Monday, March 3, 2008

Not Funny Lah

I read in the papers that Zaibo (you know, the bald comedian fella) was slighted that a participant on Raja Lawak cracked a joke on him being bald. He insisted that jokes shouldn't touch on physical traits, and there's a line to be drawn. No wonder we don't have that many noteworthy comedians around, if this is the kind of mentality they have. Actually I struggle to even think of one, Harith Iskander?

I mean, come on. You're a comedian (or comic, I dunno which is the correct term), lighten up for goodness sakes! Have you watched Comedy Central (on Youtube of course) lately? Are there any notable comedian whose set involves being very polite and touching only on generalistic and neutral issues? Take Russell Peters, he must've slighted 90% of his audiences with his racial topics. But I don't think anyone take it to the heart, because he pokes fun on his own heritage too. He does not slander, he does not accuse. He put it in a matter-of-fact way, that you have to agree with it. So why is it that Zaibo is feeling slighted over bald jokes referring to him? Denial ke bang? Next time wear a toupee if you hate it so much that you are bald.

Of course, we can't touch on religion or race here in Boleh-land. Too sensitive, fireworks might fly from an innocent remark. But I'm sure there's a helluva lot more to poke fun at. The politicians maybe? Or would that land them in a certain detention area in Kamunting? Poke fun at yourself if worse comes to worse, self depreciating can be very funny if done in the right way. Trust me, I've been watching Comedy Central and Last Comic Standing almost religiously.

We've had a long string of bad comedians that we've had to endure. Badul? Mr Os? Saleh Yaakob? Jalil Hamid? Goodness gracious me. Then it's Senario dominating the scene. They all say they're not here to serve cheap slapstick humor, but they all do in the end. Though cliched, I still find the jokes from P. Ramlee movies of old funny even though I've watched them dozens of time and even memorized some of it. Those jokes are very tongue in cheek, sarcastic, pokes fun at each other and most importantly funny.

If you are too sensitive, don't be a comedian. Lighten up, or get the hell out. I enjoy sitcoms and comedies a lot, but yet to find a good local equivalent. I have seen glimmers of hope in Afdlin's and Mamat Khalid's works, but they still have some way to go. Perhaps someday Ho Yufang might come out with a full fledged comedy, since his TV ads are hilarious. He can be the Yasmin Ahmad of comedy you know, maybe with less Sharifahs on the bandwagon. Maybe.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

teringat plak citer OS yg jadi doktor dulu tu.. citer pe ek? yg bole bcakap ngan kambeng tuh. haha. lekkkk je gigi dia kan.

nanayau said...

ha ah, citer OS tu kelakar, yg buat ubat kasi binatang boleh cakap, kan?! lawak wey.

of course, pramlee wins handsdown.
saleh yaakob, i'd say "not baaad"

i think jit murad is funny when he wants to. i prefer him than harith..

Perky said...

Oooh I absolutely love russell peters... huge huge fan.

I can't pin point a particular local comedian that I really really like. But somehow the actress Ida Nerina comes to mind (not sure if I can call her a comedian).. but when she does comedy she makes me laugh hard.

Anonymous said...

lately i've been watching raja lawak quite religiously..
last comic standing doesn't woo me that much though.
perhaps it's because of nabil and the duo, cham.. i think they are okay.
and cute. LOL

oh, i saw this ep on zaibo..thehehehe.. funny lah uncle zainal botak ini..
maybe he was dissatisfied because he was the ONLY one being picked on.
not Enot, not HSBC.. [i still laugh when i think of hsbc nih..hahaha]

in short, i do agree on what you said..we, boleh-land people, are too sensitive and restricted.
races and religions aside, A LOT can still be laughed about in this land of boleh-tapi-tak-boleh..
but yes, prepare yourself of going to Kamunting should you decided to pick on politicians or leaders.
LOL

my, this sure is not a 'short' comment..
:D

The Banker said...

bini mokhtar & nana: orang kampung otak kimia kot nama dia. dulu2 tengok ok la, but as i get older i find it less and less funny. compare that to the timeless classics that p. ramlee churned out, bagai langit dan bumi lah.

perky: ida nerina does comedy? btw i'm still wondering why she insist on being called 'aida' nerina, when it is spelled as ida.

cik kutan: restrictions on the arts are very suffocating, ugh...

Perky said...

Yeah she does... As a matter of fact she was part of the Actorlympics at Actor's Studio few years back with harith, afdlin n edwin sumun.

Anonymous said...

arrived home for my first GE, wahai muhammad!

nurulazreenazlan said...

goodness gracious me is funny! i love them! as well as the kumars at no. 42. and also russel peters. omg i watch too many indian comedians kah?

those people at the actors studio are pretty good. i love catching the actorlympics. harith iskandar is really funny, and i think the fact that he doesn't take himself very seriously and thus having the ability to poke fun at himself contribute a lot. his solo show was really good. i've seen jit in action too, he can be bitchy but harith is funnier. i missed afdlin's solo show 2 years ago (titled 'why you so fat' or something self-deprecating like that), i heard it was really good.

come to think of it, zaibo takde la kelakar mana pun. part of the reason dia kelakar is because of how he looks, so to be upset when people poke fun at his looks, ada irony di situ. ya komen saya terhadap zaibo ini mungkin kejam tapi kalau takde sense of humor macam mana boleh jadi comedian?

The Banker said...

perky: she's a good actress, good to know that she does good comedies as well

nurulazreen: hey i love those too! too bad they don't show those on star world anymore. hey, can't blame urself for that. as russell peters say, england is their motherland =P