Walking out to thunderous applause last Saturday night, Singaporean act Kumar hit the ground running by commenting on his warm-up acts, Kavin Jay and Dr Jason Leong. With his acerbic wit and impeccable sense of timing (insult, pause, lead up to joke, longer pause, punchline), he had the crowd at Plenary Hall eating out of his hands, with a couple of incredulous gasps (the audacity of the man) thrown in for good measure.

The show which kicked off closer to 9pm than the stated 8.30pm started off with a bang with the aforementioned Kavin Jay who got the crowd going with his ‘I’ve just discovered that I’m fat’ routine. Best line of the night? ‘I’m so fat that my nephews play hide and seek around me’. Sophisticated? No. Funny? Yes.


Kavin Jay

Dr Jason Leong bounded on stage to confused claps having been introduced as a Doctor of Laughology by the irrepressible host, Mix FM’s JD. The practising doctor slickly trotted out his well-rehearsed routine which had a couple of laugh-out-loud moments. 

But we were all here for the headliner and boy did he deliver. Dressed in a rather restrained black and white all-in-one ensemble bought just that day from Suria KLCC (a fact he touched on a couple of times), Kumar was in his element as he dipped his rather elegant fingers in a host of comedic pies.


Jason Leong

Touching on everything from race relations to gender inequalities, Kumar’s best lines of the night came from what he knows best – Indian culture and traditions. His jokes weren’t jokes as such (especially if you’re used to Harith Iskandar’s comedic stylings) but along the vein of observational humour. Imagine if you will a cross-dressing Indian Jerry Seinfeld, taller, less grumpy and more scathing and you’ve got it in one.

Nothing was taboo as his quick mind flitted from topic to topic, delving into the customs of Indian weddings versus Chinese weddings versus Malay weddings and then just as quickly flipping things to funerals. His impersonations (Indian aunties, Indian mums, Malay makciks, Chinese girls) were spot on and worked well with the crowd. It’s the sort of humour that works especially well in this region, with easy to identify characters and somewhat glib, sometimes obvious stereotyping. What saves it from descending into cruel piss taking is Kumar himself, who clearly doesn’t take anything seriously. Charm personified, we could and did forgive him anything that night (even the Asian slut jibes which may have been too close to the bone for some people).

Closing the show with a piece of advice for the men in the crowd (A woman needs 70 things; number 70 is shopping, the rest is 69), the consummate performer exited to a standing ovation as the crowd whooped and cheered for more.

Photos courtesy of LOL Events.