Kumar's 15-minute stand-up comedy set in Gardens By The Bay for 2019 National Day was PG but a hoot

He is the only person in Singapore who can get away with saying anything.

Belmont Lay | September 05, 2019, 12:12 AM

Kumar is Singapore's national treasure.

The 51-year-old stand-up comedian, actor, host, and drag queen, has been in the entertainment industry for three decades.

He has entertained, provoked and outwitted many, and is recognisable to Singaporeans young and old, despite having close to zero social media presence.

What he is known for though, is his brand of stand-up comedy, which is essentially just him speaking his mind, and the audience hoping they were the ones who could do the same -- but obviously they can't.

A consummate performer, and a minority among minorities -- Indian and queer -- Kumar's stand-up gigs are always on point.

He offers no-holds-barred takes on life in Singapore, his observations are sometimes too close for comfort, and he doesn't have much qualms taking self-deprecating jabs at himself.

Kumar's latest public gig

For those of you who are curious about what Kumar can deliver these days, well, look no further.

He actually did a 15-minute set on Aug. 11 at The Meadow in Gardens By The Bay.

Someone in the audience recorded his gig in its entirety and uploaded it to Facebook:

It has been watched close to 100,000 times in two weeks.

This was for a PG audience comprising of families with young children in public -- but Kumar killed it, nonetheless.

He even told 8 Days before the gig:

There’ll be no politics and no sex, ‘cos it’s a family crowd. I can’t do my normal stuff. (Laughs) Besides, Gardens By The Bay is such a nice place, how can I make inappropriate jokes? (Laughs)

Not that he left all the raunchy stuff at the door.

Kumar still made it a point to make fun of politically correct culture, talk about taboo topics such as why it is good to have fat friends, and kept calling attention to his non-binary gender -- with children howling with laughter in the crowd.

Fun fact: This gig was one day after Kumar's 51st birthday on Aug. 10.

Enjoy.

You can also watch Kumar here answering questions about Deepavali: