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ALI KASIM
Right off the bat, comedian Kumar saw the need to assess the racial make-up of his audience.
“What is the mammal in the sea called?” he asked the crowd at the Esplanade Theatre last Saturday, composed mainly of Indian and Chinese theatregoers.
The response was an overwhelming “whale, whale” – or rather, “vel, vel”, the punchline to a joke known among many Indians in Singapore.
After he identified where the Chinese folks were, he addressed the Malays.
“They must be (seated) at the back, where the $40 seats are,” he quipped.
Truly, a racial jab only Kumar, armed with a stand-up career spanning more than 30 years, could get away with.
It set the tone for the rest of his set from The Great Indian Mix – Kumar Spills the Tea show. The 55-year-old was one of the biggest draws of Esplanade’s Kalaa Utsavam - Indian Festival of Arts, which ran from Nov 17 to 26.
The 90-minute show, scripted by fellow comedian Sharul Channa, was replete with raunchy and risque jokes about race and sex.
If any among the crowd were expecting a wholesome family affair, they would have left the theatre red-faced, after squirming in their seats at the not-so-subtle sexual innuendos.
Dressed in full “sari” regalia for the first half of the show, Kumar never shied away from the racy stuff. Recounting his recent trip to Australia, he opined that Sydney was overwhelmingly “gay”, and smelled most notably of “protein”.
“The slower ones need to catch up, yah,” he told the audience, after it was apparent some didn’t quite catch the unsavoury punchline.
Local politicians weren’t spared either, as Kumar roasted ministers Edwin Tong and Ong Ye Kung for their, uhm, looks. (Lawrence Wong, in his book, is one of the better looking members of the Cabinet, apparently.)
But the comedian’s quick wit and sass were best exemplified whenever he tossed away the script momentarily to roast audience members in the front rows.
Woe to whomever he pointed to and asked “Sir, where are you from?”
One gentleman who attended the show alone wasn’t spared from the inevitable mockery. Neither was a couple from the Philippines.
Come to think of it, when Kumar’s on stage, no one – regardless of race or religion – is safe.
