When we saw him standing there. . .
Stand-up comedian floods the stage with laughter
by Vivian Lai
Mr. Tuck enjoys being a stand-up comedian because
he wants to be loved.
The man then drove the building around and got a speeding ticket.
This is obviously unreal. It just appears in a stand-up comedy of George Right.
The comedian, doing nothing except standing alone on stage and talking, fills the whole theatre with laughter.
Stand-up comedians try hard to think of something interesting or bizarre, like driving a building, to entertain the audience.
Stand-up comedy originated in the West. It has become generally heard recently in Hong Kong with the localized stand-up comedy of Mr. Wong Chi Wah.
Mr. Daniel Tuck, the creative director of the Metro Broadcast Corporation Limited, started performing stand-up comedy because he wanted to be loved. He said that everyone loves to laugh and people can gain others’ love by making them happy.
Mr. Tuck has been performing stand-up comedy to entertain audiences since he was 14. Not only has he performed in English, but also in Mandarin when he lived in Taiwan.
According to Mr. Tuck, it is very important to keep up audience’s mood in a stand-up comedy. At the very beginning of the show, the comedian has to feel the audience and recognize what type of people they are.
The venue is also very important. If the show is held in a lady’s recreation club, it is believed that the audience there will be more elegant and serious. In this situation, it is inappropriate to say something rude or dirty.
However, the artist can say something nasty at the Fringe Club since the audience there is more casual. When the audience starts to get bored, the performer can do something unexpected to draw their attention again. The comedian may make some strange noise or may frighten the audience to make them interested in the show again.
Mr. Tuck revealed the key to success to being a good stand-up comedian.
Said he: “People may think that the President (of the United States) is an idiot but they are afraid of telling others about this. When they come to the show and see that the comedian imitates the President doing some silly things, they will like it and say, ‘Yeah, the President is just like this.’”
Mr. Ben Fong, the orientation and mobility instructor of Ebenezer School of the Blind, has been participating in stage performance for over 12 years. He produced his first stand-up comedy in the Fringe Festival early this year with his partner, Mr. Antonio Chan.
“Though I have performed on stage performance for many years, I have never organized a stand-up comedy. So it is a great challenge for me to write script for a stand-up comedy,” said Mr. Fong.
According to Mr. Fong, it is rather easy to write scripts for dramas because producers can just pick one from libraries, use translated classical drama scripts or even write some by themselves. However, it is relatively difficult to write scripts for stand-up comedies.
The script is the soul of a performance. One has to organize an interesting, funny script to make the audience laugh as there is nothing on stage except the comedian alone.
The charisma of the artist is also very important in the show. Stand-up comedy itself can be a very simple show. The artist must have the ability to express interesting ideas on stage.
The show will not be funny and the audience will not laugh unless the script and the comedian match perfectly.
Mr. Fong has his own ways in catching inspirations.
“When I am thinking of the script alone, I may probably read some joke books, watch comedies, recall my memories to see what jokes are interesting. I will also just sit in McDonald’s to observe others’ behaviour.
“When I am thinking the script with my partner, we will take turns in telling jokes and see which one is funny. Then, we will know what gag is interesting and can be performed on stage,” said Mr. Fong.
Both Mr. Tuck and Mr. Fong thought bringing serious messages to stand-up comedy will make it heavy. The nature of stand-up comedy is to entertain audience, not giving them lessons.
If there is any message in the show, it should be soft, not so serious. Messages are just the tools to entertain audience, accorduing to them.
But comedians sometimes may use some serious topics to make audience laugh, such as imitating politicians or quoting the words of important people.
Normally, the stand-up comedies in the United States and Britain are divided into three parts.
At the beginning, there is a host talking for about five minutes. Afterwards, there is an open talk lasting for about 15 minutes. The comedian will then present his story for about 30 to 45 minutes. There is no restriction on the format of the show. Performers can present in different ways.
Mr. Tuck personally prefers a show which lasts less than 30 minutes. He will not prepare a script before performing. His performance is guided by a list. He just writes down the brief ideas of his jokes and performs them freely on stage.
On the other hand, Mr. Fong works out a complete script. It is probably because of the longer duration of local stand-up comedies. Local stand-up comedies usually last for two hours. Performers will find it difficult to think and talk simultaneously for such a long time.
The ways in which comedians control the atmosphere of the shows between the local and foreign style stand-up comedies are slightly different.
Western artists are likely to draw audience’s attention by doing something unexpected such as making some strange noise, while local artists seldom do so in their performances.
