Comedy is...dying

Over the past ten years, comedy has been all the rage on stage, but now it has begun to show signs of dying out.

Golden past

Recalling the “memories”, when the whole city had over 40 comedy groups registered with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, not to mention many “underground groups” specializing in performing for the provinces and the suburbs. Every family formed a group, any artist could become a comedian. Especially the cai luong artists, when there was no longer any troupe to stay, they formed a comedy group to make a living and it was also very easy. Even though some people had never performed comedy before, they kept performing until they got used to it, and the audience was completely captivated. Like Tieu Bao Quoc, Tan Beo, Bao Chung, Duy Phuong, Le Giang, Tan Hoang, Bao Khuong... all came from cai luong but quickly became famous comedians.



Phuong Anh and Hoang Son in the performance Street Childhood at Saigon Rendezvous Coffee - Photo: HK

And there are also veteran artists, long-running artists who perform comedy because they make money faster, each night performing at 3 venues, the remuneration is only a few hundred thousand. Going to the provinces is a few million dong, which is even more attractive. Therefore, people see artists Ngoc Giau forming groups with Anh Vu, Hoang Son with Phuong Anh, Minh Beo with Binh Map, Cat Phuong - Thai Hoa, Trung Dan - Trung Hai, Thuy Nga - Thanh Long, Phi Phung - Thanh Tung, Bao Tri - Kim Tuyet, Tiet Cuong - Phi Nga... Venues, bars and big music shows, meeting customers, introducing brands... never lack comedy. Comedy skits spring up like mushrooms, sometimes a skit can be performed for 5, 7 years and still be popular, which is considered a long-term money-making venture. Artists often perform at 3, 4 venues a night.

Sunset

But everything is the same, when there is too much and too much rush, it starts to lose quality. Comedy starts to become "nonsense" because it is just born to keep up with the season, without needing to polish the content or acting. It is common to see two people talking back and forth, then testing their singing skills, quizzing, sometimes using vulgar language skillfully but having to make the audience... understand. Although when reviewing the review, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism always records videos as "evidence", but during the performance, if the artist breaks the rules, the Department is helpless, because how can they check everything. A few bad words that make the audience laugh out loud, the show organizer is even more delighted. But then watching it over and over again becomes boring, the audience can't laugh anymore. Especially when the shows are too old, going around and around again, no one wants to buy tickets anymore.

Comedian Anh Vu said: “Comedy is very quiet now. There are only a few venues like Trong Dong, 126, and Diem Hen Sai Gon that operate regularly. They invite me, but I usually only participate once a week/show. For example, I gather 3 or 4 venues, then perform for one night, running 3 or 4 places and that’s it. The other days I spend time and effort on long plays at Phu Nhuan Stage.”

Trung Dan is no longer interested in comedy, but is investing in long-form film scripts. He laughed: “I have to have a script and content when performing comedy. Now I only perform one night a week, or occasionally go to the provinces to perform in event programs, it’s less tiring”. Young actress Thu Trang has just emerged as a popular “monster”, but also laments: “All the venues have closed, probably because business is not effective. There are only a few places left, so there is not enough space for comedy groups to register. I just gave birth a few months ago, so I stopped performing comedy. Performing for the World Youth Theater is just right for me”.

According to thanhnien - NT