“从舞台喜剧看敏感课题”

Reviewer: Zekson Tan | 陈迦笙
Performance: 2 April 2016

备受观众喜爱的新传媒五频道喜剧节目《绞索》(The Noose) 的四位主创演员，连同六位来自本地和马来西亚的喜剧演员一同呈现了一场让人不停捧腹大笑的舞台喜剧。除了各族群之间的文化差异，这次的演出还结合了新马两地不同的时事课题，以情景喜剧(Situational Comedy)和单口喜剧(Stand-up Comedy)的方式带给观众一波接一波的欢笑。

这类型的舞台喜剧一向来都是以政经时事和不同种族间的差异与趣事为主轴。而越是平日里被视为敏感和禁忌的事件和议题，就越能够得到现场观众的共鸣和反响。比方说舞台上的喜剧演员经常会以生育孩子的数量来调侃不同族群间的差异，抑或是以生活习惯的不同来制造笑料等等，而这次《绞索》更是以最近备受注目的教会失信案来制造笑料。这些在几年前也许都会被视为不同种族或者宗教间的刻板印象或歧视，甚至是被视为禁忌的话题。但是从观众的反应可以看得出，不论是什么种族或者宗教信仰，大家都能一同享受当中的幽默，并投以热烈的笑声和掌声。由此可见本地观众对于敏感课题的理解和应对已经相对成熟，而且能够理解舞台上呈现的纯粹只是娱乐效果，并没有带着任何的贬意或者歧视在演出。

尽管媒体发展管理局还是会对这类型的舞台喜剧给予不同的分级（《绞索》被分级为忠告级：建议16岁以上观看），而且还有很大的放宽和进步空间，但是此类的舞台喜剧经常会以大量的政治时事来制造笑料，有关当局却还是能够持续的发放表演许可执照予这类型的舞台喜剧。由此可看得出有关当局对于本地观众在接受和处理敏感议题的理性和成熟度上，还是具有一定信心的。

而随着本地观众和有关当局对于敏感课题渐渐的不再那么敏感和避忌，相信本地的舞台喜剧和单口喜剧会得到更好的发展，而连带的本地戏剧圈也能够有更多的机会去碰触和挑战不同种类的剧种和课题。也希望有朝一日，不只是以英语为主的单口喜剧能够受到本地观众的欢迎，其他的语言例如中文的单口喜剧也有机会在本地得到发展的机会。

“What is on television should be kept on television”

Reviewer: Isaac Lim
Performance: 31 March 2016

Stars Avenue, the street where the new MediaCorp campus is on, is nowhere like the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong. It is akin to some forbidden land; deep within the new industrial area of one-north. Getting to The Theatre @ MediaCorp took this reviewer almost 20 minutes to walk from one-north MRT station.

Of course, the cast of hit television satire programme, The Noose, knows this too well not to make a joke out of it.

The Noose, a pun on the American pronunciation of “news”, is a parody show on MediaCorp Channel 5. It has garnered a following with its slapstick humour and satirical skits in the form of fictional news reports which lampoon the foibles of Singapore society. First started in 2007, the show has created many memorable characters—such as newscasters, field reporters or interviewees—which are performed by a talented cast consisting of Alaric Tay, Suhaimi Yusof, Judee Tan, and Chua En Lai.

As the programme is an acknowledged cash-cow for the station, it is no surprise that the powers that be will milk it for all its worth and conceive of “The Noose stage show.”

Yes, it is a stage show, but why such a literal name?

This “live” production integrated multimedia presentation with live skits, and also incorporated segments of stand-up comedy performances by six comedians from Singapore (Kumar, Fakkah Fuzz and Rishi Budrani) and across the causeway (Harith Iskander, Kavin Jay and Rizal Van Geyzel).

The entire three-hour long production is certainly filled with much laughter, but it offers nothing else. The skits are poorly put together, and the links between segments are abrupt. The Noose segment itself presents stories that are funny, but predictable. It plays on major newsworthy events of the past year such as MRT train breakdowns, the haze situation, and diplomatic ties between Singapore and Indonesia.

The performers are weak on stage as they are unable play their characters out the television screen and onto the stage in front of a live audience. There are a few segments that have audience interaction, but even those fall flat (especially for the majority of the audience members in the circles). The rhythm of the performance is also excruciatingly slow at times.

The stand-up comedy acts are clearly what the audiences are there for. However, given the large theatre setting, some of them could not hold court, especially those from Malaysia. Kavin Jay and Harith Iskandar both lapse into manipulating stereotypes for their jokes and.  While this strategy garners laughs, their acts are forgettable. Perhaps these stand-up gigs would perform better in a more intimate space.

Kumar, the last of the stand-up performers, is clearly an audience favourite as he delivers a no-holds-barred, politically incorrect monologue. Chua En Lai, as Thai gogo-boy reporter Pornsak Sukhumvit, does not pale in comparison with his below-the-belt jokes which send the audience rollicking with laughter.

The Noose and Kakis on stage is poorly put together and it doesn’t do any more than to present gag after gag. It comes as a shock (to this reviewer at least) that the show is directed by Judee Tan, a seasoned cast member, and it also involves a creative team that is known for its keen sense of theatrical aesthetics. Set designers Wong Chee Wai and Chan Silei are surprisingly off the mark with a set that is haphazardly put together.

Television, alas, is quite a different ball game from theatre. The Noose should continue to entertain viewers, but only through the goggle box.