I can't see the difference..can you?
Well, it has been going on for many episodes now. Singapore has taken a giant leap forward in coming to par with the rest of the world in political humour. First, The USA has their ground breaking political humour like The Stephen Colbert Report and Jon Stewart. Sharp tongued, free spirited individuals who, with a team of great writers, find the things that people in America are wondering about and put them to words. Great men that sparked (at least in my opinion) the idea to make the movie "Man Of The Year" with Robin Williams about a political humourist who runs for president and wins. Which amazingly enough, Stephen Colbert I heard put his name up and asked people if he should run for president. I think I heard it took nearly a day for enough people to throw their hats in to say he should, whereas it took nearly a week or two for some other individuals to get the support needed to throw names up for election.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA1eLPZIjLU
Then there is "This Hour Has 22 Minutes", which is a Canadian attempt at the political humour. Here a free bunch of individuals take stabs at headlines with their own twists, along with actually meeting politicians in the politican circle. Sometimes they arent that funny, but there are times that they are great. I mean, when you get Canadians going to America and asking the Americans to congratulate Canada on getting running water just last week and the Americans actually believe that Canada just got running water, that shows great TV. I remember one American actually congratulated the Prime Minister on getting his first 'double, double' (coffee with double milk and double sugar).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CptXVdqprE
Now, Singapore has thrown their hat into the mix. They have come up with a show called "The Noose", which I am wondering if it is a subtle stab at being the 'island of death' or having the highest execution rate by hanging per capita of any other country in the world. A news report style production taking current news stories and adding their idea of humour to it. Though one thing for certain is that while '22 Minutes' has the Prime Minister on with a regular occurance in Canada, and Stephen Colbert constantly pokes fun at the political system and all, you will never never NEVER see a part of the Noose actually meaning the political scene. Why? is it because Singaporeans are so in awe of the fabulous job that politicians do that they have nothing to complain or poke fun at which is why they happily give their politicians millions of dollars ($3.8 million to the Prime Minister alone) a year as a salary, plus little perks and incentives here and there? Is it because Singaporeans respect those people in power? Or could it possibly be that every person that has actually said anything slightly offensive about anyone of the PAP members in power the person who said the words find themselves in a court of law being sued for Slander and eventually have to pay the politician they talked about $500,000 in damages? Guess without proper evidence, it is up to the person to ask that question and answer it themselves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ImnvzPzdVA
I dont know, can you see the difference in humour/acting ability? Granted, USA and Canada have multiple supplies of writers, humourists and actors to draw on while SIngapore has an incredibly small pool but still. I remember watching 22 minutes and Colbert and thinking "wow, those writers are truely great. I definitly do not have the talent to write for them". After watching the Noose, however, I am thinking "wow, I not only could write for this show, but I could probably do a whole lot better than this". Then I stop and remember "yeah, I cant work because the govt wont give me PR status til I get a job, but no one will hire me till I get PR status".
Oh, and here is a comparison of weather segments from '22 Minutes' and "The Noose". I know which one I laughed so hard on and which one I said "please find better writers and get a guy that can act".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpXSf_ud_hY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVB7Q2Ge0Ts
*sigh* I miss comedy....where has all the laughter gone from Singapore?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA1eLPZIjLU
Then there is "This Hour Has 22 Minutes", which is a Canadian attempt at the political humour. Here a free bunch of individuals take stabs at headlines with their own twists, along with actually meeting politicians in the politican circle. Sometimes they arent that funny, but there are times that they are great. I mean, when you get Canadians going to America and asking the Americans to congratulate Canada on getting running water just last week and the Americans actually believe that Canada just got running water, that shows great TV. I remember one American actually congratulated the Prime Minister on getting his first 'double, double' (coffee with double milk and double sugar).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CptXVdqprE
Now, Singapore has thrown their hat into the mix. They have come up with a show called "The Noose", which I am wondering if it is a subtle stab at being the 'island of death' or having the highest execution rate by hanging per capita of any other country in the world. A news report style production taking current news stories and adding their idea of humour to it. Though one thing for certain is that while '22 Minutes' has the Prime Minister on with a regular occurance in Canada, and Stephen Colbert constantly pokes fun at the political system and all, you will never never NEVER see a part of the Noose actually meaning the political scene. Why? is it because Singaporeans are so in awe of the fabulous job that politicians do that they have nothing to complain or poke fun at which is why they happily give their politicians millions of dollars ($3.8 million to the Prime Minister alone) a year as a salary, plus little perks and incentives here and there? Is it because Singaporeans respect those people in power? Or could it possibly be that every person that has actually said anything slightly offensive about anyone of the PAP members in power the person who said the words find themselves in a court of law being sued for Slander and eventually have to pay the politician they talked about $500,000 in damages? Guess without proper evidence, it is up to the person to ask that question and answer it themselves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ImnvzPzdVA
I dont know, can you see the difference in humour/acting ability? Granted, USA and Canada have multiple supplies of writers, humourists and actors to draw on while SIngapore has an incredibly small pool but still. I remember watching 22 minutes and Colbert and thinking "wow, those writers are truely great. I definitly do not have the talent to write for them". After watching the Noose, however, I am thinking "wow, I not only could write for this show, but I could probably do a whole lot better than this". Then I stop and remember "yeah, I cant work because the govt wont give me PR status til I get a job, but no one will hire me till I get PR status".
Oh, and here is a comparison of weather segments from '22 Minutes' and "The Noose". I know which one I laughed so hard on and which one I said "please find better writers and get a guy that can act".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpXSf_ud_hY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVB7Q2Ge0Ts
*sigh* I miss comedy....where has all the laughter gone from Singapore?
posted by Capt_Canuck at 6:00 AM
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