Funny Business (Not)
March 29th, 2007 by Colin
So Ong Sor Fern, the redoubtable arts and movie reviewer of the Straits Times (who thought Curse of the Golden Flower and the Banquet were good movies - oh well, I guess everyone’s entitled to his or her own opinion), emails me with a bunch of questions for a April 1st piece she’s doing on the humour industry in Singapore. As my answers will invariably be chopped and folded into her own text, I thought it might be good to post my responses in full. It’s always interesting to me to see what gets selected for inclusion and what doesn’t. So here they are:
1. When you first started talkingcock.com, how many writers did you have?
The original team was just 4 people.
2. Have the numbers increased over the years?
Yes, we now have a couple dozen irregulars. Some of them go through a very productive phase, then disappear, then come back again. But we don’t lack for writers. We get far more submissions than we publish. Singaporeans seem to have a lot of aggro they need to vent!
3. Have you seen an improvement in the quality of the submissions as well?
I think so. Most of them have caught on fast to the ‘house style’ of the site, which is like a Bizarro version of the Straits Times.
4. Is it possible to make a living from being a funny writer? (I think the only person to make a really good living from it so far is Jack Neo)
A living, yes. A good living, no.
There are only so many publications and media channels in Singapore (who also tend to be owned or managed by the same bunch of people), and you can’t possibly be in all of them, and their rates aren’t very high either.
Jack is a successful comedian, but I don’t know how much of his earnings comes from writing, and how much from being a director, from paid endorsements, live performances, commercial deals, etc.
For me, I make a living as a writer, but not specifically as a humourist. Clients come to me knowing that I understand structure, pacing, narrative, and the strategic use of humour, which means knowing when to pull back. The non-humour gigs are actually far more lucrative.
If you want to make money, be a minister!
5. The Coxford Singlish Dictionary you guys put together. How many editions has it gone through and how many copies has it sold so far? Has it made money for the site?
We’ve sold around 20,000 copies of the first edition, and now we’re working on the second, which is much more comprehensive. I think we’ve done quite well for the Singapore market.
6. How do you sustain the site by the way? Do you make money from advertising banners? There’s not that many banners on your site.
The site doesn’t make any money. The few banners on the site just helps us cover our server costs. TalkingCock is just a hobby for us, though sometimes we like to think of it as a privately-funded charity service benefiting Singaporeans, without the gold taps or bizarre stunts.
Also, because we founders are all tied up with our own jobs, we just haven’t been organised enough to develop the site as a business, which means doing leceh stuff like soliciting ads, doing tie-ups, etc. We’re also a free-spirited bunch and are very wary of our content being influenced by commercial considerations. And frankly, when we started in 2000, we never thought we’d last this long! As far as we’re concerned, it’s a day to day thing and we’re still running with the ball.
But quite a number of people have approached us lately to discuss the monetization of TalkingCock because of its substantial brand recognition, so we’re now considering several proposals. But nothing’s confirmed yet. Who knows?
7. What’s the hit rate on your site?
In an extremely good month, we get over 4 million hits. On average, around 3.1 million per month. We’re discovering that we have quite a sizeable overseas audience in addition to our core Singapore audience. Someone in MFA told me recently that we’re required reading amongst foreign diplomatic staff dealing with Singapore, and we’re even getting foreign franchise proposals! So weird.
8. Is it hard to make Singaporeans laugh?
No, just flash them a copy of the Straits Times. Singapore news is just hilarious!
But seriously, making Singaporeans laugh is a delicate affair. We’ve all grown up with a lot of sensitivities and inhibitions, and it needs some skill to provoke laughter and thought, and make audiences feel at ease, all at the same time.
I remember Jack once telling me that he has to say “joking only, ah…” whenever he makes a dig, in case it offends someone. I think for the vast majority of Singaporeans, this is still necessary.
9. Do you think the humour business in Singapore will get bigger?
I think many content sites, channels or publications would like to have more humour, because it’s popular. But they’ll have a hard time finding enough people to provide the content. That’s why so many local magazines are forced to rely on foreigners, or foreign-licensed content. Trouble is, the most effective humour is invariably local.
Will there be enough local humourists to meet the demand? I don’t know. I’m meeting more and more humourous people, but I don’t actually see the business channels expanding to the point where humourists can make a decent living. Comedy clubs haven’t been very sustainable, sitcom writers don’t get paid much (screenwriters and playwrights often don’t even get paid), most people still aren’t willing to pay for online content, and there are very few blogs or websites which can attract decent advertising numbers, etc. Plus, the local media landscape is at best oligopolistic, which doesn’t help. This may all be a function of market size and the audience numbers one can muster in Singapore. And the added regulation of the new media, which everyone I know thinks is inevitable, is likely to constrict possibilities even further.
If there’s more humour about, it’s probably because writers are injecting it into their regular work, rather than a specific ‘humour industry’ developing.
I also don’t think people should set out to be comedy writers in Singapore – they should just concentrate on being good writers. Humour may be popular, but it can also pigeonhole you, just like any genre. Humour is also a fickle muse. I guarantee you that some days you’ll find yourself in a totally unfunny B.C.C. (bin chao chao) mood, and you just can’t churn out the giggles no matter how hard you try.
Also, what’s funny is relative. Some people may find certain things hilarious, while others don’t. I think the Mister Brown incident proved that.
So from a writer’s perspective, it’s too capricious to depend on any one thing as your base. It’s much better to develop good fundamentals and be flexible and open to opportunities. The range makes it not only more lucrative, but also more fun.
For instance, our writing on TalkingCock and Singapore Dreaming has led to some really interesting gigs. We now have multimedia and film projects in the pipeline in China and New York, and just recently, we were even approached to write the next film of a Hollywood A-lister. (Sorry, agent says we can’t name him at the moment.) So I think even very local content can attract global attention, but one has to be adaptable. Like any business, really - whether funny or not.
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Isnt it interesting what gets left out! Here’s Sor Fern’s final article which can be found at http://www.straitstimes.com/portal/site/STI/menuitem.70300a17785a04285f53bcd7d3a0a0a0/?vgnextoid=98876365ba6a1110VgnVCM100000430a0a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=vgnartid:98876365ba6a1110VgnVCM100000430a0a0aRCRD:
April 1, 2007
Funny business
By Ong Sor Fern
SINGAPORE, as everyone knows, is a seriously go-ahead economic hub, with a multi-pressured, fast pace of life. But, guess what: It’s also a fool’s paradise.
Before all you non-fools splutter indignantly into your coffee you are drinking while multi-tasking over a computer keyboard, LifeStyle isn’t referring to the Republic suddenly turning into a haven for slackers snoozing under a coconut tree.
No, it has to do with Singapore’s increasing maturity as an entertainment hub.
It turns out that there’s money in being funny - if you are an actor with the gift of the gag.
LifeStyle talked to several folks skilled at tickling funnybones and found that the funny business can offer a comfortable living.
This can range from a stand-up comic earning $5,000 at a corporate dinner and dance to writer-actordirector Jack Neo’s comedies which routinely earn $3 million at the box office.
That comedy is providing more bucks for jokes these days is shown by actor Hossan Leong. The comic best known for his Singapore Boy stage persona began his stand-up career performing for free at a theatre fundraiser. Then he graduated to doing 20-minute slots at corporate events for a fee of $1,500.
In the eight years since, the 37-year-old says his fee has grown significantly. Although he is reluctant to reveal exact figures, he puts his fee now at ‘under $5,000′.
He takes on these corporate gigs once or twice a month.
The rest of the time is spent juggling non-comedy assignments in the theatre with work for a company he has set up offering voice training and drama lessons.
However, 70 per cent of his income is from comedy gigs, he says.
The comedy scene has seen significant growth, says Dr Robert Liew, whose company, Arts Management Associates, put together the Singapore International Comedy Festival in 1998.
‘The market has grown considerably in the last five years, with lavishly produced local comedy theatre leading the expansion. I think we’re seeing a new generation of comedy writers/producers with winning scripts, actors and production directors,’ he says.
He estimates the market to be worth about $3 million.
Indeed, the Dim Sum Dollies, comprising actresses Selena Tan, Pam Oei and Emma Yong, have grown from a modest five cabaret shows at the Esplanade’s studio in 2002 to a 12-day glitz fest at the Esplanade’s 1,900-seat theatre in 2005.
Tan, 35, says: ‘That first show cost something like $50,000 and 300 people saw it. The last show cost more than half a million dollars and 24,000 people watched it.’
The hit show is returning for a fourth instalment, Dim Sum Dollies: The History Of Singapore, at the Esplanade this July for six shows.
However, Tan, whose production company Dream Academy produced the show, says that while the last show made a profit, ‘it’s not as much as people think it is’.
Dr Liew points out that Singaporeans have loosened up tremendously over the years.
‘In the past, ‘audience volunteers’ were the most terrifying words uttered by a stand-up. Now, everyone wants to be part of the act. Audience interaction is the ingredient that makes today’s acts work.’
Not everyone is laughing all the way to the bank, though.
Comedy writers face a far more uncertain future trying to live off the funny stuff.
As Colin Goh, freelance writer and co-founder of the humour website talkingcock.com, sums up: ‘A living, yes. A good living, no.’
The site, which has grown from just four founders to a couple dozen contributors, does not make money although it has an impressive eyeball count of over 3.1 million hits a month.
Goh, 36, says they have been approached ‘to discuss the monetisation of TalkingCock’ but nothing is confirmed. He adds: ‘For me, I make a living as a writer, but not specifically as a humorist. Non-humour gigs are actually far more lucrative.’
In print, the payoffs are even slimmer. According to a spokesman for Marshall Cavendish, humour titles comprise just 1 per cent of the publisher’s overall output.
Tay Yek Keak, who writes the popular humour column Stars n Gripes for Life! as well as a fortnightly column in LifeStyle, observes that it is difficult for new names to break into Singapore’s comedy scene.
‘Primarily because it is tough to make people laugh, there are too many constraints and the audience is not big enough,’ he says.
‘The biggest group is the heartland audience and Jack Neo has already nailed that market as a brand name. To me, real comedy is that which aims at the masses.’