Matsumoto and Hamada attended and met at Ushio Elementary School in Amagasaki, Hyōgo of the Kansai region. They did not become friends until their second year in Amagasaki Taisei Junior High School, where they both joined the school's broadcasting club and called each other and . It is then Matsumoto joked about becoming a comedy duo together and planted the idea into their heads. At the time, Matsumoto was part of a "manzai" trio called "Koma Daisanshibu" with two of his classmates, Itō and Morioka.