Tough Crowd: Coronavirus Forces R-1 Comedy Tournament to Go Without an Audience
R-1 Grand Prix 2020 Magical Lovely Noda Crystal, source
Performing as a relatively unknown solo comedian is hard enough, especially on national television, now take away the studio audience and you have a combination that would make most performers break out in a cold sweat. That’s exactly what happen last week when the Coronavirus forced TV executives to hold the 2020 R-1 Grand Prix, a comedy tournament for solo comedians, without a studio audience, leaving only tournament judges and the staff to react to the performers’ routines. (It should be noted that in Japan most of the most popular comedians perform with a partner and this solo comedian tournament shouldn’t be confused for the Western style of stand-up) The result was a very awkward atmosphere where some on twitter commented that it was “hard to know where to laugh.” The winner of the tournament turned out to be Magical Lovely Noda Crystal, a male comedian who used humorously poorly designed and too difficult video games in his routine. (In fact, in his final routine, his video game where the user tries to cut the stocking of the leg of a woman rubbed some on Twitter the wrong way with some calling it disturbing)
The opinion online of the tournament was mixed with one article wondering why the home audiences’ votes and the opinions of the in-studio judges often differed. (Viewers at home could vote for their favorite comedians using their remote control) Here is another opinion via Twitter:
(“This year’s R-1 Grand Prix was, in my opinion, 20% fresh, 10% funny. The reasoning behind the selection of the judges and the scoring system was vague. I’ve been a fan of comedy for many years and I feel like the R-1 Grand Prix of the past featured more true solo comedians. In recent years, the contestants have depended too much on sounds, drawings, photos and other effects. I want them to compete in a more simple way.”)
