YouTube is an excellent source of both idiocy and hilarity and the website has introduced me to the work of Jinnai Tomonori, who is an expert in both. Tomonori is a Japanese comedian who specializes in bizarre, plotless skits in which he interacts with a gigantic video screen. He might be struggling with a malfunctioning game of Tetris or scrutinizing some video security footage, trying to spot the culprit who put doggie doo on his front doorstep. The level of humour feels infantile and sophisticated at the same time and I find myself strangely ashamed of myself for liking it.

A typical Tomonori sketch will start with the young man walking onstage to the sound of a gong and rapturous applause from the live audience. His character will attempt a mundane pursuit of some sort and things will get progressively more cartoonish and surreal, while Tomonori bellows his awkwardly translated confusion — the poor quality of the English subtitles is part of the fun. In “Driving School,” he climbs into an automobile simulator and attempts to navigate a virtual street, which is displayed beside him for the benefit of the audience. The obstacles he encounters become quite silly, like the ridiculously long truck he meets at an intersection. (“LONG! This vehicle is long! How long... does such a vehicle even exist?” sputters Tomonori in Japanese, while the audience cracks up.) Eventually Tomonori’s car winds up in a game of Mario Kart and he careens through the virtual streets knocking down buildings after accidentally receiving the “invincibility” power-up.

This last gag is fairly typical of Tomonori’s Nintendo-based humour, which has considerable geek appeal. Some of these skits assume the audience is familiar with such video games as Puyo Puyo, Brain Age and House of the Dead, alienating some audiences while delighting others. Do a YouTube search for Jinnai Tomonori sketches like “Lost Property Center,” “Stethoscope,” “ATM” and “Stupid Tetris” and you'll either be turned off immediately or wind up watching for hours.