Funny men at the forefront
Four popular comedians teamed up to bring the audience LOLs in a recent charity showcase.
IT was a dark and stormy night. And you know what that means in Kuala Lumpur: traffic jams to the extreme! And a lamentable shortage of parking places.
But inclement weather and road congestion did not stop comedy lovers from making their way to Laugh Die You – Road To Putrajaya, a laugh-filled event featuring four prominent South-East Asian comedians.
Laugh Die You – Road To Putrajaya took place at the HGH Convention Centre in KL. It is the second installment of this series, which first began in 2015.
Presented by Popcorn Studio, the show featured the comedic talents of Gurmit Singh, Kavin Jay, Sulaiman Azmil and Rizal Van Geyzel (a late replacement for Indi Nadarajah, who sent his apologies that he was too unwell to perform).
The show raised money for charity; RM12,517 was accumulated from donations by the end of the night, with proceeds going to centres such as Pusat Jagaan Kanak-Kanak Down Syndrome dan Hyper Aktif BBT2 in Klang.
The evening opened with a performance by local music group Hydra.
Admittedly, it was a little unusual to open a stand-up comedy show with rather serious-sounding rock tunes – several latecomers into the auditorium seemed visibly uncertain if they were at the right event – but the band definitely put up an energetic and stirring performance. Hydra was hailed with hearty applause for their covers of various classics, including Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and Nina Simone’s Feeling Good.
And “feeling good” was certainly an apt phrase to describe the event, which saw giggles, groans and guffaws aplenty at the rather diverse material on display from all four of the night’s capable comics.
Hosting the show was legendary Singaporean comedian Gurmit Singh, best known to many as yellow-boot wearing contractor Phua Chu Kang.
In this show, however, he put on a guard’s uniform to become “Chief of Suck-urity”, Hero Singh, and sparked lots of laughter with his irreverent banter and constant innuendo.
Gurmit did not engage in traditional standup comedy, for this show he acted as half emcee, half gameshow host.
While his popular Phua Chu Kang catchphrase was “don’t play-play”, here he successfully convinced audience members to play games for prizes both great (a widescreen television!) and small (a sandwich!). And the people who participated were sporting indeed.
Men stripped off their shirts in a “form the longest line of objects” contest, while one guy almost gave Gurmit a heart attack by leaping on top of an unsteady pole to win a pole-dancing contest!
It’s never easy being the first performer of a show, but Kavin Jay, one of the country’s most well-known comics, did a good job.
Many of his light-hearted anecdotes touched on the differences between Malaysia and Singapore, as well as his experiences of being a “bigger” gentleman. Loud laughter filled the air as Kavin told a story of once having to buy two seats on an airplane, only to discover they were apart!
Following Kavin was lawyer by day, comedian by night Sulaiman, whose jokes took a slightly more serious tone, touching on issues such as colonialism and foreign influences on the country. A segment on flag design was particularly inspired, as Sulaiman lamented how attempts to draw the 14 pointed stars on the Jalur Gemilang often resulted in sketches of very unappetising durians.
Closing the night was Rizal, who also proved to be an entertaining performer, regaling the audience with fish-out-of-water experiences in foreign cultures, and opinions on modern music.
“Listening to Boyz II Men growing up made me scared to talk to women. They’re these four 6-foot tall black American guys, and what are they doing? They’re crying all the time! And I thought, oh my God, if these guys are getting down and crying for women, what chance did I have?’” said Rizal.
A title like Road To Putrajaya implied there would be a lot of political humour. While there were certainly barbs thrown here and there at positions of power, the performers instead took a very loose interpretation of the title, making jokes at anything and everything including local cuisine, public toilets and Malaysians with unnecessary foreign accents.
So, was there false advertising here? Perhaps.
But judging from the loud laughter and applause at many parts of the show, nobody seemed to mind.
The comedians may have gotten lost on the way to the seat of power but ultimately they reached the hearts (and funnybones!) of the people, and isn’t that what’s more important in the end?