Goodbye slapsticks and lawak bodoh. Harith Iskander’s sensational victory in the funniest man in the world competition in Levi, Finland, last week will go a long way to finally change the character and brand of Malaysian humour from crude practical jokes to clever and more tasteful use of sharp wit and wisecracks.
Let us hope that Harith’s ostentatious achievement, coming at a time when tensions also seem to fill the air around us, will inspire greatly and breathe new life to Malaysian comedy, for so long stuck with clownish humour where funny means shouting on stage, thick sexual innuendos or making fun of a person’s physical attributes. That is lawak bodoh as we know it.
The win, by the way, also crowned a glorious week of the country’s accomplishment and recognition in various international scenes. We have Penang footballer Mohd Faiz Subri who is in line for the FIFA Puskas Award for the best goal this year. He scored a wonder goal off a free-kick during Penang’s 4-1 Super League win over Pahang at Penang’s City Stadium on Feb 16.
The stunning strike earned him instant fame worldwide after videos of his curling free-kick goal went viral. He is proudly one of the three players shortlisted, the other two being Brazilian Marlone and Venezuelan Daniuska Rodriguez.
Then there’s Yuna, the Kedah-born singer-songwriter, whose latest album Chapters has made it into Billboard’s Top 10 Best R&B Albums of 2016: Critic’s Picks! She has joined the ranks of Beyoncé, Rihanna, and John Legend, who took the first three spots in the ranking.
Coming back to Harith, his feat was phenomenal as he beat his closest challenger, Alex Calleja from the Philippines by a comfortable margin. The other close contenders in the final were Katerina Vrana of Greece, Mino van Nassau (India) and David Kilimnick (Israel). Oops, Israel? Lucky he was not asked to withdraw by some people here.
Making people laugh and telling a joke that doesn’t fall flat is certainly one of the hardest things in the world, that’s why we must salute Harith with his refreshing brand of comedy for Malaysians. His promotion of stand-up comedy and entertaining TV talk shows with abundance of satire is a welcome relief from the mundane comic sketches where funny and laughter mean outrageous outfits and pondan making fools of themselves.
We have seen enough of the lawak jenaka slapsticks carried on from the days of Wahid Satay, Alias Congo, Mat Sentul and Man Belon. Harith through popular talk show Obviously Harith Iskander has now subtly made us move away from appreciating the old type of humour. Also showing the way is rocker Awie and entertainer AC Mizal who must be commended for flashing witty jokes with their own talk shows.
It is true what they say about humour reflecting our character and is stimulated by our environment.
Here is an example of a cynically-laced straight-faced joke that has been making its rounds for a while: there’s a boy who has been abused by his parents. A neighbour found this out and reported to the police. The police came and arrested his parents and planned to send him to a foster home. The boy refused and told the police officer “No! The guardian of the foster home will abuse me.” The police officer agreed and asked him again “OK! In that case, you can stay with me and become my adopted son.” The boy refused and said “No! Your wife will also abuse me!” The police officer gave up and asked “Where should I send you to then? You have refused to be adopted by everybody.” The boy replied “I want to stay with the Malaysian football team.” The police officer was surprised and asked “Of all the places why the Malaysian football team? They don’t even have a house!” The boy replied “At least they have not beaten anybody in the world...”
Syed Nadzri is a former NST group editor
