Comedy Big League celebrates 10th anniversary

Comedy Big League (Co Big), tvN’s live sketch comedy show, has marked its 10th anniversary. The broadcasting channel organized an online press briefing marking the show’s anniversary, which was much of a friendly get-together, not simply because of the number of people showing up at the briefing, but also thanks to the wittiness of the comedians that created convivial atmosphere. The briefing was joined by 16 comedians who represent the show, including Moon Se-yoon, Lee Eun-hyung, Yang Sae-chan, Lee Yong-jin, Lee Jin-ho, and Hong Yoon-hwa, and Chief Producer Park Seong-jae.

Comedy Big League has been kept alive amid the downfall of many live sketch comedy shows. “Co Big used to be a fledgling school, but now it has grown up to become like a top-rated academy where talented students come together and thrive,” said Lee Jin-ho. This statement is indeed true, as proven by the number of comedians who have starred in the show in the past 10 years: 194. Yang Se-chan, this year’s top excellence award winner of SBS Entertainment Awards, also attributed glory to the show. “I am delighted to receive messages from fellow comedians that it is also their honor that a current sketch comedian has won the grand prize,” said Moon Se-yoon, the grand prize winner of the 2021 KBS Entertainment Awards.

The key to the comedy show’s success its competition format. Dividing a year into quarters, Comedy Big League pitted one episode against another every week and had a live audience vote, depending on which each performance gets different winning points. A sketch that gains most points becomes a winner of that quarter. Lee Sang-jun and Lee Guk-joo, having starred in the show as the show’s original members, have performed in a talk show on psychology of men and women, one of the longest pieces in the show.

Another contributor of the show’s accomplishment is interaction with audience. “COVID-19 made us all realize the importance of the live comedy performance. The existence of a live audience makes a huge difference for the quality of a show. When the coronavirus pandemic ends, we will communicate with audience to create a funnier, edgier show,” said Park Seong-jae, the program’s CP.


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