SINGAPORE — Four local stand-up comedians will proudly flying the Singapore flag on the international comedy circuit during the early part of this year, but let’s be clear — this is no laughing matter.

Especially if you’re Sharul Channa, the first Singaporean to be invited to perform at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the world’s third largest international comedy festival, which kicks off in March.

“To be invited to perform your craft to represent your country and, at the same time, break the Asian taboo that the arts field is not a viable career — I am absolutely thrilled, excited, proud and also very nervous,” she said.

Yes, the pressure is on. “I have a responsibility to perform well as I want more stand-up comedians from Singapore to be watched and invited to such prestigious festivals,” said Channa, who is not just the first Singaporean stand-up comedian but the first Singaporean female one.

“So hey, I need to prove Singaporean women have a great sense of humour!” she quipped.

The 29-year-old will be performing as part of the Comedy Zone Asia show with four other comics from Hong Kong, China, India and the Philippines. But before that, she’s heading to India with a bunch of other local comedians for The Weirdass Pajama Festival this week.

Channa, together with husband-comedian Rishi Budhrani, Fakkah Fuzz and Jinx Yeo, will be performing on Friday at what’s considered the country’s largest comedy festival, held in Bangalore. They’ll be performing with festival curator and India’s biggest-selling comedian Vir Das in a show called Vir Das And The Singapore Slingers

So how were they able to land such a great gig?

Budhrani shared that he and his wife had performed at the festival last year and had a great time. “It was well-organised, and we were taken care of very well. Vir Das, the festival curator, together with two other comics from his team, were then invited to the Singapore Comedy Fringe in June 2015. While they were here, they got a chance to watch some local comics, and felt that they wanted more Singaporean acts to visit India for the festival,” said the 31-year-old. “That’s how they saw Jinx and Fuzz as well, and now four of us will go together!”

WILL THEY GET IT?

If you’re wondering whether overseas audiences will be able to grasp and understand our local humour, don’t worry, so did our comedians.

“When I did my first few gigs abroad, I had that fear. You always wonder whether your stories, jokes, experiences would translate (elsewhere),” shared Budhrani. “But, after a few years of doing shows all over, you realise that there are certain things that unite all of us. Everyone has feelings, relationships, families, jobs, children… And part of the skill of being a good comic is to be able to unite a room full of strangers, using laughter.

“Plus, I think Singaporean comedians have a good training ground, in that we get a nice mix of local and expat crowds here, which forces us to keep our writing fairly universal and international.”

So how do the different audiences differ from one another?

“Singaporean audiences get a bad rep for being too square or too straight-laced, but I’ve seen insane crowds here that go nuts at a good joke!” revealed Budhrani. “But yes, the audiences here do take a bit of prodding and warming up. For a long time, the comedy scene here was non-existent, because it was a very ‘expat’ thing to do. But in the past few years, because there have been more local comics, it has drawn local audiences as well. “

Agreed Channa: “Singapore’s stand-up comedy scene is growing rapidly. We have stand-up comedians from here being hired all over the world. Many of us performed at the KL International Comedy Festival last year and this year, four Singaporeans are invited to India’s largest stand-up comedy festival. Surely, the local scene must be growing in the right direction for us to be making this progress?”

She attributes Heazry Salim and Jonathan Atherton from The Comedy Club Asia for giving comedians a stage to try out their jokes, as well as for bringing in international stand-up comedians for locals to learn from. The two are also the organisers of the Singapore Comedy Fringe, which will take place in April.

STAYING POWER

With both their stars slowly but surely rising, do they believe one can survive being a stand-up comedian in Singapore?

“Our beloved Singaporean icon Kumar has been in the scene for 24 years. Surely, there is space for more. As long as we keep working hard at it and paving the way for new people, the scene will keep growing,” said Channa.

Echoed Budhrani: “Nobody grows up in Singapore believing they’re going to be a comedian for a living. If you’re funny as a child, your teacher will tell you, ‘You’re trying to be funny is it? Stop it!’ But I think we’ve reached a stage where Singaporean comedians are being invited for gigs abroad, performing in festivals, making history.”

He cited his wife’s feat at Melbourne, his own success as the first Singaporean act at famous comedy clubs in New York City (Gotham Comedy Club and The Comic Strip Live) and Los Angeles (The Comedy and Magic Club). Yeo, meanwhile, was the first Singaporean to take a one-hour show at the recent Perth Fringe Festival, while Fuzz will also be doing a one-hour show at this year’s Singapore Comedy Fringe.

All these bode very well for other young burgeoning Singapore comedians. But do they think it’s slightly disheartening that stand-up comics only seem to get their dues here after making it internationally?

Channa likes to look at things more positively. “Yes, the local scene gets up and takes notice when a Singaporean stand-up comedian/singer/actor gets hired internationally. I like the local scene that way — it takes time to gain their acceptance but the question is, are we necessarily looking for anyone’s acceptance? No. Stand-up comedy is a new scene in Singapore and as long as our scene accepts and promotes us , we are happy. Anything extra, will be a boost.”

Itching to reveal your secret stand-up comic skills? A local open-mic called Talk Cock Comedy, organised by The Comedy Club Asia, is held every Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8.30pm, at Blu Jaz Cafe.