'Her intentions were to shock, offend' says Harith on woman removing clothes at comedy club

SHAH ALAM - Award-winning stand-up comedian and actor Harith Iskander says the action of a woman who took off her 'tudung' and baju kurung on a stage at a comedy club is not a stand-up comedy.

"It was painful to watch this girl on the stage and more importantly there was nothing funny about what she said. It wasn't a joke," he said through his Instagram post.

He urged the public not to equate her actions with other comedians.

"Most if not all comedians in Malaysia are smart, intelligent people whose only desire is to craft a small funny story and have the audience laugh.

"So please do not lump her and what she did into what we do and what other comedians do," he said.

Harith said the aim of a comedian is to tell stories in an amusing way and make people laugh.

"I've been a professional stand-up comedian for 32 years, at its core stand-up comedy is designed to make people laugh.

"Comedians tell stories or jokes in an amusing way and we look it from a different point of view and the reason you laugh is that you recognised or relate to what a comedian is saying and also because what they said caught you by surprise.

"Trust me, it takes a little bit of intelligence to be able to do this smartly, in fact, some people say, laughter is the best medicine," he added.

He also said that not all stand-up comedy has to be funny to everyone since each of us have different taste, and sometimes if offends others.

"Her intention was to shock and offend, therefore she was not doing stand-up comedy.

"At the end of the day, she obviously needs help and I hope the medicine she gets is by watching true stand-up comedians," he said before adding, "No, that won't fix her either."

The incident took place at a comedy club in Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) which saw a Malay woman removing her hijab and baju kurung to reveal a short dress underneath as a part of her performance.

The 45-second video clip also shows the woman saying that she had memorised 15 chapters of Quran before removing her clothes.

Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has so far suspended the operations the comedy club at TTD as the video clip was seen as offending Islam.

Deputy federal territories minister Datuk Jalaluddin Alias said this action was a clear message that the government would not tolerate any activity deemed offensive to sensitivities on religion, race and the country’s sovereignty.

Meanwhile, the club, “Crackhouse Comedy Club House” said in a post on its Facebook page that it strongly condemned the contents of the viral video. The club added that it had lodged a police report on the matter at the TTDI police station.

“The individual in question and her partner were banned from the venue immediately after the performance,” the club said.