SINGAPORE — It has been quite a while since we saw Chris Tucker in what was probably his most memorable gig: The three Rush Hour films, where he played detective James Carter opposite Chinese superstar Jackie Chan.
But fans here will get a chance to see him once again when Tucker pops by Singapore as part of his stand-up comedy world tour. Dubbed The Return Tour, the show will take place on June 25 at the Kallang Theatre. And you can expect quite a few things when he hits the stage.
“I do a lot of improvisation and tell stories about my life. There is a lot of that. And I get to do a lot of characters. It’s different from a movie, when you have to play only one character throughout and there’s a script for you to follow,” he said over the phone.
But yes, he added that he would often ad lib his lines in the movies. “Oh yeah, I do. I mean, I want to make the character mine so I’ll ad lib some lines here and there. And I think that doing stand-up — because I act a lot in stand-up — actually prepared me for doing movies.”
Tucker’s interest in comedy began in school, and while watching Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor’s stand-up shows.
“I was always the class clown. Some of my friends said I was like Eddie Murphy and I didn’t understand the implications of that at the time. I just wanted to be funny and be the class clown,” he said.
While in high school, he did some shows in the local clubs, and progressed to professional comedy clubs after he was done with school.
He’s been making people laugh ever since, and not just onstage but on the big screen as well. Apart from Rush Hour, Tucker has acted in Smokey, which was his breakout role; The Fifth Element, where he was nominated for a Razzie for worst new star; and most recently, in Silver Linings Playbook, where he starred alongside Bradley Cooper and Oscar winners Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro.
“I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else,” he said. “I hope people will remember me for being a good guy ... and for making people laugh.”
And yes, we had to ask Tucker: Do audiences overseas understand the words coming out of his motor mouth?
“Yeah, they do! I do understand that there are different cultures and there might be the language barrier, but so far, no I haven’t had any problems with people understanding me in my shows. But I will try to get to know the culture and the people wherever I perform,” he said.
But don’t ask him to dish out the dirt on Jackie Chan. “Jackie’s a great guy. I can’t say anything bad about him. We do meet up; in fact, I just met him the other day … and Jackie did say that Singapore was one of his favourite Asian countries.”
And if you do bump into him on the streets, don’t expect him to be like his characters in the movies or his live act.
“I mean, sometimes you’ll find that I’m not that funny in real life. Because you can’t be (funny) all the time. There has to be a balance, I think,” he said, adding that he tries to keep his private and public personas very separate.
However, come show time, you’ll see the spitfire, a-laugh-a-minute guy that everybody recognizes — even on days where he’d rather not be onstage.
“Yeah, it’s tough, and sometimes you don’t feel like doing a show. But you have to remember all the good things about doing this. There isn’t really any bad thing about doing what I do,” he said. “And you have to remember that for the people who come and see you, it means a lot to them. Usually, the energy starts to come as you get into the show.”
Tucker certainly has his work cut out for him. Apart from completing his tour, he said he has a film being made about the tour coming out later this year, and he’s looking to do more cinematic features as well.
“I’m going to be busy for the next six months or so,” he quipped.
Chris Tucker’s The Return Tour is on June 25, 8pm, at Kallang Theatre. Tickets from Sistic.
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