HotFM host Azizul learns from mistake
BACK as HotFM announcer a couple of weeks ago, Azizul Ammar Abu Hassan said he has since become careful not to offend people on air.
“I have this fear of saying the wrong thing and hurting othhe ers,” told the New
Straits Times recently. He is glad that his colIssey leagues, and Deen, have been coaching him to ensure that he can engage with his audience again.
Azizul, 30, feels fortunate to be working in the same programme as Issey (Fazlisham Mat Hussin) and Deen (Nordin Madian) — Jam Hot from 4pm to 8pm — as they have been a team for a year now.
Azizul and Issey made their deshowbusiness but in as comedy duo Titan, which won TV3’s comedy talent search Bintang Mencari Bintang in 2013.
“They are my best friends. Not only have they welcomed me back, they’ve promised to help me get back on my feet as an announcer.”
Azizul said it was not easy to regain his momentum after being away for six months.
“I’ve become tense and serious. I don’t want to repeat the mistake. It’s a struggle to loosen up, but I can do it.”
He rehearses what he plans to say an hour before Jam Hot begins.
“I have to be spontaneous, but it’s safer to have a practice session, and my colleagues know that I need it more than ever.”
He has pinned up a list of do’s and don’t’s at the studio to avoid “saying the wrong things” and “most importantly, no poking fun at people’s names”.
He said being nervous was good, because it showed that he cared about his work.
‘Nervousness makes me think before I speak, and consult my superiors if I’m unsure a joke is offensive.”
Azizul’s Bintang Mencari Bintang mentor, comedian Sabri Yunus, has been supportive of him, and advised him to learn from his mistakes.
“I visited him during my sixmonth ‘holiday’ and instead of berating me for my mistake, he told me to learn from it and improve myself.”
He spent his suspension looking after his wife, Amalina Jamil, who is pregnant. Their baby will arrive in December.
“She advised me to think positively, and told me that every cloud has a silver lining.
“Thus, I spent those months caring for her, and visiting my family.”
He was suspended for cracking a joke about former national sprinter Watson Nyambek on TV3 comedy Sukan Tak Sentral last April. By Dennis Chua