Funniest man in the world
The godfather of Malaysian stand-up comedy tells jokes that resonate with everyone.
IT MAY be diffiicult to imagine now, but there was a time when the idea of stannd- up comedy was almost alien to most Malaysians.
Actor and coomedian Harith Iskander recallled how, back in the 1990s, peoople would react to his performannces at corporate shows with coonfusion.
“In Malaysiaa, we didn’t have a culture of stannd- up comedy. Unless you hadd been overseas, or had been expossed to Western culture at the time e, you wouldn’t have heard of iit. For the first 10 to 12 years I did a show, I would see at least three quuarters of the audience look at me e like ‘ what is he doing?’,” Harithh recalled.
“In the early days, I was mostly educating audi ences on what stand up comeddy was, for those who hadn’t seeen it. And I’d know they hadn’t seeen it because they’d come up to me after the show, saying they really enjoyed my ‘talk show’. They diddn’t know how else to explain it!”
Those early aaudiences, however, may have beenn on to something. Today, almost tthree decades later, Harith, 50, is noot only a household name, one of thhe most well-known comedians in thhe country, but also the host of a suuccessful talk show, Obviously Haritth Iskander!
Known affec tionately as ‘ The Godfather of MalaysianM Stand-Up Comedy’, Harit h proved recently that his appeal also extends internationally, after r he beat 88 other comedians fromm around the world to win the 20166 Funniest Person in the World comppetition.
The famed fuunnyman achieved the most votes in the finals, held in Levi, Lapland, earlier this month, to take home the title and prize money of US$100,000 (RM444,845).
In preparing for the Funniest Person in the World finals, Harith said he had chosen material from his 26 years of experience in comedy which he felt would resonate with audiences everywhere.
“I need to use material that is instantly recognisable, that no matter who is watching worldwide, people will be able to get it. But I’m going to maintain my Malaysian-ness. It will definitely be material about how Malaysians see the world, and how we live our lives,” Harith said, speaking in an interview a week before the finals.
His strategy worked like a charm because Harith took home the big prize.
“I’m absolutely grateful to have fans all over Malaysia, Southeast Asia, Denmark, Britain, Denmark, and Australia to supportme. It’s never possible without my fans!” he said.
It’s certainly been a big year for Harith: not only did he do well in stand-up internationally, his talk show, which is broadcast on Astro Awani, also received critical acclaim. Since its launch earlier this year, Obviously Harith Iskander has gained over 95,000 followers on its social media pages, and picked up two Gold awards at the Asian Digital Media Awards 2016.
“The show surpassed my expectations. We contacted people I wanted on the show, and I ended up getting almost everyone I wanted who was available,” said Harith, naming Air Asia CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, CIMB Group chairman Datuk Seri Nazir Tun Razak and Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim as some of his most distinguished guests.
“The guest list was my wish list. It’s not always that your wishes come true, but in this case they did! We were working on a fairly tight budget, but my team and the