King of Southern Comedy Van Huong passes away, but laughter remains

During his lifetime, composer Vien Chau always had a thought in mind: vọng cổ songs make people sad and cry, but why can’t they make people laugh? He had this thought in mind, but he hadn’t found the answer until he met Văn Hương…

Vua vọng cổ hài Văn Hường ra đi, tiếng cười ở lại - Ảnh 1. — Artist Van Huong is famous for his series of vọng cổ about Tu Ech.

The boy Van Huong was only 15 years old at that time, from Thu Duc, he left home to go to the center of Saigon, hanging around the theaters, selling peanuts and melon seeds in front of the theaters to satisfy his passion for reformed opera. In his free time, he often gathered his friends to sing vọng cổ with his natural, untrained voice. But that voice caught the ears of Viễn Châu and famous people at that time, such as the producer Lê Liêu (who discovered the little girl Ngọc Giàu, brought her home to perform and later became a brilliant star), and Mr. Bảy Cao, the director of the Hoa Sen theater troupe (a talented actor, composer, and theater troupe director at the same time as Mr. Năm Nghĩa, father of artist Thanh Nga). These people all recognized Văn Hương's talent and thought of a direction for the boy.

However, to become a singer is not simple, because Van Huong is not very beautiful. So composer Vien Chau remembered what he cherished, guided Van Huong to follow the comedy vọng cổ, and he himself composed the song for Van Huong to enter the profession. Tư Ếch đi Sài Gòn is the first vọng cổ comedy that shook the Saigon stage. So strange! So fun! What kind of vọng cổ has a fast, happy tempo, funny, catchy lyrics, and a very funny voice, then going up and down, twisting and turning like running around, like playing and joking. Oh my god, is this "breaking" vọng cổ or something? Breaking, but successful, being enthusiastically received.

Vua vọng cổ hài Văn Hường ra đi, tiếng cười ở lại - Ảnh 2. — Artist Van Huong has retired since 1987.
PHOTO: DOCUMENTARY

Van Huong rose to the top. From then on, he was sought after by record companies, and Vien Chau wrote hundreds more humorous vọng cổ songs for him, singing from 1960 until around 1987 when he stopped singing. During this time, Van Huong also followed the Thanh Hai, Thong Nhat, and Phuoc Chung troupes, playing clowns in long cải lương plays. In 1987, he retired completely, returned home to Thu Duc, and opened a singing shop together, also specializing in vọng cổ comedy. A few years later, due to old age and poor health, he stopped singing and performing altogether. But his vọng cổ songs are still circulated on tapes and discs, on the internet, and he himself created this special vọng cổ comedy school with descendants such as He Sa, He An Danh, artists Thanh Nam, Giang Chau, Phu Quy, Hong To...

The funeral of artist Van Huong was held at his residence in Thu Duc City (HCMC). The burial ceremony was at 6am on December 8, the burial ceremony was at 8am on February 11, and the cremation was at Phuc An Vien Cemetery, Thu Duc City.

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