We don’t know about you but we gotta say that the “Laugh Die You I” and “Laugh Die You II” shows left quite an impression on us as they were immensely successful! A true testament to the term, “a force to be reckoned with”, as the sold-out shows combined the best of Malaysia and Singapore for hours of roaring laughter.
For those of you who have been following the stand-up and live events scene closely, it may seem like the “Laugh Die You” brand came out of nowhere but quickly picked up pace to becoming one of the most talked about stand-up events this year.
How were the “Laugh Die You” shows conceived? What went on during the planning stages and what really went on behind-the-scenes? Why did the choose to feature the talents that they’ve featured specifically? Did the “Laugh Die You” shows exceed expectation?
We drill Popcorn Studio Sdn Bhd Director and “Laugh Die You” brainchild Erik Ong for the dirty deets 🙂
Hi Erik! Thank you for taking time off to do this with us. For those of us who are not in the know, tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.
Hi Lainey, thank you for this opportunity to share a bit about myself with you. I’m a Kuala Lumpur boy, born and bred in Taman Tun, but I love to travel! Travelling excites me as I love meeting new people and experiencing many different things. Together with my team, we are the brainchild behind “Laugh Die You” and Durian King. We are immensely grateful for all the support from family, friends, and the public that we have received for these two ventures.
When you initially started planning the first “Laugh Die You” show, what inspired it and how did you expect for it to turn out?
I told the team, “Let’s do something different! Let’s do a stand-up comedy show!” But you know how difficult is it to ask four comedians to tell some jokes in front of 4,000 pax? So, from a simple show we made it into an extravaganza show, with dancers, a band, pyrotechnics, and LED Visuals! We decided to bring it to the next level.
It was very well received at the end! Enough to spawn a second show, “Laugh Die You II” so soon. Was it beyond your expectations?
Totally! People kept coming to me asking when would be the next show. They wanted to bring their parents too whom they felt could relate to many of the jokes that mainly poked fun at our culture. The tickets for “Laugh Die You I” sold out so fast before the show that we had nothing much to do. We decided to start selling tickets for the secnd show even before the first show ended.
As for picking the talents that you’ve featured in both shows, what was the thought process like?
We had a strict selection process, whereby everyone on our team proposed their choice of comedians. We then viewed the proposed comedians’ videos over and over again before eliminating them “apprentice style” i.e. eliminating those we found were not suitable. Part of the criteria was also based on whether they had any talents to sing or dance in relation to our theme.
What would you say were some of your most memorable moments (both bad and good) from the “Laugh Die You” shows?
It was when we made so much fun of our country! We had some of the top opposition leaders came and join in the fray. Lim Kit Siang and his entourage attended! I wanted to invite Tun Dr Mahathir. I hope he will be able to join us for one of our future shows. I believe he would be able to enjoy many of our jokes e.g. Malaysian food, Causeway (Tambak Johor), how we were brought up during our younger days etc.
Are there future installments of “Laugh Die You” coming up that you can talk about? If not, what other shows can we expect in the coming months?
“Laugh Die You 2.5” is coming up on 9th January 2015 at the Genting International Showroom. It’s a one-day show this time, so limited tickets are available. For ticket purchase, please visit RWgenting.com or our Facebook page. We are also giving out free durians on 11th December! For more details, stay tuned for our official announcement on our Facebook page.
Thanks for the chat, Erik! Can’t wait to rock up to “Laugh Die You 2.5” featuring Phua Chu Kang, Mark Lee, Fakkah Fuzz, Rizal van Geyzel, and Hydra.
For more information, hit up RWgenting.com or the “Laugh Die You” Facebook page.
