When it comes to creative game shows, one would be hard pressed to find any nation that can compete with Japan’s myriad offerings. Case in point: NTV’s long-running Kasou Taishou aka Kinchan and Katori Shingo’s All Japan Costume Grand Prix aka Masquerade — a semi-annual contest in which various amateur groups (or solo artists) perform interpretive skits, which are rated by a panel of judges.
Masquerade first rose to worldwide attention with a wildly inventive sketch known as “Matrix Ping Pong” that has since spawned numerous imitations. A number of other sports-related acts have done well on the show including the following four that explore baseball as performance art.
[fusion_title size=”4″]CATCHER’S PROTECTIVE GEAR[/fusion_title]
Leave it to the Japanese to reimagine a catcher’s protective gear as three clinging youngsters.
[fusion_title size=”4″]SWAN LAKE MEETS FIELD OF DREAMS[/fusion_title]
Mike Trout’s leaping catches make for a ballet of sorts, but this three-woman team took the marriage of dance and baseball a step further. One performer lent her head for the baseball, while another used her leg as a baseball bat.
[fusion_title size=”4″]STEALING SECOND BASE[/fusion_title]
One of Albert Einstein’s great insights was that all motion occurs with respect to an observer — the same is true for a player attempting to steal second base. Fans may see the player dashing from first to second, but the player himself sees second base rushing up to greet him.
[fusion_title size=”4″]ICHIRO SUZUKI SLO-MO BATTING[/fusion_title]
Many aspiring baseball players look to the all-time hits leader Ichiro Suzuki for a batting motion to emulate. This Masquerade team required half a dozen performers to recreate Suzuki’s swing in stroboscopic slow motion.
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