Stand Up Comedy
In 1987, after serving his conscription, Kumar, then aged 22, had his first exposure to the entertainment industry as a singing waiter at Cheers! The Fun Pub at the Novotel Orchid. Two years later, he began a stint as an entertainer at Haw Par Villa . In 1991, Kumar landed a gig at the now defunct Laughs Comedy Club in Tanglin Shopping Centre playing the role of an Indian drag queen. It was then when he realized comedy was his calling.
Kumar’s big break came in 1992 when he was offered the starring role at the newly established Boom Boom Room in New Bugis Street which opened on National Day the same year. At Boom Boom Room, Kumar’s routines included song and dance, in addition to stand-up comedy. He wrote most of his own material and had initially started with clean jokes which proved unpopular, drawing chilly responses from his audience; that led him to go with more risqué ones for which he is now known. His cross-dressing which came about as a comic device and a gimmick eventually became his trademark as he came to be Singapore’s most well-known drag queen with his caustic wit and biting observations about life in Singapore, particularly about politics, race, and sex. Because of the provocative nature of his shows, Kumar’s performances were subjected to scrutiny and monitoring by the police. Once a year, he had to perform his entire show for an audience of police officers before he was allowed to put it up for the public.
After moving to Far East Square in 2000, Boom Boom Room closed for good in 2005, and Kumar started performing at a theatre-bar called Gold Dust (of which he was part-owner) in Orchard Towers. In 2007, he sold his share of the club and has since been splitting his time between Hard Rock Café and 3-Monkeys Café where he performs regularly for four nights a week.
Read more about this topic: Kumar (drag Queen)
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