Shortcake Tales: Did You Kam Tonight?

Pardon moi, the corny title is inspired by the show of the title “Kam … in your face!”

These 2 weeks, The Actor's Studio in Bangsar is dishing out local flavored randy cabaret, accompanied by a heady concoction of dance and song, served with a side of delectable signature juicy comedy. Wash it all down with a dose of cleavage. It'll have you panting for seconds .... really? Let's find out ...

Here’s the low down. The preamble. The appetizer. Aha. The foreplay … to warm you up before we hit the mains…

Title: Kam... In Your Face
Genre: Comedy + Cabaret + Musical
Venue : The Actors Studio @ BSC, Level 3, Bangsar Shopping Centre, Jalan Maarof, Bangsar.
Date & Time: Thu 1 - Sun 11 May 2008 @ 8.30pm (except Monday)
Tickets: RM102/ RM82/ RM62 (20% off for students & senior citizens)
Ticket Contact: 03-2094 0400 / 1400

The Show Poster. Click to enlarge.
(All press photo from Kakiseni & The Actor's Studio)

Synopsis (from Kakiseni.com) :

Joanne Kam Po Po, the Boom Boom Room’s queen of risqué humour, returns to the stage, after much persuasion from fans, with a louder, funnier, more mature (and still PG-13 rated) adaptation of the original Boom Boom Room show!

This comedy cabaret musical combines song and dance, stand-up comedy and skits with a generous amount of local wit and humour, a spoonful of intellect, a dash of Bollywood, a splice of rock n roll and disco, loads of fun and just enough risqué to spice up the show.

The always irreverent and hilarious Joanne Kam will be joined by Gavin Yap, Douglas Lim, Susan Lankester, Fang Chyi, Ho Soon Yoon, Ash Nair, Ina Fabregas and Malik Taufiq.

Malaysia's Comedy Queen: Joanne Kam
(All press photo from Kakiseni & The Actor's Studio)

What to expect for 2 hours:

Act One :::

Feelin’ Good / Steppin’ To The Bad Side
Joanne Kam (stand-up)
Whatever You Like
Sweet Dreams / Tainted Love
CSI Petaling Street (skit)
In Your Mind
Punjabi MC
Choli Ke Peche

Act Two :::

Disco Inferno
I’m Coming Out
Macho Man / You Can’t Stop The Music
Joanne Kam (audience participation)
YMCA
Streets Of Fire (skit)

The cast of Kam.... In Your Face!
(All press photo from Kakiseni & The Actor's Studio)

Well, I believe most of you are quite familiar with Joanne Kam’s risqué and raunchy brand of humor ... this round, our stunning and bold protagonist is bubblier, brighter and better than ever. She has come a long way from the Boom Boom Room era. If you’re a Kam-Virgin, never fear, there are more shows the coming weekend! Well, more about Joanne Kam in this interview by The Star.

The verdict by Shortcake & dear hubby….

What we liked ….. these can definitely make you “kam” ….

The energy! Amazing energy makes you teeter at the edge of your seat.
Joanne Kam of course! She's the reason I went to BSC a day ahead to secure my tickets! I need my dose of no holds barred nonsense and who else better to do it than Malaysia’s Comedy Queen?
The merciless dissection and humiliation of several Cleo bachelors! ‘ooouchh’ … *applause*applause*
Well put-together, flawlessly choreographed dance moves, even the non-dancers did great.
The gorgeous, versatile and barely clothed dancers with big big hair.
Dazzling costumes; the array of elaborate costumes were downright dizzying!
Pole dancing! No kidding. Not just the pro-dancers, catch Susan Lankaster on a pole.
The stunning Ina Fabregas who crooned beautifully.
Ho Soon Yoon, reminds me of the boy-next-door whose wide smile reduces his eyes to adorable slits. Ho is talented, cuddly, real and everything Malaysian, effortlessly.
Douglas Lim trying to be Jay-Z; the guy is a real comic and indeed talented. The rap wasn’t half bad either.
Very excellent rendition and choreography of Tainted Love.
The Bollywood flavored dance segment was superb.

Turn offs, or not so “kam” inducing ….

The show started off like a Bangkok Cabaret show (but DUH that’s what it is, a cabaret show! Oh, righto!)
One of the joke during stand-up was something I read (several times) from email spam. No doubt it was funny and I guess most people do not mind (or did not notice, or politely pretend not to notice), but to me it’s a glaring banner shouting “recycled!” and that, I must say, was quite unexpected.
I did not quite appreciate the Petaling Street CSI skit.
I felt that Disco Inferno was blah blah bland in comparison to the superb first set before intermission. It’s a good thing the pace picked up somewhat after that.

Should you spend the 60, 80 or 100 bux? Yes, if you nod to most of the below:

Fan of cabaret (think Vegas, or even Bangkok! Think feathers, glitters and fishnet stockings)
Fan of musicals, song and dance
You get a kick out of raunchy naughty jokes
You like a big strong woman telling you what should do with your life
You like stand-up
You like the Village People
You like crazy short skits which don’t make sense
Pole dancing, whips and leather *oooooohhhh*
Sexy girls dancing dangerously on stiletto heels are your cup of tea
You have never seen a combination of all the above and you are bloody curious

Save your moolah and do not bother if you say yes to all of the below ….

You only watch literature in it’s unadulterated and undistorted form
You only speak and listen to the English language in it’s purest
You cannot bear risqué and naughty humor
The ‘F’ word makes you cringe
Comedy is not your cup of tea
You’re a staunch homophobic
You're easily offended (aaaww.. boooo)
You are below 18
You are below 18 AND a virgin (!)

And nope, thou shalt not bring thy children, especially those of school-going age (i.e. below 18). I don’t recall any age limit being imposed here, but this is Boom Boom Room stuff, so you get the idea, right? There are no holds barred on language nor topics. Need I say more?

It was full house last Sunday and the seats for the coming were filling fast when I bought my tickets .... so hurry up if you don't wanna miss this! I had my dose and truthfully I am not a great big fan of stand up, but I'll admit, once in a while I'll need my laughs. For those who know better, Shortcake is really more game for melancholia, mysteries and dark moody plays.