The show? 欽ちゃん＆香取慎吾の全日本仮装大賞, also known as Masquerade in English.

The show’s premise is familiar: teams of people compete to wow judges and audiences alike with their talent. What makes Masquerade different from America’s Got Talent (other than Nick Cannon and a Snapple™ sponsorship) is its focus on incredibly creative sketches full of clever visual tricks.

These sketches take place anywhere from under the sea to a skydiving plane flying high above the ground. Not to be clichéd, but the only limit to these sketches seems to be the contestants’ imagination.

Fortunately for those of us who can’t catch Masquerade on Japanese TV, the show has an official YouTube channel full of some of its coolest, most imaginative sketches. You might even recognize some of them!

Many of the sketches are done with stagehands that blend into the background, very much in the Japanese tradition of kuroko (黒子), the stagehands dressed in all-black in traditional Japanese theater.

While many of the sketches are incredibly impressive, some of them can just be plain bizarre:

From the imaginative sketches to towering meter that fills up after every performance, Masquerade has a plethora of endearing qualities that make it clear why the show has spent decades on the air.

For more, check out Masquerade’s official YouTube channel!

Wallpapers

Want the excitement of Masquerade as your desktop background? Our incredible illustrator Aya has you covered!

Wallpaper (1280×800)
Wallpaper (2560×1440)