JAPANESE COMEDIANS MILK CULTURE GAPS FOR LAUGHS
Humour doesn’t always translate well, but a Japanese talent agency’s experiment with sending comedians to other Asian countries is starting to get results.
The Osaka-based entertainment conglomerate Yoshimoto Kogyo in April 2015 launched a project called Sumimasu Asia, which roughly translates to “We will live in Asia”. Since then, it has dispatched 11 acts — 16 individual comics in all — to six markets: Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
When some of the comedians were interviewed in November 2015, they were still figuring out what worked and what didn’t. But earlier this year, members from two of the acts said they felt they were finally gaining traction.
In Indonesia, three guys who call themselves, well, The Three, are getting laughs with a mixture of observational comedy and rizumu gei, or rhythm comedy. The former entails making light of everyday situations, while the latter involves delivering lines to a musical beat, often while making amusing movements.
The trio is currently performing Tidak Apa Apa, a routine in the local language. The title line, which means “never mind”, is chanted between spoken verses describing the members’ frustrations in the country — Jakarta traffic jams, for example.
Member Daisuke Hamada said the group had found Indonesians to be generous and laid-back. He said local people seemed to get a particular kick out of foreigners’ observations.
“They might say ‘never mind’ themselves, but of course they actually have [the same] frustrations,” the 32-year-old said. “That’s why they find us funny.”
Last summer, The Three placed second in a local TV station’s audition programme. Since then, the comedians have appeared as guests on about 30 TV shows.
Their next goal is to win a regular spot on local TV, which would mean more money. ”The pay for guest appearances only covers transport, at best,” said 29-year-old Kenta Yamaguchi, another member, adding that the partners relied on Yoshimoto to pay their expenses.
The members are studying Indonesian, since mastery of the local language is essential for landing a regular position. They said it was equally important to become more familiar with the culture and customs, since a gaffe that causes offence could force a station to eliminate a programme altogether.
BUBBLE TEA, ANYONE?
Over in Taiwan, the male duo Mancai Shaoye is trying to tickle audiences with manzai, a traditional Japanese form of sketch comedy.
In a format known as boke to tsukkomi, one partner acts the fool while the other plays the straight man. Mancai Shaoye’s repertoire for Taiwan includes a scene between a customer and a clerk at a stall selling bubble tea, or milk tea with tapioca — a favourite on the island.
Ordering bubble tea in Taiwan typically involves specifying the size of the cup, the degree of sweetness and the amount of ice. This can be confusing for the uninitiated. Mancai Shaoye found the experience full of comedic potential.
In one of their jokes, the clerk asks the customer what size he wants, saying, “Zhongbei? Dabei? Linbei?” The first two mean “medium cup” and “large cup”, but the third is slang for “me” and sounds rather self-important. “Hey, what does ‘linbei’ have to do with it?” the customer quickly retorts.
As “linbei” is only used by some in Taiwan, audiences don’t expect to hear it from a Japanese person, said Furuu Miki, 32, a member of the duo. This adds to the funny factor.
“The local language is difficult to learn,” Miki said, “but you can use it effectively in creating a gag.”
“[Indonesians] might say ‘never mind’ themselves, but of course they actually have [the same] frustrations. That’s why they find us funny” DAISUKE HAMADA Japanese comedian