I got the announcement from Mulboyne's Twitter account several minutes ago and it's sad news for someone like me who used to see Japanese variety television with all of its colourful characters. One of them was a fellow named Masuo Ito（伊東万寿男）but viewers knew him as the comedian Esper Ito（エスパー伊東）. I saw him from time to time on various programs where he was famous for doing all sorts of sideshow stunts including contorting himself into a small Boston bag. Ito also struck me as being one of the more button-down entertainers, calmly explaining himself and his abilities although he also had that expression of spaciness.
Unfortunately, he passed away at the age of 63 yesterday. As you can see in the video above, he had been suffering from a number of ailments including Bell's Palsy in recent years but was trying his best to recover to entertain folks again. There was also some mention of COVID complications but a direct cause of death has yet to be given at this writing.
The Kumamoto Prefecture-born Ito was first and foremost a physical comedian but in 2000, he did put out a gag CD with a group of women known as the Super Icons（エスパー伊東 with スーパーICONS）. "Meiwaku Dial Esper Hyaku-Tou Ban" (Spam Calls Esper 110) sounds like a contemporary tokusatsu hero march although I believe the lyrics are describing the usual annoying things about owning a cellphone such as spam calls. I couldn't find out who wrote and composed the 1990s-esque dance club melody but the Super Icons definitely won the singing contest over Esper Ito.
My condolences go out to Esper's family, friends and fans.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to provide any comments (pro or con). Just be civil about it.