Comedian draws inspiration for new show from own incarceration

It has been a hectic couple of years for stand-up comedian and Crackhouse Comedy Club owner, Rizal Van Geyzel.

He has only emerged stronger from his experience, and fans in Klang Valley can enjoy his latest stand-up comedy show, Rizal Van Geyzel’s “Arrested”, which will take place at PJ Live Arts Theatre on June 23 and June 24.

He brought the house down with his show in Penang on June 9.

Rizal acknowledged when asked by Malaysiakini if it felt bittersweet that he was not performing at Crackhouse Comedy Club, which has been closed down by Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

“In some ways, yes, in some ways, no. Yes, in the sense that the intimacy, the very charm that was Crackhouse, is always missed, you know.

“That very grungy, very, you know, grimy kind of casual, no pretentiousness kind of vibe is always something that I always desire when I do stand-up.

“We got to sort of roll up our sleeves, just relax, just be ourselves. That is what I miss.”

However, he also notes that Crackhouse was also a place of business for him, and it can be tiring to run.

“Even when I am on stage, my mind is in many different places while I'm on stage. I'm wondering whether there's enough stock in the fridge, whether there were any issues with the staff or whether, you know, electricity is going to get cut off.

“So there were a lot of worries that came with running the place. The part I do not miss is the stress of having to run a full-time venue.

“So now, whenever I am performing, all I do now is just enjoy myself and just focus on what I do, which is the performance part,” said Rizal.

Back on stage

This is not the first show he has done upon being released from remand last year.

On Aug 9 last year, he went back on stage for the first time after his incarceration in a small venue in Kuala Lumpur called Hush The Theatre.

Rizal admits that it was the only show he ever performed where he was paranoid.

“I was fearful for the safety of not just myself but the people running the venue and the audience that came. We sold out so fast that they had to add on another show. There were a lot of A-listers that came for that show. I even brought security with me.

“I hired two guys to walk with me to the venue. We could walk on stage as well and profile the audience to see if there was anybody there that was, you know, with ill intention or was there somebody that was just there to spy on me,” recalled Rizal.

Incidentally, the show was called Hush Hush.

“I was so rusty, considering all I went through. And it was about three weeks since I had been on stage.

“So I needed to shake off the cobwebs,” said Rizal, recalling his show at Hush again. So he called in a favour from a friend, and although it was by reservation only, it sold out fast, he said.

The show went off without a hitch, and once he got over his initial fears, Rizal realised that those who came to catch his act were not the ones attacking him.

“The ones that did attack me, I don't think they were people who enjoyed live comedy, to begin with,” Rizal mused.

After that, he felt safe wherever he went, and the people who watched his shows were genuine live stand-up comedy lovers.

Though Rizal’s legal woes began with an uploaded video of a woman allegedly insulting Islam, what got him arrested were some videos that were uploaded on social media.

Support

Despite his predicament, many ordinary people, politicians and NGOs came to Rizal’s defence during the trying times.

“I think when you go through certain calamities, one of the good things is that you do see who your friends are, who are the people that support you.

“It was nice. It was something that was very much needed at the time, especially when you thought that the whole world was against you.

“The help and the support I got was quite overwhelming, and that gave me some assurance that everything is going to be okay,” said Rizal.

On his new show, "Arrested”, Rizal elaborated that is more or less about the calamity that he underwent this time last year.

“What I have come to learn from it, I hope people who hear the story will learn from it as well. It's mainly about how freedom of speech is not to be taken for granted.

“It works both ways. You can't just expect one person to have the freedom to say whatever he wants. You cannot suppress the people who have a rebuttal to what you are saying.”

He will not touch on other comedians, saying: “Well, let me just say that the only tragedy that I will be talking about at my show will be my life.”

Of phones and social media

Rizal is also wary of edited versions of his show going up on social media.

“One of the biggest lessons that we've learned from all this is that live stand-up comedy is best to be consumed, enjoyed live. Cutting these clips and putting them online for the world to see has proven to be quite dangerous.”

Hence, even at Crackhouse, they enforced the rule, telling the audience to put away their phones and refrain from recording anything or flash photography.

“But you know, Malaysians and their habit with the phone. They always want to record something or take a picture of something. We can only police it so much.

“So all I do now is whoever lifts their phone during a show, I just call them out, and I just say, hey, put it away. I became like a headmaster in a school,” said Rizal, chuckling.

After his shows in Petaling Jaya, Rizal will travel to Kuching and then to Edinburgh, Scotland for a series of shows in August.

He also plans to properly record his show upon returning to Kuala Lumpur.

As for his unfortunate brush with the law and the inspiration he derived from it, Rizal said: “It has certainly given me more things to talk about.”

He points out that comedians sometimes use personal tragedies in their routines. “Now I have a tragedy, and so I use it.”

Recalling those dark days, Rizal recalled the funny side of it.

“Everyone was like ‘Are you okay, do you need help?’ Comedians were like: ‘Hey, you are going to write jokes about this, right?’ ‘You are going to work this into your material’.”

Having said that, Rizal acknowledged that jokes about his experience must be used sparingly and carefully. -Mkini