DELRAY BEACH – Comedy isn’t always what it portends to be. Sometimes it isn’t even comedy.
A couple days ago the Stand-Up Spotlight led with a story about a female comedian in Malaysia getting arrested for religious reasons after partially disrobing during her set.
Applause Break posted the story, remarking that, as bad as cancel culture in America can be, life for comedians in some countries is far more difficult.
Comedian Haristh Iskander, also Malaysian, had a different take. He argues that Siti Nuramira Abdullah’s actions during her set weren’t stand-up comedy but rather performance art designed to incite and divide.
His argument has its merits, but what Abdullah did still doesn’t rise to the level of law enforcement involvement.
Today’s Spotlight also includes news that a Parkinson’s diagnosis is prompting Richard Lewis’ retirement from stand-up comedy, and a review of John Mulaney’s latest stand-up comedy special.
Keep it funny, folks.
STAND-UP SPOTLIGHT – April 25, 2023
‘Painful to watch’, says Harith Iskander in slamming woman who took off headscarf at comedy club
PETALING JAYA: The actions of a woman who took off her headscarf and baju kurung on stage at a comedy club is not stand-up comedy and was “painful to watch”, says Harith Iskander.
“That girl is not a stand-up comedian and what she was doing is not stand-up comedy,” he said in a response posted on his social media on Saturday (July 10) night.
Comedian Richard Lewis is ‘finished with stand-up’ after Parkinson’s disease diagnosis
Fans can expect to catch Richard Lewis on the new season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” but it seems his days on comedy stages are over.
The comedian revealed on Sunday in a Twitter video that he has been living with Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative brain disorder. He also declared that he is “finished with stand-up.”
“I’ve had sort of a rocky time,” he said. “People have said, ‘I haven’t heard from you, are you still touring?’ Well, here’s really what happened.”
‘Baby J’: John Mulaney Makes Beautiful Comedy Out of His Addiction Struggles
It’s been a turbulent few years for John Mulaney, the former SNL writer and ace stand-up comic. In December of 2020, Mulaney’s pals — Seth Meyers, Bill Hader, and Fred Armisen among them — staged an intervention, prompting the comic to check into a rehab facility for addiction to alcohol, cocaine, and prescription drugs. He left two months later, and, in May 2021, announced that he would be separating from his wife of nearly seven years, Annamarie Tendler, who’d been such a fixture in his stand-up sets and social media channels that fans of his had formed parasocial relationships with them. Those admirers’ Twitter fingers went into overdrive when, in September 2021, Mulaney and his new partner, the actress Olivia Munn, shared that they were expecting a child together. (He was even investigated by the Secret Service for telling a Trump joke.)
