A history of different types of humour. Chanat Katanyu
The occasion calls for a teary eye, but Thailand Creative and Design Center (TCDC) is holding its very last exhibition at its current home in The Emporium with a factory loaded with laughter.
“Humour Business” is a show that presents the long and fertile history of Thai humour, crystallised into a fun(ny) display which now sits in Gallery 2. The exhibition will remain here until TCDC moves out to shack up with the Grand Postal Building on Charoen Krung in March next year.
The exhibition is also a celebration of sorts, as TCDC partners up with one of the most enduring and undisputed institutions of humour in Thailand, Banlue Group, publisher of 45-year-old Kai Hua Rwoh comic books. Within the laughter factory, a room brimming with comic strips and character vending machines is fully dedicated to Banlue’s journey to create what has become today’s classic jokes.
But laughter isn’t just laughter. As viewers will discover here, humour is a priceless tool that drives the growth of many businesses or even a force for social change. A history that dates back to the pre-commercial era in Thailand shows how folk performances were among the first sources of humour, before Western-style printing presses expanded the range that humour could take form in. In today’s age, iconic figures from English-teaching personality Kru Lilly to Buddhist monk Phra Maha Sompong Talaputto, rely on their funny bones in order to communicate their messages more effectively.
The industry of humour is in fact a serious business — as can be seen in comedian Note Chernyim’s notebook in which he meticulously wrote down every single joke his troupe performed each night in the comedy cafés that were all the rage in the 90s. In this room, a fascinating video featuring nine of the industry’s top players is on a loop depicting the how-tos of the business. With a roster that includes both those in front and behind the scenes, we get an insight into the minds of prominent funnymen like Note Udom and director of commercial blockbusters Banjong Pisanthanakun, as well as more obscure (but no less talented) personas, like Chaiyut Plypetch, who designs cheekily cute Propaganda home decor, and Pariphan Vachranon of the Phantamit team, who explains how his movie-dubbing is a comedy genre of its own.
Vithit Utsahajit and his character Editor Vithit, by various artists. Chanat Katanyu
The highlight of “Humour Business” however, is Banlue Group’s room, which encapsulates the world of printing into a publishing-house-like set. As the first exhibition the company has ever held, fans are getting a look inside the realm of the legendary editor Vithit Utsahajit. Although hardly ever seen in the media, the main man himself was present at the opening, along with cartoonists from the house, and shared what it took for a comic strip to work.
“It’s a balance of skill and idea,” the demure and polite editor explains. “It’s 40% skill, 40% idea and the last 20% is how crackerjack it is.”
With 60 years of producing comics under their belt and no signs of stopping, Vithit’s eldest daughter Pimpicha Utsahajit, who now serves as the executive director of Banlue Group, also adds: “People are still laughing at the scope of human experience, which is universal regardless of time. If you can understand the dimensions of humanity and joke about it and hit the right spot, people will laugh. People don’t change — it’s about whether the writer can get to the heart of humanity or not.”
Today, the passive system of an editor sitting around waiting for the first draft from cartoonists is gone, as a creative and graphics team are hired to lighten the load of writers and tweak gags when they don’t make the cut.
Pimpicha says that while creativity and humour may be endless resources, to remain fresh means constantly adapting. Banlue Group now owns a range of sub-companies that can morph their content into new entities, be it digital or physical, to meet modern demands.
“We need to be very open and must continuously update ourselves to see what people like. It’s all about being colourful and not falling into too much of a pattern,” says Pimpicha. The exhibition itself closes off with literal laughter, with the last room echoing the sounds of people from all walks of life laughing.
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.