Both brothers were salarymen after graduation for a while until Tsuyoshi invited Reiji to form a comedy duo, and entered the Yoshimoto NSC as the 11th generation class.
[1] (Classmates included Tomonori Jinnai, Harigane Rock, Kendo Kobayashi, Kenji Tamura and other) Reiji and Tsuyoshi's Manzai was well received in the academy and they performed their Manzai on television as The Nakagawa Brothers and later as Nakagawake.
The duo suffered a slight setback but bounced back after Tsuyoshi overcame the disorder.
[2] Nakagawake went on to appear in programs outside of the Kansai region, and became popular nationwide, particularly in Tokyo.
In 2001, the M-1 Grand Prix was established and Nakagawake became the first winner of the Manzai competition, gaining the duo popularity and allowing them to move to Tokyo to focus on developing their careers in the metropolis.