PETALING JAYA: Malaysian funnyman Harith Iskander will give his wife, Dr Jezamine Lim, a big kiss if he is crowned the world’s funniest person.Having made it into the Top 20 of the Laugh Factory’s “Funniest Person In The World” competition, the “Godfather” of Malaysian comedy will now compete in the semi-final to be held in Helsinki, Finland, on Dec 5.
Things are looking good for Harith as he is leading the online poll for the competition with close to two million votes. His closest competitor is Alex Calleja from the Philippines, with over 1.5 million votes.
“I will go skiing because the finals are in Finland,” Harith joked when asked what he would do if he wins.
On a more serious note, Harith told FMT: “Seriously I will give my wife a big kiss. She has been instrumental in my getting here as much as anybody. She has been my rock.”
When asked about his fellow contenders, Harith said: “We have become Facebook friends. We have started a Facebook group. They’re an awesome bunch of people, from 20 different countries. What an opportunity!”
The other 18 contenders are Mino Van Nassau (India), Omar Ramzi (Saudi Arabia), Jimeoin (Ireland), Katerina Vrana (Greece), Umar Rana (Pakistan), Murilo Couto (Brazil), Christopher “Johnny” Daley (Jamaica), David Kilimnick (Israel), Fakah Fuzz (Singapore), Patrick Indringi (Uganda), Melanie Maras (Indonesia), Hari Soinila (Finland), Pedja Bajovic (Croatia), Nikola Todoroski (Macedonia), Michael Mittermeier (Germany), Daniel Simonsen (Norway), Bianca Cristovao (Czech Republic) and Tin Vodopivec (Slovenia).
Representing the country, Harith believes that it is possible to promote Malaysia to the world through comedy.
“My comedy on the live international stage will represent my ‘Malaysian-ness’. It is an amazing opportunity for the whole world to find out about Malaysia and realise there is a world-class comedian from Malaysia!”
Harith also expressed his gratitude to his fans who helped vote for him in the competition, saying they have been amazing.
“I’m leading in the worldwide voting and it has a lot to do with the support I received from Malaysians. It has been overwhelming and I appreciate it so much.”
The competition began with 86 comedians from 55 countries, with fans voting online to pick the top 20.
Harith represented Malaysia, alongside fellow stand-up comedian Dr Jason Leong. Both garnered more than one million votes in the first round.
In the second round, according to the rules on Laugh Factory’s FPIW page, the judges will determine 50 per cent of the points, with the other half of the scoring in the semi-finals coming from the voting in the first round.
The finals will see five contestants vying for the inaugural Laugh Factory “Funniest Person in the World” title and USD100,000.
If you haven’t voted for Harith, you can still do so by going to www.voteforharith.com and sharing the link on your social media accounts.