Nasubi, Reality Show Torture Victim | Case File #129

He spent over a year in a tiny room, naked, surviving off of only what he won through magazine sweepstakes. He predicted how life basically became for everyone. He’s a Japanese amateur comedian whose real name is Tomoaki Hamatsu. In the late 90s, he won a raffle to be the contestant on a game show titled “Prize Contest Life” where he had to live in a tiny room by himself, completely naked, no contact with the outside world, and only a rack of magazines to read. The rules of the game were that he wasn’t allowed to have any food, clothing, or anything else unless he won it through a sweepstakes in one of the magazines. What ensued was 15 straight months of a man slowly losing his sanity live on television as Nasubi struggled to win enough food through magazine contests to stay alive. He also ended up being the world’s very first video game live streamer, true reality tv celebrity, set multiple world records, served as a biting satire of modern consumer capitalism, and predicted our modern world of celebrity obsession and the attention economy. -- Join our Discord server! https://bit.ly/deepcutsdiscord -- Pick up some Deep Cuts T-Shirts and other merch! https://bit.ly/deepcutsmerch -- Get the official Deep Cuts shoulder patch! http://bit.ly/deepcuts_patch -- Listen to our album, a 9 song rock opera about the rise and fall of Napster! https://open.spotify.com/album/63C5uu1tkzZ2FhfsrSSf5s?si=q4WItoNmRUeM159TxKLWew Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices