Having had thirteen years in the comedy business, it is to no one’s surprise that Van Geyzel holds a humorous perspective like no other. Be prepared for his clever storytelling that had the audience in an assortment of laughter, shock, and awe.
His returning Fringe show, Arrested, scales from the tales of him being the only Malaysian in his
five years in Miami, Florida, to the bombshell revelation of what caused the Kuala Lumpur comedy club he co-founded to have permanently shut down its physical venue.
The Malaysian comedian manages to unpack a lot in a simple hour, holding the audience’s attention in the palm of his hands. His stand-up act felt fairly simple at first: quips of his shoes being stolen from the mosque, the stereotypes between different Asian ethnicities in Malaysia, and varying “levels” of devoutness amongst Muslims. Despite this, he manages to create a flowing stream-of-consciousness between his jokes, and not once did it feel awkward between the transitions from one enthusiastic tale to another.
He cleverly creates callbacks to his jokes referencing Malaysia’s “Bumi Putera,” translated to the
predominantly non-Malaysian audience as “the soils of princes,” in which Malaysia prioritises ethnic Malays over other ethnicities residing in the country. It was particularly engaging to hear this earnest criticism, as he highlights how he especially benefits from “Bumi Putera” with his Malay-Chinese-Dutch-Turkey heritage.
As a result of comically criticising Malaysia’s racial bias, he highlights the necessity of being able
to “laugh with each other, [and] not laugh at each other” – epitomising how comedy should be
staged. The fun truly starts after Van Geyzel briefs the audience on his co-founding of the Crackhouse
Comedy Club, paying quick homage to his co-founder Jonathan Atherton. He shockingly reveals
that two Malaysian individuals had pretended to be comics at one of his club’s open mic nights,
and had then defaced the image of Islam to… Wait for it! Gain online traction to promote their
swinger club.
In all of its irony, Van Geyzel recalls how he somehow was the one arrested under Malaysian
law’s Sedition act, explaining that he was deemed to have encouraged his comedy club audiences
to “oppose” the established government.
It was wonderful to see the Malaysian comedian make light out of what seemed to be an extremely stressful, unfortunate occurrence. He even satirically defends the criminal duo because “where else can you find lonely, sex-deprived people other than an open mic night”?
Rizal Van Geyzel: Arrested is running until 30th August at The Loft at Laughing Horse @ The
Counting House.
Buy Tickets Here
Image Via Gabrielle Boudville
