Welcome to my world. Hold on tight. It's going to be a bumpy ride.
Sunday, 3 March 2013
Limpeh has gone viral on Youtube
You know, I have been chatting with my colleague who pointed out to me that I am going to be seen by between 15,000 and 16,000 people for the full run of this current production in the West End - that may seem like a big number, but check this out: I am in a video that has gone viral on Youtube and it has generated 300,000+ hits in under 48 hours since its release. I guess if you are truly looking to raise your profile as an actor, theatre is not the way to go - you need to harness the power of modern technology. Yes I've worked with the Midnight Beast before (for their first series on Channel 4) and it was a pleasure to be working with them again! My regular readers will know what a huge fan of Psy and Gangnam Style I am! Anyway, here's the video, I hope you like it!
Hahahaha, you realize it is sugar-resin, it's not real glass, so it shatters upon impact but as you can see from the short little mobile phone vid at the end, I was saying, "That felt REAL!" I wasn't prepared for it, I thought it was just gonna shatter on my head but when that bottle hit my head, I just fell off the chair from the impact. But I'm fine, I was laughing :)
lol! Yes, I'm aware of such props :). Here's a classic from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart where they smashed multiple "bottles" over the head of (now ex-)Congressman Dennis Kucinich during an interview.
The difference between the reception of South Korean songs and styles in South Korea and the rest of the world is rather interesting, if you use "Gangnam Style" as an example. I was in Seoul and Busan(with a shoirt trip to Jeju Island) during early September 2012, and the song was a cult following literally then in South Korea. However, the international craze over it started only around late autumn and winter in 2012. By then, the South Koreans had virtually forgotten about PSY and his song.
Oh mate, I was way into Gangnam Style way before the rest of the world got on that band wagon. Ironically, it was something I really got into whilst working in Singapore in 2011 and the first K-pop band I totally fell in love with was T-ara (well, not all their songs are that great, but it was that period when they released Roly-Poly and Lovey-Dovey). I also like 2NE1, Big Bang, Super Junior, Lee Hi, TVXQ, Busker Busker, B.E.G., G.G SNSD, U-Kiss ... you get the idea :) Aegyo + Dance = K-pop heaven.
As someone who can speak Korean relatively fluently and read it at least for survival purposes, the one thing about Korean pop which I relate to is actually its very strong proto-American vibe. Many South Korean artists are by default of nationality Korean-Americans or Canadians(think, Allie, G.Na, Brian Joo and so on), and the songwriters often work together with American artistes or are trained in the USA. Lee H.I(Ha-yi by pronunciation) is a new emerging star, and her songs are actually very very American in vibe too, just like 2NE1 who collaborated with Will.i.am from the Black-Eyed Peas(my favorite American ensemble group actually). 'Aegyo' style never caught onto me or attracted me per se, since I liked the 'sexy' style of the Korean-American or Korean-Canadian artistes(my favorites=Nine Muses, the supermodel group of K-pop and G.Na, sexy diva from Toronto, where I used to live!)
The ONLY part of the world where Gangnam Style is arguably unheard of might be Japan, which is weird considering that Japan has also bought into the Korean Wave years back, not without its due backlash in the anti-Korean wave and the nationalist right-wing movements among youths and adults who demonize Koreans and people of Korean heritage on the isles (they call them 'zainichi', which is actually a very derogatory term as far as I know via a Japanese friend). Technically, it is not P.C (politically correct) to use such materials in a class in Japan, but I taught a seminar class session with the focus of that class on popular culture in South Korea and its reception by the rest of the world, with Gangnam Style as the epitome of it. That article review of the song stunned the students of mine who are un-used to reading English and also did not seem familiar with much of PSY or his music strangely.
Oh and I love the use of Konglish in K-pop. :) I don't like it when they get some Korean who has grown up in America to speak perfect American English, the more ridiculous the English words, the better :) T-ara are fantastic when it comes to Konglish. My fav T-ara song is Roly-Poly - hahaha, if there was ever a title designed to trip up Koreans who are not fluent in English, LOVE IT!!! And it's soo AEGYO!!!! :)
Loved the part where you had your head smashed-in with a glass bottle :)
ReplyDeleteHahahaha, you realize it is sugar-resin, it's not real glass, so it shatters upon impact but as you can see from the short little mobile phone vid at the end, I was saying, "That felt REAL!" I wasn't prepared for it, I thought it was just gonna shatter on my head but when that bottle hit my head, I just fell off the chair from the impact. But I'm fine, I was laughing :)
Deletelol! Yes, I'm aware of such props :). Here's a classic from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart where they smashed multiple "bottles" over the head of (now ex-)Congressman Dennis Kucinich during an interview.
Deletehttp://www.businessinsider.com/dennis-kucinich-sean-penn-daily-show-marijuana-legalization-video-2011-4
The Dennis Kucinich's video is really funny. Thanks for the recommendation.
DeleteThe difference between the reception of South Korean songs and styles in South Korea and the rest of the world is rather interesting, if you use "Gangnam Style" as an example. I was in Seoul and Busan(with a shoirt trip to Jeju Island) during early September 2012, and the song was a cult following literally then in South Korea. However, the international craze over it started only around late autumn and winter in 2012. By then, the South Koreans had virtually forgotten about PSY and his song.
ReplyDeleteOh mate, I was way into Gangnam Style way before the rest of the world got on that band wagon. Ironically, it was something I really got into whilst working in Singapore in 2011 and the first K-pop band I totally fell in love with was T-ara (well, not all their songs are that great, but it was that period when they released Roly-Poly and Lovey-Dovey). I also like 2NE1, Big Bang, Super Junior, Lee Hi, TVXQ, Busker Busker, B.E.G., G.G SNSD, U-Kiss ... you get the idea :) Aegyo + Dance = K-pop heaven.
DeleteAs someone who can speak Korean relatively fluently and read it at least for survival purposes, the one thing about Korean pop which I relate to is actually its very strong proto-American vibe. Many South Korean artists are by default of nationality Korean-Americans or Canadians(think, Allie, G.Na, Brian Joo and so on), and the songwriters often work together with American artistes or are trained in the USA. Lee H.I(Ha-yi by pronunciation) is a new emerging star, and her songs are actually very very American in vibe too, just like 2NE1 who collaborated with Will.i.am from the Black-Eyed Peas(my favorite American ensemble group actually). 'Aegyo' style never caught onto me or attracted me per se, since I liked the 'sexy' style of the Korean-American or Korean-Canadian artistes(my favorites=Nine Muses, the supermodel group of K-pop and G.Na, sexy diva from Toronto, where I used to live!)
DeleteThe ONLY part of the world where Gangnam Style is arguably unheard of might be Japan, which is weird considering that Japan has also bought into the Korean Wave years back, not without its due backlash in the anti-Korean wave and the nationalist right-wing movements among youths and adults who demonize Koreans and people of Korean heritage on the isles (they call them 'zainichi', which is actually a very derogatory term as far as I know via a Japanese friend). Technically, it is not P.C (politically correct) to use such materials in a class in Japan, but I taught a seminar class session with the focus of that class on popular culture in South Korea and its reception by the rest of the world, with Gangnam Style as the epitome of it. That article review of the song stunned the students of mine who are un-used to reading English and also did not seem familiar with much of PSY or his music strangely.
DeleteOh and I love the use of Konglish in K-pop. :) I don't like it when they get some Korean who has grown up in America to speak perfect American English, the more ridiculous the English words, the better :) T-ara are fantastic when it comes to Konglish. My fav T-ara song is Roly-Poly - hahaha, if there was ever a title designed to trip up Koreans who are not fluent in English, LOVE IT!!! And it's soo AEGYO!!!! :)
DeleteHello Limpeh,
ReplyDeleteHave you work in china before?
I have done a short contract in Shanghai about 7 years ago.
Delete