Native name Kokoriko (ココリコ) Employer Yoshimoto Kōgyō | Years active 1992– | |
Members Shōzō Endō (Tsukkomi)
Naoki Tanaka (Boke) | ||
Cocorico (ココリコ, Kokoriko) is a Japanese comedy duo (kombi) consisting of Shōzō Endō (遠藤章造, Endō Shōzō) and Naoki Tanaka (田中直樹, Tanaka Naoki). They are best known for making up the cast of the popular and long-running variety show, Downtown no Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende!!.
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It is unclear whether Cocorico or Coq au Rico is the official romanization when referring to the kombi. While "cocorico" is the correct French spelling, their namesake spells it "coq au rico." The former is the romanization most often used in the English-speaking fandom.
History
Both born in 1971 and raised in Toyonaka, Osaka, they formed in 1992 at Yoshimoto Kōgyō when Endō quit his mundane job as a salaryman and invited his childhood friend Tanaka to join him as a duo. They named themselves after a cafe in Osaka called "Coq au Rico," a variant spelling of the French onomatopoeia for the crowing sound a rooster makes. Their name at first was "Cocorico Bombers," until they were advised to shorten it.
The duo was then discovered by Hitoshi Matsumoto who liked their subtle humor and hired them to be show openers for his own duo Downtown. They have since become fixed cast members of Gaki No Tsukai and have been involved in the show since 1997. During one segment of the "Enthusiastic Teachers" batsu game, Matsumoto called them by their original name "Cocorico Bombers"