other as the action in the ring. Often, the Brain would say something obviously biased or [[BlatantLies obviously untrue]] in support of a heel wrestler, with Monsoon reacting with an exasperated "Will you stop?". This formula has been held by the WWE for their announcing teams ever since, now going on 35 years since they debuted as a duo. This trope could well be called the Monsoon-Heenan routine.

* In the early '90s in the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]], this was the schtick of legendary announcer duo of [[Wrestling/BobbyHeenan Bobby "The Brain" Heenan]] and Wrestling/GorillaMonsoon. Together, they were the very first heel/face announcing tandem to do comedy, as opposed to Monsoon's work with the more serious Wrestling/JesseVentura, interacting as much with each other as the action in the ring. Often, the Brain would say something obviously biased or [[BlatantLies obviously untrue]] in support of a heel wrestler, with Monsoon reacting with an exasperated "Will you stop?". In the modern era, it's a formula that's been repeated with Wrestling/MichaelCole and [[Wrestling/JerryLawler Jerry "The King" Lawler]] to varying levels of success, though Cole comes across as much more petulant as a heel announcer, while Lawler doesn't quite have Monsoon's straight-laced gravitas to pull off being the straight man in the routine.

** {{Exaggerated|Trope}} in episode 17 of ''Anime/SmilePrettyCure''. The entire main cast signs up to act in the manzai contest with two tsukkomis and three bokes (one of them being TheComicallySerious to the point where she has NoSenseOfHumor) just acting their normal selves. '''Nothing''' goes AllAccordingToPlan between all the mistimed punchlines, so [[CuteClumsyGirl Miyuki]] calls a timeout only to trip on her way off stage. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akm2PFAcH-0 Can be seen here, beginning at the 50-second mark]].
** There is an element of this in ''Anime/MahouTsukaiPrettyCure'' too.

[[quoteright:350:[[Anime/KOn https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/boketsukkomi.png]]]]

* In an episode of 'Manga/AngelicLayer'', Kaede entertains guests at a victory party by performing both parts of the routine with herself as the tsukkomi and Blanche as the boke.

* Anime/PrettyCure:

** [[DoesNotLikeMen Kaede]] goes OhCrap when she realizes that because Takatoshi and Suzu are both on their [[SchoolTrip second year trip]]. She has to Tsukkomi for the student council with includes [[TheDitz Kotomi]][[note]]Takatoshi asked his sister Kotomi to take his place while he is out[[/note]].

* One of the welcome surprises resulting from ''Fanfic/ShinjiAndWarhammer40K'' is the Rei-Asuka comedy duo. Rei is the boke, while Asuka, perhaps understandably, thinks "tsukkomi" is some sort of bizarre Japanese perversion and refuses to listen whenever someone attempts to explain it.

* Mentioned at one point in ''Fanfic/TalesOfTheUndiscoveredSwords'' where Shokudaikiri loudly complains about having to play ''tsukkomi'' to the rest of his team when they try to disrupt their own mission. Doubles as OnlySaneMan.
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'':
** The ''WebAnimation/TouhouM1GrandPrix'' is a long-running manzai competition between the girls of Gensokyo. This is a play on the real-life Autobacs M-1 Grand Prix. The prize for the 3rd iteration was to have the winning pair overwrite Reimu and Marisa as the main characters; [[spoiler: Reimu and Marisa won]].
** Website/YouTube has some {{Fan Vid}}s of ''Touhou'' characters acting out some of these skits. Most memetically pleasing is the one where [[AnimeChineseGirl Hong Meiling]] (playing the Boke) tricks [[SquishyWizard Patchouli]] (unwitting Tsukkomi) into a very embarrassing [[VideoGame/ParappaTheRapper Chop Chop Master Onion sequence]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvX6eD39qAA The Scarlet Tsukkomi Routine]] has Flandre and Cirno pull a fast one on Remilia by trying to cast Cirno (the ultimate Boke) in the role of a Tsukkomi.
** Another notable mention goes to Utsuho and Rin's routines, which can be summed up as [[TheDitz Utsuho]] [[CloudcuckooLander being]] [[BlueAndOrangeMorality Utsuho]], Rin being unable to keep up with Utsuho's stupidity using intelligence alone and eventually ending up outright {{corpsing}} during a discussion about [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext a corpse and opium.]]
** Yuyuko and Youmu are known to do this in {{canon}}, most infamously in ''Imperishable Night'' where BigEater Yuyuko implies that after defeating Mystia she ''ate'' her. [[spoiler:She didn't.]] While Yuyuko is [[ObfuscatingStupidity just acting]], Youmu isn't. Poor Youmu.

* Film/TheThreeStooges is the strongest example to this comedy routine in amarica. With the boke being Larry, Curley and Shemp always making some kind of crazy claim and getting smacked around or beat up by Moe who is the tsukkomi of the group.

* It varies depending on the chapter, but most conversations in ''Literature/HandsHeldInTheSnow'' involve Emi being extremely silly and Beatrice having to set her straight. Sometimes Tia gets to be the WiseGuy to Emi's StraightMan, but it's usually Emi's Adorkable awkwardness turning her conversations into dumb comedy routines up until things get [[RomanceEnsues cute and romantic.]]

* Shawn and Gus of ''Series/{{Psych}}'', so, so much.

* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'':
** In ''VideoGame/Persona2: Innocent Sin'', if you have Maya and Yuki contact a demon together, they'll do one of these, with Maya as the boke. Notable example: "Did you know that when a tsunami hits it can send you and your family on a trip?" "That's not what they mean by 'it sends you packing.'" One example, however, is based on misinterpreting Japanese characters:
--->'''Maya:''' Oh, yeah! I was just reminded that I found this interesting dish at a ramen shop!\\
'''Yukino:''' What's so special about it?\\
'''Maya:''' It was "Tonkatsu ramen"! I've never heard of it before. I wonder if anyone would really eat soup with deep-fried pork in it.\\
'''Yukino:''' Er, Maya... I think it was "tonkotsu" ramen.
** In an extra segment for ''VideoGame/Persona3: FES,'' the main character and one of his classmates, Kenji, act out an impromptu comedy routine. The response the player chooses for Kenji's setups determine whether you are a master of Japanese humor or not.
** Also, Jack Frost and Pyro Jack have a fusion spell where they do a Boke and Tsukkomi routine with the effect of [[FaceFault knocking down all enemy shadows]].
* ''VideoGame/BungoToAlchemist'': Most special CombinationAttack dialogues, but especially those between Decadent writers, among whom is Oda Sakunosuke who is a Kansai accent speaker.

* The Hammerhead Brothers from ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga''.

* Solt and Peppor from ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' display this kind of interplay during their boss fights. In fact, when we meet their Home World versions, they are doing this routine as a comedy duo on Fargo's ship.
* In an optional minigame when Koh visits the Monsbaiya Theater in ''VideoGame/AzureDreams'', he can be roped into playing the ''tsukkomi'' to one of the regular performers' ''boke''.
* Two birds, a crow and a vulture, perform this as one of the endless minigames in ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven Fever'', which is appropriately just called Manzai (often nicknamed by fans as Manzai Birds)... [[NoExportForYou But only in the Japanese version.]] The translators found the minigame too pun-riddled and culturally specific to find a way to translate it so they were forced to give up. As a replacement, they included an update of "Mr. Upbeat", a game from the original ''Rhythm Heaven'', in all other versions of ''Fever''.
** The translation of the first game has a reading material where two of the Toss Boys do this as well.
* The UsefulNotes/WiiWare Sega title ''VideoGame/PoleNoDaibouken'' is an unusual example of this: the entire ''game'' is the ''boke'', what with all the weird and zany gags, and the narrator is the ''tsukkomi'' trying to be the foil to all the insanity.
* In ''VideoGame/LegendOfLegaia'', Gala ends up acting as a stand-in in one of these routines. He's quite naive and his religion forbids laughter, so he makes a perfectly clueless boke.
* In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'', one of the scenes unlocked by linking with the original Black or White version is Skyla reminiscing about a conversation with Elesa in which the latter was considering changing her image. The examples Elesa gave of how she could become more approachable clearly cast herself in the role of the Boke, although Skyla didn't really get it, and so did not make a very good Tsukkomi.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', [[spoiler:Keaton and Kaden are this, respectively. What's interesting is that Keaton is sharply dressed (like a ''tsukkomi'') in contrast to Kaden's more casual appearance.]]
* At ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky Trails in the Sky The 3rd]]'''s prologue, Kevin Graham and Dorothy's first meeting has this routine, the topic being Dorothy keep mistaking Kevin's first name for "Onion" and "Jasmine" to which he plays along at first before correcting her. The kicker is, Kevin has Kansai dialect in Japanese version.
* Per WordOfGod, the main protagonists of ''VideoGame/WorldOfFinalFantasy'', Reynn and Lann, are specifically intended as this, with Lann as Boke and Reynn as Tsukkomi.

* ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' do this routine in certain situations. Upon setting out for a mission, Daxter will often make a complaint or dry remark about how dangerous it, whereas Jak focuses on the task at hand.
* In ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'', this is the specialty of Subaru and Makoto, thse self-proclaimed 'idiot duo'. Usually, Subaru takes the boke and Makoto the tsukkomi, but Subaru often likes to mess with him by giving him ridiculous set-ups that Makoto struggles to find a come-back to. And in the Main Story, 2wink train [[TheStoic Hokuto]] into loosening up by making him perform manzai acts; usually, he's more likely to just call Subaru an idiot when he tries to drag him into his bits.
* ''VideoGame/MutantFootballLeague'' features Brickhead Mulligan and the GarrulousGrowth on his shoulder, Brickhead Jr. Jr. often acts as the Tsukkomi, not afraid to point out Brickhead's stupidity.
-->'''Grim Blitzrow:''' Hi, Grim Blitzrow here, along with my partners Bricks and Bricks Jr. How're you guys doing?\\
'''Brickhead Mulligan:''' I'm doing that little hottie who does the deep fry at the concessions!\\
'''Brickhead Jr.:''' He said "how", not "who", you idiot. Even if you did get the answer right!

* In ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'':

* ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters!'' has a couple of examples:

* In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', Monokuma makes Monomi join him in one of these routines, forcing her to play the unwitting ''tsukkomi'' to his sneaky ''boke''. This isn't just about {{Troll}}ing her or putting on a performance; he's luring her and their audience off guard so that he can [[spoiler:reveal she tampered with their memories]] without her realizing what he's doing until it's too late.
* Happens quite often in ''VisualNovel/TheFruitOfGrisaia''. Usually, being the serious guy he is, Yuuji plays the tsukkomi, especially when talking to Makina or Michiru, though between his habit of interpreting situations as what they might have implied if he were at work, and his tendency to be a total smartass, he often plays boke as well.
* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'''s Tiger Dojo, which you go through every time you screw up and die and get a Bad End, is set up much like this. Taiga Fujimura, the leader of the Dojo, is the resident tsukkomi, with Illyasviel von Einsbern being the resident boke who often has to be whapped upside the head with Taiga's shinai when she says something insensitive, unproductive or stupid.

* {{MST}} is technically a form of this, with the work being riffed being the ''boke'' and the riffer being the ''tsukkomi''.
* ''WebVideo/JakeAndAmir'', with Website/{{CollegeHumor}} employees Amir Blumenfeld and Jake Hurwitz [[TheDanza playing the roles]] of boke and tsukkomi respectively.

* LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya:
** Haruhi's and Kyon's actions toward one another appear to be a version of this comedy routine, at least in the first season and first light novel. Haruhi makes some outlandish remark, and Kyon comments on how it doesn't makes sense, often to himself or someone else.
** Playing on the AnachronicOrder in which the ''Melancholy'' episodes were first broadcast, the next-episode announcements at the end of each show of the first season were a compressed boke-tsukkomi exchange between Haruhi (giving the number of the episode in chronological order) and Kyon ("correcting" the number according to the broadcast order and stating the episode title).
** Emphasized even more in ''Manga/HaruhiChan'', since in this particular series, every character undergoes intentional {{Flanderization}}.
*** Haruhi-chan gives us a second duo in Yuki-chan and Achakura. Yuki is the Boke by the way.

* ''LightNovel/MariaWatchesOverUs'' does this in the PostEpisodeTrailer a couple of times.

** In ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaINNOCENT'', an alternate LighterAndSofter continuity, the BigBad of the first season, Precia Testarossa, is the boke, and the BigGood of the first two seasons, Lindy Harlaown, is the tsukkomi. The reason why it works so well is that Precia is both a DotingParent ''and'' AmazinglyEmbarrassingParent, unlike her incredibly monstrous EvilMatriarch portrayal in the original series. While Lindy is a very friendly and nice person who never gets particularly angry in the original series, Precia's various antics and sudden disappearances in their workplace just to see her (cute) daughters pisses Lindy off in this continuity.
*** Hayate can also be count as the boke to Dearche's tsukkomi.

* Dr. Manelger and Itsy-Bits from ''VideoGame/{{Monster Hunter}} [[TheAnimeoftheGame Stories Ride On]]'', before their character profiles were replaced by those of the Season 2 antagonists, were expressly described as having this kind of relationship on the anime's official Japanese page. Lilia even asks if they are such a duo upon first meeting them and seeing the way they interact.

* Very common in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', mostly due to lead girl Asuna's [[ImprobableWeaponUser weaponized]] PaperFanOfDoom. Setsuna also seems to be able to convert her tanto weapon to a fan at will whenever she wants to DopeSlap someone (specifically Chao whenever she makes a SarcasticConfession about her many [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot affiliations]]).
** And then there's Chisame, who wishes she could give everything the tsukkomi treatment so very, very badly.
*** Chisame takes on this role physically when dealing with Jack Rakan although most of the time its usually a knee to the face instead of an actual fan [[spoiler:(He could take a Nuke and probably not feel it)]]. They make [[spoiler:(made)]] a very good team.

** The relationship between best friends Nozomi and Rin in ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'' is not unlike that of a boke and tsukkomi routine. Nozomi is an [[TheDitz optimistic idiot]] who is always trying to [[JumpedAtTheCall Jump At The Call]] while Rin is a [[GrumpyBear sensible realist]] who always points out the gaping flaws in Nozomi's plans. Usually along the lines of: