By Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, July 30: Sabahan comic Mad Sabah, whose real name is Achmed Rusli, has named Sarawak his best audience after performing a stand-up comedy show in conjunction with his ‘Ndak Logik — National Tour’ at the La Promenade Mall here last night (July 29).
Mad Sabah, who Harith Iskandar has called “the funniest and most authentic comedian” said Sarawakians are by far the best audience of his comic compared to other places he had toured, with Johor taking second place.
“I think the people of Kuching were very sporting, and this is probably because they can relate to the content of my comedy which is more towards my hometown in the rural area.
“I think Sarawakians can relate to what I experienced living as a ‘kampung boy’, and compared to other audiences in other places, this is by far the best response and reception towards my stand-up comedy,” he told reporters after the end of his show.
He then said that there is a chance that Sarawak will be included in the list of venues for his next tour in January.
The opening act for the two-hour show was performed by Asyraf Kamal, who began doing stand-up comedy shows in June 2020. Apart from Mad Sabah, he had previously opened for other stand-up comedians, namely Jason Leong, Douglas Lim, and Fakkah Fuzz.
Meanwhile, Mad commented that stand-up comedy in the English language received an encouraging response in Malaysia to the extent that these comedians can perform abroad.
“However, to develop stand-up comedy in the Malay language, I honestly think I am struggling on my own. Not to mention that this ‘Ndak Logik Tour’ is the first Malay-language stand-up comedy tour ever.
“Why do I believe that I am alone? It is because I see many Malay-language stand-up comedians shifting to television shows which are not stand-up comedy but more comedy sketches.
“Thus, I am working hard to do this tour, trying to promote stand-up comedy, despite knowing full well that I could have just made easy money by performing shows in Kuala Lumpur, where it is much more spacious, profitable and saves me a lot of money,” he explained.
He also clarified that the recent controversial stand-up comedy act in a club in Kuala Lumpur involving an amateur female performer who stripped on stage and made offensive ‘jokes’ about Islam had somewhat affected him in a way that he, too, received calls and had his statement taken by the police.
“My intention is to entertain the audience and make them laugh, and at the same time, I try to insert issues that are close to the people as the content of my comedy,” he added.
Mad also revealed that he had made a cameo appearance in an upcoming movie, ‘Baik Punya Ah Long’, directed by Afdlin Shauki.
“Even though my screen time is only 13 seconds, I feel happy because I can act alongside the two most famous and outstanding comedians in Malaysia, Johan and Zizan,” he said. — DayakDaily
