S'porean comedian's show cancelled after police reports lodged

Singaporean stand-up comedian Sharul Channa's show scheduled for tonight in Petaling Jaya has been cancelled after police reports were lodged against one of her old videos that allegedly touched on 3R (race, religion, royalty) issues.

She said her work visa was approved before the show, but the Central Agency for Application of Filming and Performance by Foreign Artists (Puspal) and the police revoked it at the eleventh hour following the complaints.

"This is despite giving assurance that my set does not touch on religion, race, or royalty.

"It is a very disappointing matter for me as it must be for you who bought the tickets," Sharul (above) said in a brief video posted on her social media, addressing her followers.

"You can take away the stage of the artiste but you can't take away the voice of the artiste."

Sharul was scheduled to perform at the “Just Joking” stand-up comedy show at the PJ Live Arts Centre tonight, along with local comedians such as Mad Sabah, Rizal van Geyzel, Shamaine Othman, and Hindra Bose.

The show is organised by Laugh Labs Entertainment Sdn Bhd, whose chief executive Phoon Chi Ho told news portal Scoop that the reports pertained to Sharul's show in 2018, which is recirculating on social media now.

'Halal-certified comedian'

The video in question was a snippet from Comedy Central: Stand Up Asia! 2, recorded in Malaysia in 2018.

A check revealed that in the video titled "Halal-certified comedian", Sharul talked about the authorities sending "content police" to monitor her routine to make sure she did not speak about alcohol or dogs.

She also mentioned spotting the halal logo on a packet of tissues at a restaurant and joked about how she was given a halal certificate after completing her routine, as she did not speak about anything offensive.

"I'm a halal-certified comedian, ladies and gentlemen," she said.

The organiser is offering two options to ticket buyers following the cancellation of Sharul's show.

Ticket buyers can either opt to get a refund, for which they would have to wait two weeks, or choose to follow the show at the same place and time, featuring local talents.

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