Taichi Suzuki has a thing for losers. If there’s a common thread running through the director’s movies to date, it’s that they all involve characters who’ve hit rock bottom, whether it’s an aspiring filmmaker (2012’s “The Brat!”), a retired boxer (2022’s “Life in the Fast Lane”) or, in the case of “Laugh, Everyone!,” a rakugo comic storyteller.
With his shaven head and ample physique, Tamon Saito (Tomizo Nobe) looks like an overgrown baby. A 50-year-old virgin, he’s spent his whole life running away at the first sign of trouble, though that hasn’t stopped him from following his father into the rakugo tradition after the latter was forced to retire due to dementia.
There’s just one problem: He’s hopeless. The extent of Tamon’s comedic shortcomings is revealed during the film’s opening scenes as he performs his regular set at a vaudeville theater in Tokyo (the real-life Asakusa Engei Hall, lending an air of authenticity to the proceedings).
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