It’s not a secret, readers — we here at Coconuts KL love a good laugh — at ourselves, at the dire state of things, also at people falling over on YouTube.
This weekend, one of our favorite comedians, Andrew Netto — one quarter of the Angry Indians comedy group — is doing gracing us with his good vibes, and many laughs, after a brief absence from the Kuala Lumpur comedy circuit last year.
Tonight and Saturday evening he’ll be at Harith Iskandar’s comedy lounge, the Joke Factory, and we can’t help but be excited to check out his latest, and get a few laughs in before we’re reminded that the world is currently on proverbial fire.
We’ve got a lot of new material in 2019, including a new Prime Minister and government to poke fun of, so we sat down to ask us some of our most burning comedy questions, including our most persistent nagging query … Will we ever move beyond race-based jokes.
You took a bit of a break from the comedy scene, Andrew — any particular reason?
I took a 16 month break from 2016 to August 2018, there was a lot going on for me personally at that point, relationship, my full job etc but mostly because of the internal politics in the comedy scene.
Harith gave me a chance back in Aug 2018 to be the first headliner at Joke Factory and I jumped at the chance, and I am glad I did.
That’s awesome! Tell us — what can we expect from your latest gig?
Well! My latest gig dives into one of my favorite subject — my family!
I want to share my family life with my other family — my audience! I am also testing out material which I plan to tour with in 2019/2020. I have my sights set on US and Europe.
Wow — we can’t wait to see how you translate Malaysian humor to an international audience.
Tell, us — do you think as comedy shifted since the last election?
It has in my opinion: Most comics actually like the present government, so not a lot of material there. — although their small cock ups here and there make for amazing material!
Yeah — we can’t stop laughing about the guy who tried to pass off his online degree as being from Cambridge. Honest question though — do you think that we Malaysians can ever move beyond race-based jokes? Why do people love them so much?
Honestly speaking — in my opinion — yes, most Malaysians can look past it. However, the reason we love it is because we are a multi cultural society, and everyone of us is unique. The jokes make us laugh at ourselves and at each other, plus we know where to draw the line with racist jokes….SOMETIMES!
Where do you see comedy going in Malaysia in the next few years?
I see it growing in a large way. When I first started, there were only like five performing comics. You see today there are over 50 that come to mind, right this moment. It’s definitely growing, with open mics nights and all kinds of people take the stage — I’ve seen everything from students to housewives.
It really is so exciting. Plus, we have like three comedy clubs now — excluding Parliament!
Mad times ahead for us!
Andrew Netto will be performing at The Joke Factory Friday 15 February and Saturday 16 February
Joke Factory
Publika Shopping Gallery
50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Reader Interactions