Comedy Court in JB

Pa, Mommy, Baby, and I went to the 6th JB Arts Festival event - Comedy Court featuring Allan & Indi, at JOTIC yesterday.

We enjoyed ourselves, though I must say that Baby and even I, admittedly, did not get certain jokes, especially where it pertained to specific political events that we were not aware of. It just flew over our heads.

The thing about comedy, whether political satire or pure slapstick, is that it is very much based on social references. This could be a mimetic performance of 'real' situations or people, or a gross caricature of events. Social mores, behavioural antics, bodily gestures and mannerisms, speech, current events, all these are are encapsulated into a 2-hour play and embodied in performance.

The audience has to understand the context for humour to be shared. Cultural references can be made, though theatregoers need to have the savvy - be it linguistic prowess, erudition, or social awareness - to plain get it.

This is in no way a critique of the performance of the power-packed duo. More could definitely be said of their talent, albeit with (perhaps presumptuous?) suggestions for improvement. Their show left me with quite an impression though, which has led me to think about performances as a whole.

My parents really understood and appreciated the humour, and it was good to have all of us go out for an event like this. They perhaps share more than they are willing to admit, which is definitely heartening to see. Another thing which came to our notice, of course, was the fact that the audience was comprised of English speaking Johorians - all older (very few my age, at least), and mostly Indians (the ethnic group is assumed as 'a whole' to being pretty much a consistent warehouse of the English language in Malaysia - Speaking English is a cultural marker in a way).

Of course, ethnic identification is very much a salient point in the discussion of the comedy. It portrayed, after all, the trinity of recognised and institutionalised racial categories in the country - each given its due attention, because one has to tread carefully on this issue after all (Make fun of one, make fun of all. This provides for some semblance of defence atop artistic immunity, no?) A detailed analysis of this would prove too damn tiring for a blog. Some questions frame the viewing of this performance though:-

How do we even recognise or acknowledge the ethnic groups the duo were (re)presenting? What cultural traits were highlighted, satirised, or validated? Is art imitating life? Does this performance, amongst many others, reflect, revert, or reassert social constructions of ethnic identification and identities?

Enough with the academese and pedantic rant. Comedy Court was just damn funny la.

The First Post

I came across some articles today on blogging, and one in particular focused on the reasons to blog - You should blog because you are passionate about a particular subject, because you want your voice to be heard, because you want to speak to your intended audience. I am starting a blog for none of these reasons. I want to write purely for the sake of writing.

I admit to fancying myself a wordsmith, an artiste of sorts, though I understand this most painfully and perhaps realistically to be utter rubbish.

This blog is entitled Chronicle 52 (I cringe at this title - so ambitious and mechanical-sounding, for some reason, as if describing some weird manga anthology on cyborgs, not that I know much about the genre or machines for that matter). I plan to write a little about my life each day, be it my thoughts and feelings, random ideas and opinions, or a record of events. At the end of the week, I aim to compile everything into an entry, culminating in 52 posts for an entire year.

In a way, having this diary of a blog will keep me and my thoughts company, and perhaps be an affirmation to the meaningfulness of existence. Note that I do not say meaning. This will be something I will read later in life, on reflection.

This will be an account.

I can't help but be weighed down by an almost crippling sense of self-consciousness though, and the thought of someone I am close to reading this. Funny how I wouldn't mind strangers coming across this, but would feel sickeningly uncomfortable if my family were to read this. I still need privacy, for lack of better words, and I already feel some internal tugging on the reins. Nothing too personal. It would just be too painful to write, and to read. Embarrassingly painful.

Right now, the biggest issue would be to discipline myself to write every day and at the end of every week. This is something I am challenging myself with. Procrastination is my excuse for being too self-conscious and plain lazy. The best way to start is to kick inertia in the ass. No matter how uninspired I am, I will write.

Hello blogging.