SINGAPORE — If laughter really is the best medicine, then the next doctor you might want to see is Muhammad Fadzri, who goes by the moniker Fakkah Fuzz.
Some here might recognise him as “the Malay guy from Random Island” but Fuzz is one of the slew of emerging local stand-up comedians, which also include bright sparks such as Rishi Budhrani, Sharul Channa and Jinx Yeo. They make audiences laugh every week at Home Club for their Comedy Masala nights, or at the Blujaz Café, where they have the Talk Cock Comedy sessions.
And Fazz isn’t just tickling funny bones in Singapore. He has performed in Hong Kong and Malaysia, and he recently participated in the Sydney Comedy Festival, where he came in second in the Yo Mama Jokes competition — really.
On Thursday, Fuzz, along with Channa and Yeo, will be bringing their brand of comedy up north for Rojak! Live Stand-Up Comedy, which is part of this year’s Causeway Exchange festival held in conjunction with the George Town Festival in Penang.
Not bad for somebody who says he’s only just found his path in life. “It took me three years ... I haven’t even taken it yet, I just found it,” said Fuzz.
SENSITIVE JOKER
His set usually involves funny anecdotes and observational humour — although he’ll thrown in the odd one-liner here and there — about life, the universe and everything. Well, almost everything.
“There are topics that are taboo for everybody. Like, you don’t talk about rape. You don’t talk about incidents that happened too recently, like the Boston bombings,” said Fuzz. “I think people get offended a lot easier when you talk about those topics.” And no, it’s not about self-censorship but knowing what not to say. “Any joke can be done. But if it’s going to sound offensive, then you have to make it twice as funny. Generally I try to avoid (sensitive topics), but if something comes about that I can’t ignore then I will tackle it.”
“You remember the bus strikes that happened last year? I’ll say something like, ‘Oh you know, the Chinese bus drivers talked about going on strike, but they still went to work on time in their uniforms. What? Your idea of a strike is showing up to work? Mine is sleeping in. Now, that’s a strike’.”
And contrary to what some might think, stand-up comedy isn’t as random or impromptu as it seems.
“I have a notebook that I write stuff down in,” said Fuzz. “And yes, I do work out a set.”
But things don’t always go according to plan. “There was one time where I had written out my set, but I started with this one joke and everybody laughed so hard, and I was like, ‘Oh no, that joke has nothing to do with the rest of the set, and it’s going down another road’. But I took that other road and went on another tangent that wasn’t what I originally planned.
“Sometimes you have to give the audience what they want,” he continued. “If you want to get a good reaction, you kind of have to read the audience.”
NOT UNDERGROUND COMEDY
And Fuzz is happy that there is an audience here in Singapore. “Comedy is not underground any more, it has grown,” he said. “It used to be just Kumar. Or comedy was very theatrical. But now Singapore audiences are used to the idea of someone just standing there and telling jokes. So they’ve warmed up to that.”
While Fuzz said he loves performing in Singapore and Malaysia, one of his dreams is to take his comedy further overseas to the United States or Great Britain. And no, he’s not worried about whether what he says can be understood by someone overseas.
“There are a lot of things that everybody can relate to, like relationships, your job, stuff like that never goes away, or just life in general. You can try to make it relatable. I have a bit about how Singaporeans just suck at crime, you know? Like we’re not really safe, we’re just terrible at committing crimes — we just can’t do that really well, maybe because it’s not an exam subject.”
Would he like to do another TV series like Random Island? “Sure! It was lots of fun. I would love to do more,” said Fuzz, who helped co-write a lot of the characters on the show.
But the most important thing right now would be to write more good material. “You need to develop your craft. A lot of the comics go partying after their set, and that’s cool and all that. But most of the time, I prefer sitting down in a room with other comedians with a notepad and just talk about the craft.
“You have to remember that what got you there in the first place was that you took time to write good material and you actually cared about your act. You cannot forget that. That’s my main priority.”
Fakkah Fuzz performs every Tuesdays at Home Club for Comedy Masala, and every Wednesdays at Blujaz Cafa for Talk Cock Comedy.
Rojak! Live Stand-Up Comeday happens on June 20, China House, Lebuh Victoria, George Town, Penang.
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