Making off-color jokes is taboo in the South Korean entertainment industry, especially for a woman.
Comedians have to be mindful of broadcasting regulations and harsh criticism when they engage in explicit and inventive dirty talking.
But Park Na-rae, a 34-year-old who made her debut on KBS' flagship Gag Concert in 2006, is pushing the boundaries in comedy.
"Park Na-rae: Glamour Warning," which was released on Oct. 16 on global media giant Netflix, is a stand-up comedy that delivers a funny and refreshing performance from the voluble talker. The show is a recording of Park's live stand-up debut of the same name at Blue Square in central Seoul, from May 17-18.
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(Netflix) |
"Endearing. Yet shameless and brash. She knows no limits -- and she promises candid talk that dares to bare it all," Netflix says about Park's show.
Her sexually explicit show, the first stand-up performance by a South Korean comedienne, has drawn mixed online views.
Some say it was fresh to see a female entertainer attempting stand-up and talking dirty in front of an audience of 3,000, while others felt uncomfortable with her unflattering one-liners.
Experts hailed Park as the first woman to put on such a show no matter how funny she is.
"There has been no woman who tells indecent jokes in public in South Korea," culture critic Jung Duk-hyun said.
But for Park -- one of the busiest comediennes, currently appearing in a number of hit variety shows, including "I Live Alone" and "Where is My Home" -- it was not easy to engage in a controversial sex comedy genre as a woman entertainer.
"One of the veteran comedians once told me that making off-color jokes in public is like jumping under a high-voltage cable," she said in a press conference last week. "If I can jump freely without touching the line, it is finally the time that I'm able to go into it."
Also, she was burdened to prove herself that she has enough selling power in stand-up, which is an unfamiliar genre in a comedy scene dominated by variety shows.
"It's as if I were standing on a stage naked," she said. "I have to make the audience laugh with my own shtick without settings, props or partners."
But she was relieved when the audience burst into laughter at her glib performance.
Based on the success of "Glamorous Warning," she will bring stand-up comedy to a conventional TV channel. She will host the pilot of "Stand-up" on KBS next month. (Yonhap)
