{"id":25721,"date":"2017-06-01T16:19:42","date_gmt":"2017-06-01T08:19:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/?p=25721"},"modified":"2021-06-03T17:28:43","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T09:28:43","slug":"theres-something-about-judee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/theres-something-about-judee\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s Something About Judee"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

She\u2019s made you laugh, but comedy firecracker Judee Tan will also make you think! She shares with us her thoughts on being funny, accents and attitudes, and finding truth in the work she does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Odds are, if you\u2019ve ever seen Judee Tan perform, she\u2019s made you laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fireball of energy and incredible comic timing, Judee has been one of Singapore\u2019s most reliably funny comedians for years \u2013 whether she\u2019s reporting from North Korea as The Noose<\/em>\u2019s Kim Bong Cha, or playing nervous TCM practitioner Dr. Teo Chew Moi<\/a> in Happy Ever Laughter<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s so effortlessly funny, in fact, that you\u2019d be forgiven for thinking that comedy is in her blood \u2013 that it must have been written in her stars, somehow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was never in my mind to do comedy or be a comedian,\u201d she reveals. \u201cI\u2019m an actress, and that was how it all started \u2013 I took on a role, as an actress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That fateful role was one she helped create. In 2009\u2019s Chestnuts: Broadway 4 Suakus<\/em>, Judee worked with director Jonathan Lim to come up with a bimbotic beauty queen character inspired by real-life pageant winner Ris Low<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s since moved on to play Ivory Low Ai Kiu, Ris\u2019 fictional and even sillier sister, who has brought down the house at subsequent editions of Chestnuts<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would never say no to playing a bimbo,\u201d Judee laughs. \u201cI love playing bimbos! I want to get into their psyches, and when I do \u2013 it\u2019s just blank.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
In Fine Feather: Judee in her one-woman show, Nu Men: The Wild Woman Sings<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s telling, however, that Judee approaches all her characters \u2013 however silly or \u2018blank\u2019 they may be \u2013 as an actress, not as a comedian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have to play the truth of it,\u201d she says, with conviction. \u201cI find these characters funny, sure, but when I\u2019m playing them, I can\u2019t think I\u2019m funny. They wouldn\u2019t think that of themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She checks off a list of things an actor will have running through her head at any given time \u2013 from blocking and lighting to speed and timing. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to have another part of your mind, which is largely your own insecurity, going, \u2018Am I, at this moment, funny?\u2019 Because that will just destroy everything you\u2019ve been working for on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s evident that Judee puts a lot of work and thought into every character she plays \u2013 including the many spot-on accents she\u2019s adopted over the years. Simply mimicking the way someone sounds is not enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLanguage is part of personality,\u201d she observes. \u201cHow we speak is influenced by so many things \u2013 our heritage, our environment, our first language and, largely, our personalities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why, when she portrays a character, she doesn\u2019t just copy an accent \u2013 she makes the effort to capture the \u201cattitude\u201d that goes with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what gives the truth to the character,\u201d she explains. \u201cAnd it will only be truthful to the audience when it\u2019s truthful to your character!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On occasion, Judee\u2019s driving need to find honesty and truth in the work she does has even prompted her to speak up in defense of her characters. She did so on the set of her first feature film, Unlucky Plaza<\/em>, written and directed by Ken Kwek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI pointed out how I didn\u2019t think my character, as a modern woman, would make certain choices in the situations in which she found herself,\u201d she recalls. \u201cKen was especially good to work with because he was open to having these conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an industry where jobs can be hard to come by, Judee has even turned down roles when things don\u2019t feel quite right. \u201cI don\u2019t want to feel like a fraud \u2013 I have to keep my own internal compass balanced, which can be tough in show business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019ll be bringing all of this \u2013 her spot-on comic timing, her impeccable accent work, her relentless need to seek out the truth \u2013 to her next project, Boeing Boeing<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amazingly for an avid theatre-goer, she\u2019s never watched Marc Camoletti\u2019s classic farce. For reasons of work or age or lack of disposable income, she missed W!LD RICE\u2019s earlier productions of this high-flying comedy, all of which played to rave reviews and sold-out houses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one reason why this experience will be completely fresh for me,\u201d she enthuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\u2019s also excited for the opportunity to work with a tried-and-tested script, one she doesn\u2019t have to constantly worry about refining and improving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn my ten-year career, I have never done a play that isn\u2019t written by a local playwright,\u201d she points out. \u201cAs an artist, I have always really wanted to work on and create local plays and art. But, when we do that, actors often have to invest a great deal in the scripting process \u2013 we do whatever we can to help our writers make things even funnier or more relevant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t even realise how tiring that can be, until Boeing Boeing<\/em> presented itself,\u201d she continues. \u201cIt\u2019s a luxury to be given such an established and well-oiled script \u2013 one I don\u2019t even have to think about. I can just focus on interpreting my character: giving her a breath of fresh air, rather than creating her from scratch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not to say this brand-new production of Boeing Boeing<\/em> hasn\u2019t been tweaked for local audiences. \u201cWe have definitely localised it and made this adaptation more current,\u201d she promises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All in all, it sounds like a dream job for Judee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a comedy, I love farces, and people have never seen me do something like this,\u201d she laughs. \u201cI\u2019m really, really looking forward to it!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

She\u2019s made you laugh, but comedy firecracker Judee Tan will also make you think! She shares with us her thoughts on being funny, accents and attitudes, and finding truth in the work she does. Odds are, if you\u2019ve ever seen Judee Tan perform, she\u2019s made you laugh. A fireball of energy and incredible comic timing, …<\/p>\n

There\u2019s Something About Judee<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":35544,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[237,239,236,238],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25721"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glutenfreepleasure.com\/__proxy_domain\/www.wildrice.com.sg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}