On 18 March, the inaugural Macao International Comedy Festival came to an end, and for nine days, "half of the country" of Chinese comedy participated in the festival, discussing cutting-edge topics in the form of dialogues and performances, and introducing the latest domestic and foreign comedy masterpieces to audiences in the Greater Bay Area.
Sketches, cross talk, stage plays, musicals, talk shows, short videos, and diverse categories of "joy" enrich people's leisure life. In the 2024 Spring Festival, which just broke the record in film history, comedy movies contributed the vast majority of the box office, which also proves that laughter is an important part of life. Happy twist actors Shen Teng and Ma Li starred in "Flying Life 2" and "Article 20" respectively, and the two are currently the highest-grossing actors and actresses in Chinese film history.
This year's comedy festival is co-sponsored by Happy Twist and Damai. Over the years, with stage plays and movies, Happy Twist has become the most well-known comedy brand, but it has always been more recognized by the audience for its "northern language" comedy content. This time, Happy Twist held a comedy festival, and the location was chosen in the south, which made many people curious. Recently, Han Mei, CEO of Happy Twist and co-founder of the Macau International Comedy Festival, was interviewed by CBN to respond to the reasons why the Comedy Festival landed in Macao, and introduced the future plans of Happy Twist and the Comedy Festival.
Open up the international market
As a company founded 21 years ago in the field of comedy, Happy Twist has always had a plan to go overseas with its works and communicate with its international counterparts. Han Mei believes that in the vertical field of comedy, only by communicating with comedy creators at home and abroad can we continuously improve our original ability and promote the emergence of innovative themes and masterpieces.
In 2018, Happy Twist participated in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and in 2019, she tried to organize troupe performances in Australia, New Zealand and North America to promote Chinese humor to overseas audiences. However, due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, the plan to go to sea has been temporarily shelved.
In 2022, the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Macao and the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Macao led cultural enterprises to Beijing for research, and Happy Twist, as one of the surveyed enterprises, had its first contact with each other. Han Mei remembers that the topic of discussion at that time was "whether the repertoire of Happy Twist can be performed in Macao".
Subsequently, Happy Twist conducted a survey on local theaters, drama genres and audience composition in Macao. Macao is a Cantonese-speaking city with an international color, and Happy Twist's repertoire needs to be integrated with local culture in order to be better accepted. "At that time, we thought that the residency might not necessarily mature quickly, and we needed a time to test whether different forms of content could be implemented in Macau. As a result, the planning of the Macao International Comedy Festival was put on the agenda.
In an interview with the media during the festival, the Director of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Macao, Leong Wai Man, said that Macao is an international city, as well as a tolerant and happy city, and that the International Comedy Festival is in line with the characteristics of the city. More importantly, the holding of the comedy festival can help the industry land, and the performances of different groups at home and abroad, the experience sharing of directors and actors, can stimulate the participation and creation of local young people, and then promote the development of the cultural industry.
In a short period of time, Happy Twist co-organized the first comedy training course with the Drama School of the Macao Conservatory for Performing Arts, and the main creators and actors of the Cantonese version of "Crazy Barbershop" who participated in the repertoire of the Comedy Festival were all trainees of the training course. "Crazy Barbershop" is also the fastest sold-out show of the comedy festival, which brings confidence to the Happy Twist show to land in Macao.
Supporting new comedy talents
In recent years, Happy Twist has been seeking to grow across dialects. Happy Twist has created the Sichuan-style comedy "Wide and Narrow People" in Chengdu, trying to integrate Sichuan dialect and twist comedy. In Tianjin, a dialect version of "The Son-in-law is Ready to Go" was created, "When this drama toured to East China, everyone also loved it very much, and in Shanghai we also tried the repertoire with Shanghainese characteristics. Han Mei said that Happy Twist has been paying attention to the expansion of Cantonese-speaking regions and has set up subsidiaries in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, but before that, it was not confident enough to try the all-Cantonese version of the repertoire, "The comedy festival is a good opportunity to test how far the repertoire of the all-Cantonese team can go." ”
Talking about the creation of the Cantonese version of "Crazy Barbershop", Han Mei revealed a small episode to Yicai. This immersive and interactive suspense comedy, which has been performed in many cities in mainland China, is adapted from international IP, and the original version is in English, and has been performed in the Boston Little Theater for more than 40 years. When it was introduced into China, the main creative team made a localized adaptation of the IP, but when the Cantonese version was adapted, the screenwriter took a month, but it was difficult to advance, and finally took out the all-English script and re-translated it and digested it into Cantonese before landing. Han Mei said: "Maybe it's because Macau's culture is more international than that of mainland cities. In the future, how to adapt the original scripts from the mainland into Cantonese will be our next topic. ”
"Crazy Barbershop" producer Lin Weiqi is the first employee of Happy Twist Macau. "We want to hold a comedy festival in Macau, and we want to develop here for a long time and meet many local friends in Macau. Lin Weiqi is very representative of them, and it is also the driving force that encourages us to do a good job in performing arts in Macau. Han Mei told Yicai.
When she came into contact with young people in Macao, Han Mei found that many people love literature and art, like cultural creation, and have organized various clubs such as dance and drama, but because Macao has not yet formed a large-scale cultural industry, most of them can only create in their spare time. Lam Wai Ki graduated from the University of Macau with a degree in law, and the troupe she organized has performed in the mainland and is famous. When Happy Twist came into contact with it, her troupe was coming to an end, and she was also thinking about follow-up development. As a young man who is very familiar with Macao culture and loves stage creation, Lam Wai Ki became the perfect choice to be the producer of the Cantonese version of "Crazy Barbershop".
Lin Weiqi had a study tour in Shanghai a few years ago. In her opinion, Macau has similarities with Shanghai: "Shanghai is an international metropolis that attracts a lot of domestic and foreign actors and groups. Macao is also an international window and a city where Chinese and Western cultures blend. "This is the embodiment of urban culture on the streets, and after I returned to Macau, I am also thinking about how to communicate with different cities in the mainland." Macau also has a very attractive culture, such as Cantonese culture, the culture of small fishing villages, etc., which nurture our growth. ”
In Lam Wai Ki's view, the demand for drama among Macao audiences is relatively small, and the development of drama is slightly later than that of the mainland, and it will take about five to ten years for the development of the performing arts industry to mature, but Macao also has its own advantages, that is, domestic and foreign exchanges are more convenient, "For Macao performing arts practitioners, what they are eager for is opportunities, platforms and resources, to communicate more with artists and groups, to bring the essence back to Macao, to develop local arts, and to make everyone feel that Macao is not just a small city."
A stage where comedians' ideas meet
Zhang Chen, founder of Happy Twist and initiator of the Comedy Festival, said that the original intention of the establishment of the Comedy Festival is to provide a communication platform for comedians from all over the world, to tap and cultivate local comedy talents through the implementation of repertoire, to bring more excellent comedy works to Macao, to promote the integration of culture and tourism, to allow more audiences to enter theaters and cinemas, and to contribute to the construction of Macao as a performing arts capital. In his view, comedy is an art that brings wonderful enjoyment: "Some people say that comedy gives people hope and tragedy gives strength, I want to say that comedy gives people hope and at the same time gives people strength, and I think both are indispensable." ”
The festival serves as a platform to bring together a group of comedians who are eager to inspire each other's creations and bring laughter to the audience through communication. Ma Li said that it is not easy to be a comedian: "You have to put in all your strength and energy, so that the audience can laugh and feel the depth of the work." The Comedy Festival can let more people know about comedy, appreciate high-level comedy, and let more young people use this platform to get more audiences. ”
This year is the first Macao International Comedy Festival, and despite the tight preparation time, the results achieved so far have exceeded expectations in Han Mei's view: "It is the long-term hope of all comedians in the industry to let more people understand the charm of comedy. This time, in an environment where Chinese and Western cultures blend, I also experienced challenges. "In terms of repertoire invitation, the festival takes into account diversity and internationality, with two international avant-garde comedy works, two Cantonese dramas, and one original play by Happy Twist, which has become popular in recent years, transcending language and cultural barriers, allowing audiences from all over the world to feel the charm of comedy.
Han Mei revealed that in the process of preparing the content, they also investigated comedy content other than dramas and movies such as comics, talk shows, and short videos, but the time was tight and could not be implemented: "The innovation in form requires a longer preparation cycle, because creation requires very serious running-in interaction. Han Mei is pleased to receive the support and recognition of many people inside and outside the industry, and she is also looking forward to inviting more comedians and works to perform next year. Han Mei hopes that in the future, she can reach a long-term cooperation with Macao in the comedy industry and continue to hold the comedy festival. "The first phase of the three-year plan has been completed, and whether there will be more sub-venues in the future can be gradually exchanged. ”
Macao explores diversified economic development
Macau, as a World Heritage city and tourist destination, is gradually rejuvenating. During the 2024 Chinese New Year Golden Week, Macao recorded a total of 1.358 million visitor arrivals, with a significant increase in the average daily visitor arrivals, returning to the same level as the 2019 Spring Festival Golden Sunday, and a significant increase of 163.8% compared to the same period in 2023. In 2023, Macao will have 28.213 million visitor arrivals, recovering to 71.6% of 2019 levels.
Nowadays, large-scale cultural activities have become an important engine to drive the development of local cultural and tourism economy. Last year, Macau proposed to become a "performing arts city". In addition to the Comedy Festival, international cultural events such as the Macao International Music Festival and the Macao Arts and Cultural Festival between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries were also held. On 24 March, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland, the 2024 Macao International Parade was also held. In addition, the first Macao International Short Film Festival is also being held.
According to Zhang Zheng, a professor at Tsinghua University's School of Journalism and Communication, Macau has been following a diversified economic development path, and the comedy industry, as a popular vertical category in the cultural industry, has broad room for growth: "Laughter consumption has a broad market base today, spanning age, education level, and social class. ”
During the two years of organizing the festival, Han Mei continued to visit Macau, which also gave Han Mei a deeper understanding of the city. In her view, the overall culture of Macao is relatively relaxed, the locals are gentle and serious, and from the perspective of the development of the cultural and tourism industry, with the concept of performing arts city proposed, the composition of tourists and leisure methods are also changing.
"The population is getting more purely touristy. There are Internet celebrity check-in spots in various attractions, as well as a variety of Michelin-starred restaurants, and there are more and more parent-child tourists. Han Mei learned from MGTO that they are considering attracting more Asian tourists and tourists from Portuguese-speaking regions. At next year's comedy festival, they are also considering introducing some Portuguese-language comedy projects to cooperate, "When you get in touch with more creative people, you will feel that the world can be more open." ”