SIX Malaysian stand-up comedians recently joined forces to form a group with the eye-catching name of 1Malaysia Comedians Bureau (1MCB).
Five of the comics on the roster – Brian Tan, Gajen Nad, Keren Bala Devan, Shamaine Othman, and Sulaiman Azmil – held their debut show on Jan 11 at the Platform in Taman Tun Ismail, Kuala Lumpur (the sixth member, Prakash Daniel, had a prior engagement).
The five brought the house down, eliciting peals of laughter from the audience with their jokes on topics ranging from politics to race and sex.
My favourite perfomer of the night has to be Sulaiman Azmil, who spearheads the 1MCB.
I loved his jokes about how Pahang got its map, and how the city of Pekan was born.
The only lady of the group, Shaimaine, got the crowd giggling hard when she talked about her relationship with her ‘Mat Salleh boyfriend’, while Gajen was not shy about poking fun at his Chindian heritage, and how he often gets mistaken for a Nepali.
Of course, the show was far from perfect. The momentum was not consistent, and there were times some jokes fell flat.
“All of us plan to meet in the near future and have a proper post-mortem,” says Sulaiman, who is also a full-time lawyer. “We will see what we can improve for our next show.”
He pointed out that the group’s biggest strength is the diversity among its members in terms of race, religion, gender, and age.
“I have lived through seven prime ministers, and some of the others have lived through two prime ministers,” Sulaiman says.
“Therefore, the kind of jokes the audience will hear from us [encompass] a wide range of topics.”
Do you forsee jealousy creeping in among the group if one gets more success than the others in terms of accolades and reviews?
“Jealousy is a negative word,” he says. “We will be happy for each other if any of us get praise. We move as a group, and the success of one member is also a reflection on the success of the group.”
Sulaiman points out that although he is the oldest among them in age, in terms of experience, he is the most junior.
He started his career as stand-up comedian only five years ago. He has always loved watching local stand-up comedians and learning from them. For him, the ‘god’ of stand-up comedians is Harith Iskander.
Though he has always had a passion for comedy, he has no regrets becoming a lawyer as from young, he has always wanted to be lawyer.
He also has no qualms about poking fun at himself, whether about his race, or his profession.
“One must find humour within one’s life,” he adds.
Singing a similar tune is 30-year-old Gajen, the youngest among the group. During his set, his jokes mainly revolved around his Chindian heritage.
This mechanical engineering graduate once worked as a consultant for a locally-based American firm. Five months ago, he quit his job and became a full-time stand-up comedian.
Gajen, who has been practising stand up for nearly seven years, feels being part of the group has given him some advantage as he believes the exchange of ideas will help improve his act.
His ultimate dream is to have more Malaysians watch local stand-up comedy.
Shamaine, despite being the only rose among the thorns, is extremely glad to be a part of this diverse group.
She started her career in stand up in 2012, and is a protege of the Malaysian queen of comedy, Joanne Kam Poh Poh.
She is also the daughter of director Othman Hafsham, famous for his work on classic sitcoms such as Pi Mai Pi Mai Tang Tu and 2+1, and comedy films Adik Manja and Mekanik.
“I am a writer first,” Shamaine explains. “I became a stand-up comedian because I can have more control over my material, and there is less censorship.”
Currently, she is working towards having her own one-hour stand-up comedy act though she admits: “To entertain the crowd for an hour is not going to be an easy task.”
For updates on future shows, visit 1MCB’s Facebook page and website.
