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漫才, and why Osaka is the funny one
Osaka's reputation for humor is an industry, not a stereotype. 漫才 is a two-person stand-up form with fixed roles — the ボケ says something absurd, the ツッコミ hits back with なんでやねん — and it has been commercial in Osaka since the 1910s. Yoshimoto Kogyo, founded there in 1912, still supplies much of Japanese television with comedians, which is the mechanism by which Kansai words reached the whole country: a Tokyo teenager says めっちゃ because the funniest people on television do. The stereotype that Osakans are blunt, money-minded and quick is partly this exported comedy persona and partly a genuinely older merchant culture, where the traditional greeting was もうかりまっか — 'making any money?'