Happy Ever Laughter

I am a fan of local comedy and by ‘local’, I mean Singapore. Yes, I am a fan of Singapore comedy. So, when I found out 12 comedians are lining up to amuse me in Happy Ever Laughter, I had to round up some funny friends to enjoy this show with me.

About Singapore comedy - you have to be a Singaporean, born and bred in Singapore to understand and laugh at the jokes. Poor foreigners get poked fun at in these shows and it can be quite offensive, so watch out! If you are not thick-face enough, just stay at home and watch football.

12 comedians entertained in Happy Ever Laughter. Some are more entertaining than others. I realized that age plays a big part. I can better relate and connect with the comedians of my generation. There were some younger comedians in the show and I have no clue who they are and what they were talking about. So you NOT only have to be a Singaporean, born and bred in Singapore, you also have to between 30 to 50 years old to enjoy the show.

I am sharing with you some of the comedians who left a mark on me .....

Kumar - He/She is hilarious. For those of you who do not know who Kumar is, he is the Indian, gay star of of the Boom Boom Room.He is the one who can proudly claims that he is ‘Singapore government-approved’ and has his ovaries hanging outside his body. I love his jokes. They are usually insightful like the one that he joked about army camps and hospitals. He reckons that all Singaporean sons should become nurses instead of soldiers for 2 years who they turn 18. Given the long waiting queues at the hospitals and the influx of Filipinos who do not speak the local dialects, I must say, that is a pretty solid suggestion. Who the heck wants to invade Singapore anyway, so we might as well put our Singaporean sons to good use. =)

Sebastian Tan - the Hokkien-speaking Broadway Beng. I love this guy, it takes a big guy to be able to put himself out there and joke about himself. He lamented about his recent weight gain that is giving him the man boobs. He swims to lose weight but is very conscious about his body. So while in the pool, he always make sure that the water level is at his ‘knee’ level, oops, not ‘knee’ level but ‘ni’ (Hokkien for boobs) level. I love the way he 'confused' us with a mix of English and Hokkien. =)

Selana Tan - the director of the show did the opening act. Finally at the age of 40, she voted for the first time in the Singapore General Elections last year. She also had some good insights for future politicians - use a household item for your party’s symbol so it is easier for them to show their support. Every household has a hammer and glasses. Who has a palm tree and a bolt of lightning at home?!?

Gurmit Singh’s jokes were okay but he really delivered them well. I feel he is more of a performer than a comedian. The show was rated R18 and it is liberating to hear the four-letter-F-word spoken with so much conviction in public. =)

A real surprise for me is Judee Tan as Teo Chew Muay talking about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM on TCM). She nailed it with her body language and when she joked that western doctors (think Grey’s Anatomy) like to cut you up and subject you to animal (“CAT”) scans to find out what is wrong with you when all Chinese doctors have to do is to look at your tongue and read your pulse. So true. =)

Misses for me: Michelle Chong who entertained as Salmonella, the bimbo vice-president of the SPGs Club was too similar to her Barbarella Noose character. Moses Lim was disappointing with his old jokes. The rest of the comedians were funny but not spectacular.

If Dream Academy Productions do this again, I would go for a good laugh. But, can I pick and choose who I want to see?

Till my next blog post, LAUGH cos LAUGHTER is the best medicine! =)