Manzai (漫才) is a traditional style of Japanese comedy, usually performed by a straight man and a funny man trading rapid fire jokes, puns and gags in local dialects.

During the Second Sino-Japanese War Manzai comedians  joined “comfort” or “laugh” brigades to entertain the troops. On their return to Japan, they often wrote patriotic accounts for the public.

Read more:  Barak Kushner. The Thought War: Japanese Imperial Propaganda.