Happening - A Laughing Affair

by pEANutbutter

Figure 1: The interior of The Bee, Publika.

It was definitely a good laughing affair at The Bee, Publika last Friday (20th April). I haven't laugh out loud in a very long time. Mr. Douglas Lim was an act to be reckon with among the local comedians in Malaysia, and on top of that, he was a good singer. But if want to compare to Phua Chu Kang, Gurmit Singh is a better singer. When it comes to joke, they are in a different league as Phua Chu Kang was more of a family comedy.

Figure 2: The jokers.

Anyway, back to The Comedy Club event @The Bee, Publika. The acts of the night was Douglas Lim, Paul Myrehaug (Canada) and Jen Brister (UK). The ticket was priced at RM63, inclusive of a drink (which is actually beer, something like Guiness Stout). We was there quite early, so we get to choose where we wanted to sit, either at a dining table, chairs right in front of the stage or on bleachers. I would avoid sitting very close to the stage as I refuse to be a target for impromptu standup comedy. True enough those who was seated around the stage, especially the bleacher was a clear target. If I was the comedian on stage, I couldn't help it eaither targeting the three men that was seated on top of the bleacher as they are three very tall men, one was even bald, and everybody in the room could see them. Paul Myrehaug couln't have describe it more perfectly when he says they look like the muppets way up there.


The first act of the night was Paul Myrehaug. His joke was more on sexual conquest and drunken intoxication. His accent was quite hard to catch, but still manageable. Jen Brister was towards mother's, as a british (although she doesn't look like one as her mother was a Spaniard) targeting their metric system, and also lesbian joke (which she openly admits she is one). Again, her british accent was also a little hard to comprehend, but nevertheless, still enjoyable. However, her ending was a little bit too draggy when she demostrate how the butcher is slicing hams after she had asked for 4kg of it in Australia (because the British doesn't use grams or kilos). So she go on and on and on for almost 5 minutes.


Then comes the act of the night, Douglas Lim. He is a malaysian, so definitely we are more inclined to relate ourselves with his joke. He covers politic, racial and ends the night with a very good rendition of Beyond's song (I not sure what is the title of the song) in the spirit of bringing back the glory days of Cantopop and mock the current craze for K-Pop. Wish I could have recorded it, but video cameras isn't allow. However, I think some audience did recorded it. Look out for it on Youtube. That song really bring back memories of my childhood. The starting of the song was mocking K-Pop, but he ends it singing the real thing. A really good performance. The first two act almost make me regret paying a total of RM136 (inclusive of booking fee) for two tickets. But Douglas Lim definitely save the day. Nevertheless, I wish he could be a little bit more friendly. Not sure whether he has stage freight or pre-show jitters, as the moment he walk into The Bee, he wasn't smilling or looking around. I wouldn't say I am his die-hard fan, but I do inspire by his work starting from way back during his days in Kopitiam. Overall, it was a good laugh.


Note that one has to have an open mind when going for standup comedy. They could touch on race, your mother, politic, ideology, religion, etc. But it was all only for a good laugh, no offense.


Food & Beverage

Figure 3: The Bee burger

As I had state earlier, each ticket is inclusive of a beer. As for food, there is limited options as I think it's their strategy to cope with the crowd for the night. We ordered Bee's Burger (an in-house specialty I assume). It's beef burger, nothing special actually. I find it quite salty. It comes with pickles, tomato, cabbage and lots of shorstring fries.  It cost RM33. (Rating: 3/5)


We also ordered lemonade (as I don't like to drink beer). Normal lemonade. No comment. Cost RM6.90. (Rating: 3/5)

Figure 4: Nutella 100g ice cream in cup.

Lastly, a friend highly recommended their homemade ice cream particularly Nutella and Guiness flavour. But I wasn't daring enough to try Guiness, so I settle for Nutella. It's homemade ice cream from The Last Polka. I find it a little bit too sweet, but it is full of chocolate flavour. Cost RM 9.30. (Rating: 5/5)


Overall rating: 3.7/5


Coordinate: 3.171133,101.66748