KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 — The Malaysian Association of Chinese Comedians (MACC) is starring in a new documentary that offers a behind-the-scenes look at their goodbye tour from 2019.
Not to be confused with the government agency of the same acronym, MACC features Malaysian stand-up comics Kuah Jenhan, Dr Jason Leong, Douglas Lim, and Phoon Chi Ho taking their jokes across Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia for one last hurrah before their official disbandment.
Along the way, the funnymen encounter unexpected challenges and awkward moments with the media as they do their best to promote MACC Mania X: The Goodbye Tour.
Kuah, who wrote, directed, and produced the series for Astro, told Malay Mail that he wanted to show the real side of comedians off-stage while exploring the ups and downs of MACC’s relationships with one another.
“People often ask comedians if they’re the same onstage and off-stage because they don’t get to see what they’re like in real life.
“I wanted to show what MACC’s dynamics were like. I was trying to explore the fragile male ego and how that affects our jobs which require us to be great and to look great.
“We are four individual performers with different personalities who formed a group and there was always bound to be drama and a story about fragile human egos,” said Kuah.
While some parts of the show involve scripted gags, Kuah said the content remains true to their personalities and struggles as local comedians.
A decade-long friendship between the quartet meant cooking up funny scenarios for the series came naturally for Kuah.
“As much as I wanted it to completely reflect real life, it was too risky. What if we came back from tour and I didn’t have enough material to submit? It’s not like we can redo the tour.
“With that in mind, I knew the kind of storyline I wanted. That storyline is based on my knowledge of touring with the guys for the last 10 years.
“I wrote the narrative based on their real selves. In terms of scripting, I give them some simple dummy lines that I thought would push the plot forward but even then, these guys like to surprise me with their own jokes.”
Kuah also expressed gratitude towards Astro for taking a chance on the series and hopes that it will pave the way for more English-language content by local creators to be shown on the network.
As a new filmmaker, Kuah was thankful that the network was confident in his ability to produce unique content for Malaysian viewers.
“This is something special for us. Not only is it a MACC show, but it’s also an episodic English-language series that you can watch on a local network.
“Astro was very brave to take a chance on not only a new filmmaker but a pseudodocumentary about four Chinese comedians performing in English in Malaysia.
“It’s a very niche thing but they took a chance.”
Dr Leong told Malay Mail that he was excited for Malaysians to get a glimpse at their tour life and said comedy is more essential than ever in a time where everyone feels unsettled by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The moment we were told to stay at home, all of us were bored and we wanted to watch something.
“Most of the time, that would be TV shows, movies, and comedy because people wanted to laugh and distract themselves from reality. Comedy is a very powerful healing tool in that way.
“That’s why it’s so important that we as a country understand the need to fund the arts.
“Everyone thinks that art is not essential but that’s rubbish. If we didn’t have the arts, people would’ve gone insane at home,” said Dr Leong.
MACC will be shown from September 8 to 15 at 8.30pm on Hello (CH 702) and Astro GO with on-demand streaming available after the TV premiere.
Viewers can also catch MACC Mania X: The Goodbye Tour on September 16, 11pm on Hello (CH 702), Astro GO, and on-demand.
