By Matt Belotti

Time Out Comedy Thursday reached new heights this month, November 6, when over 150 people crammed into Little Havana for the biggest authentic stand-up night in KL for years.

As well as four brilliant young comics in Faisal, Yugi, Alfred (who performed for the first time) and Zac, the headline spot went to the legendary Hishamuddin Rais, performing in KL for the first time in years. His brand of salacious satire was a huge hit and the crowd were buzzing at one of the most controversial – and hysterical – comedy performances in KL for some time.

Hisham took the stage with just his trademark beard pointing out behind his felt hat and immediately grabbed the audience by the scruff of the neck and wouldn’t relent for his 25 minute set that sent everyone home still grinning and wiping tears of laughter from their cheeks.

Prior to this, the evening started when regular host MC Matt Sally took to the stage and warmed the audience up with a few cheeky one-liners and an unlikely tale about being the victim of a ‘revolt’ from the comics, led by last month’s MC, Chi Ho, on September 16th. He knew he should have sent the comics to China.

Matt then introduced Faisal – interviewed in November’s Time Out KL – who had his trusted notes in hand (as he says, Malays are entitled to certain privileges) and recounted his experience of watching a certain (boring) sex video involving a member of a certain government.

Following on from Faisal was young Yugi, the human sphere. Yugi’s intense stage presence got everyone laughing and he showed that Yugi is definitely funnier than the average bear.

After a brief break to get more drinks and catch their breath the audience were then introduced to Alfred, who was breaking his Time Out Comedy Thursday virginity. The experienced actor showed he had what it takes to command the stage and his act went down really well.

As did the returning Zac Kamal. Ever-popular, the big man tried out a stack of outstanding new material after robbers had stolen his joke book – if you see a little guy in a huge ‘Truckers Forever’ T-shirt reading jokes about how to date various races of girls, let us know.

Which leads us on to Hishamudin. And what to say? As well as bustling, jumping, skipping and weaving around behind the mic (the one act to use the stand), Hisham delivered material that was hotter than Versace’s Autumn/Winter collection. Sadly, we can’t talk about it on a public access website but never fear, he’ll doubtless be coming back to a Time Out Comedy Thursday near you soon.

Comedy Thursdays have steadily grown since they started seven months ago. This month people had to be turned away on the door as the crowd spilled onto the stage and had to squeeze into ‘standing room only’ at the back of the upstairs bar at Little Havana on Changkat Bukit Bintang.

If you haven’t yet come along to Time Out Comedy Thursdays,  you can catch the next one as Comedy Thursday happens on the first Thursday of every month.