It’s no boy band, but Hong Kong’s Trial & Error scores success between ‘red lines’ with videos, parodies, songs
- With 350,000 followers and sold-out shows, trio say there’s still plenty of room to play and create
- Mood has changed in the city and Hongkongers are ready to be entertained again, YouTube stars say
05:41
From online to onstage: Hong Kong YouTubers make a splash through Trial & Error
When Hong Kong actor Neo Yau Hawk-sau co-founded the YouTube channel Trial & Error to create low-budget short videos, he never imagined it would become all the rage within just a year.
It is now one of the city’s most popular channels, with 350,000 followers who lap up the deadpan humour, slapstick comedy and songs dished out by Neo, 31, and his partners, Hui Yin and So Chi-ho, both 28 and YouTube stars in their own right.
Through comedy skits, parodies, music videos and game shows, the three give their take on the latest trends, interpersonal relationships and office politics, and produce spoofs of films and pop hits.
All Hong Kong born, Hui and So were schoolmates doing videos on YouTube when Yau contacted them to work together on a new channel. Yau mostly acts, while his partners, using the monikers KidNey and MC $oho, act and sing.
The trio staged two sold-out live shows in October.
Observers attribute their success to the comeback of the city’s creative industry, marked by the craze over Canto-pop boy band Mirror, after years marked by social unrest and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Instead of banking on the pop star appeal of pretty band boys, the Trial & Error team tapped on enthusiasm among fans for their anti-idol sarcasm and witty use of Cantonese slang.
