the mrbrown show

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the mrbrown show is a Singaporean podcast with the slogan "Singapore's Favourite Podcast" The daily episodes consists of lively, satirical audio skits and occasional interviews with guests, as well as original songs. The show lampoons current affairs or recent events in a light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek manner, with the skits delivered in a range of accents, prominently including Singlish. Each episode is tinted with a strong local flavour, even those that use global events as their focus.

Contents

[edit] Origins

the mrbrown show was created in March 2005 by satirical blogger and then-journalist mrbrown and his co-host Mr Miyagi. The duo started out with limited equipment such as an iPod and a plug-in mic bought from iShop. The two would almost always begin the show with their trademark greeting, which is actually part of 'the mrbrown show' musical start:

mrbrown: Hello and welcome to the mrbrown show once again, this is mrbrown...
Mr Miyagi: ...And this is Mr Miyagi. Music continues...

With the inclusion of new members and departure of Mr Miyagi from the show, the greeting has since changed and is no longer regular, but the format of the show remains somewhat the same.

[edit] the mrbrown show today

The show is now a daily podcast that can be downloaded free-of-charge from the official site listed below. The podcast has a large following in Singapore, with some episodes seeing over a hundred thousand downloads.[citation needed]

In 2006, the Persistently Non-Political Podcast series, an almost-daily special aired during the 2006 Singapore general elections, became a national phenomenon[citation needed]. In particular, Episode 6 – a satire on the James Gomez saga – saw over 60,000 downloads.(now over 250,000) The Bak Chor Mee Episode, as it is popularly known, spawned new local catchphrases,[citation needed] and even a computer wallpaper as well as T-shirts featuring a pork liver mascot. Another notable spoof in the series was Jedi Elections Special, which featured audio clips from the various Star Wars movies spliced together with original dialogue, providing a tongue-in-cheek analogy of Singapore's political state.

Even more recently, the mrbrown show featured a podcast titled A harmless Podcast, parodying Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally Speech after PM Lee commented on his Bak Chor Mee podcast. The podcast set an audio clip of PM Lee saying "mai hum" (literally "no cockles" in Hokkien) to the music of "My Humps" by The Black Eyed Peas. Other events that became the show's eventual fodder include U.S. President George W. Bush's second visit to the nation, Integrated Resort bids, the 2006 International Monetary Fund and World Bank visits to Singapore and the GST increase in 2007. Happenings in the education scene such as the revision of the local Trim and Fit program and the sudden pulling out of the University of New South Wales Asia from Singapore were also spoofed. Events of national importance, particularly those that show the government in a less-than-flattering light have also been the target of the show's spoofs. A recent example is the escape of Jemaah Islamiyah leader Mas Selamat bin Kastari from a detention centre in Singapore.

During the festive season leading up to Christmas in 2006, the show consisted of original spoofs of famous Christmas music, including White Christmas (Big Bonus), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Rudolph The Red-Nosed Mousedeer), Winter Wonderland (Gambling in an IR Wonderland) and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (Casino Is Coming To Town). These were mostly based upon current affairs previously but differently covered in the show's other podcasts, and were sung by members of the team themselves.

Mr Miyagi, the show's former co-producer, left the team in October 2006 to pursue other interests. With these changes also came the team's acquisition of a working recording studio of their own, with state-of-the-art equipment similar to those employed by radio stations.[1] The show is sponsored by various companies and advertisers.

The show has gone weekly since January of 2008. Also occuring in 2008, Eva Tang Hsiang-yi, from National Cheng Chi University in Taiwan, presented a paper at the Conference on Convergence, Citizen Journalism & Social Change held in the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, entitled "Surviving on the Edge in Singapore: Mr Brown's Satirical Podcasting Finds a Way Out".

[edit] Team

Currently, the team that writes, produces and hosts the show consists of mrbrown, as well as three newer members:

  • Ruby Pan, a Ministry of Education scholar at Princeton University who is now a trainee teacher. She recently garnered considerable attention by starring in TalkingCock.com's 'We the People -- Talking Cock in Parliament' session. Colin Goh, founder of satirical website TalkingCock.com, notes that he first met her when she was doing voice impressions at a New York club. Pan is also a member of charity organization Migrant Voices.
  • Imran Johri, a former sitcom scriptwriter and TV Works artiste.[2]
  • DJ Marc "Momo" Nair.
  • Ivan Nair
  • Aloysius Yap
  • Adrianna Tan

[edit] References

  1. ^ Lee, Kin Mun (October 25, 2006). Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes. the mrbrown show. Retrieved on 2006-11-26.
  2. ^ SPH MediaWorks (December 5, 2000). "TV Works unveils five artistes at A Party with The Difference". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-11-26.

[edit] External links