Somehow, Japanese performers at Flipside have always brought a particular interest for us.
Especially the comedy acts.
There is a kind of Japanese silent comedy that feels scripted but wonderfully impromptu at the same time. The humour travels well. Whether the audience speaks English, Mandarin, French, Hindi, or is simply a 3 year old, the joke still lands.
LIVE MANGA by Gabez reminded me why non-verbal performance remains one of the most powerful forms of live entertainment. Some people may see it as slapstick. But it is not the whole story.
A Serious Credential for a Very Silly Show
Esplanade's listing notes that they gained worldwide attention in 2021 as performers behind the Pictogram Performance at the Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony. In 2024, they were recognised as Best Male Performer at the Asian Arts Awards of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and in 2025 they received Best Artistic Work at the Shanghai International Children's Art Festival.
The best comic performers do not look like they are carrying a resume. They look like they are playing. But underneath that play is a long history of timing, discipline, audience reading and the kind of repetition required to make something feel spontaneous.
Almost No Props, A Lot of Control
Much of LIVE MANGA was performed with little to no props.
This is always impressive for fellow performers.
Props can help a performer. They give the audience something to track. They create novelty. They offer texture. But when a performer has almost nothing, the body has to carry the scene.
Gabez used movement, sound cues, facial expressions, invisible objects, space and rhythm. Their slow-motion flight scenes were probably the highlight. Perfectly timed to what seemed to be pre-recorded tracks, those sequences created the illusion of action-movie absurdity without needing an action movie.
The basic storyline was simple: one person trying to catch the other.
The audience understands immediately.
Why It Travels
This is something we often see in Japanese and Korean performance that travels well. The work is polished enough for adults, clear enough for children, and broad enough for international festival audiences. It respects the crowd by not asking them to decode too much, while still giving craft-minded viewers plenty to notice.
The Gamarjobat Connection
For audiences who spend time watching Japanese silent comedy online, some parts of LIVE MANGA may feel familiar.
One comparison that comes to mind is Gamarjobat, whose viral stage performances are often built on the same deliciously clear grammar of mime, chase, physical exaggeration and impossible timing.
That comparison is not accidental.
Komedia Entertainment reported in 2017 that The Gamarjobat Company was formed with selected members from the Gamarjobat Project, including MASA and hitoshi from GABEZ. The article also makes clear that these performers continue as their own artists, not simply as extensions of Gamarjobat.
While Gabez are not exactly "doing Gamarjobat". They come from a related silent-comedy ecosystem, but LIVE MANGA has its own flavour, especially in the way it leans into manga-style pacing and audience participation.
Audience Participation Changes the Room
One of the differences was how much the audience became part of the show.
They moved around the room wiping invisible windows. They invited the crowd into a hide-and-seek rhythm. They used the audience not as victims of comedy, but as co-conspirators.
Audience participation can easily become awkward. The moment the wrong person feels exposed, the atmosphere shifts. But when handled well, participation changes the room in the best way. People stop being spectators and start becoming part of the game.
In a festival setting, that is especially useful. Crowds are fluid. People arrive midway. Children move. Adults stand at the edges deciding whether to commit. A strong interactive act can gather all of that uncertainty and turn it into shared attention.
Why It Matters
LIVE MANGA is a wonderful introduction to the award-winning world of Japanese silent comedy, pantomime and non-verbal physical performance.
It is easy to dismiss this kind of act because it looks simple.
Two performers. Few props. Broad gestures. Silly sounds. People laughing.
But simplicity is often the point. The work has to be clean enough for everyone to understand and tight enough that the timing never sags. It has to be large enough for the back row, but specific enough that adults do not feel they are merely watching children's entertainment.
The show reminds us that good live entertainment does not always need a complex plot or elaborate production. Sometimes it only needs two performers who understand the room, the rhythm and the universal pleasure of watching someone try very hard not to get caught.
For those who missed their Flipside performance, you can catch a small glimpse their genius below:
Official artist reference: Gabez official website
Flipside listing: LIVE MANGA at Esplanade