The month-long PJ Laugh Fest sees ardent comedy buffs heading to PJLA to catch a host of exciting shows, though none more highly anticipated than ‘Actorlympics’. The live improvisational theatre show features some of Malaysia’s favourite comedians, including Afdlin Shauki, Harith Iskander, Douglas Lim, Kuah Jenhan and Jason Lo, who takes time off supporting his beloved football club Chelsea and completing his half written standup comedy script to talk to us about ‘Actorlympics’. 

First of all, congrats on Chelsea winning the FA Cup. Do you think the Blues will go on to lift the Champions League this coming weekend?
Nope, I am not going to comment on that. I don’t want to jinx us at all.

Okay, back to ‘Actorlympics’ then. Can you tell our readers what's it all about?
Generally there is a certain level of toilet humour in there. It’s a natural process, the tendency to lean towards the toilet humour, which we love. It works best when we don’t take ourselves seriously. We are guided oftentimes by Afdlin Shauki and Harith Iskander, who are the big drivers of ‘Actorlympics’. It is only spontaneous as much as the crowd is involved. If we sense the crowd leaning towards a certain demographic then we’ll make fun of those demographics. It’s a lot of fun. Malaysians tend to take ourselves too seriously, and we really shouldn’t.

I’ve always been intrigued by the ‘Actorlympics’ name. With this year being an Olympic year, does it bring any significance or is that just a name?
That’s a good question; I’ve never really thought about that. I’m sure the Olympics will feature, as will the General Elections, various individuals being caught doing various things. I mean I don’t know how many times we keep making fun of (Chua) Soi Lek, but it keeps happening. Anwar has come up numerous times too.

What’s the format of the show like?
Like ‘Whose Line is it Anyway?’, there are actually a lot games involved, for instance ‘Lines in the Bucket’. The crowd actually writes lines, and we have to pull out and act out these words and phrases that make no sense.

You missed ‘Actorlympics’ at last year’s PJ Laugh Fest. How do you feel being back again?
I love ‘Actorlympics’ because it’s easier to bounce ideas off each other, unlike standup. I’ve done standup and I’m interested, but I’ve only done it once. I’m scared of it.

When was that?
Years ago, Hans Isaac did a show, and he asked me to do a routine. In fact, Time Out KL also invited me to do Time Out Comedy Thursday, but I was scared. I began writing a script, but I haven’t finished it yet.

You think anyone can do standup?
No, I don’t think so, but I think anyone can try. It’s hard to be original and to relate to the audience.

Do you have any last words for our readers who are still undecided about whether to go for ‘Actorlympics’?
If you can get tickets, you should go because it’s a good night out to laugh at each other.

‘Actorlympics’ runs at PJLA from May 14-15. For more info, see listing.