GURMIT, YOU MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH. BUT WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Slapstick comedy makes me laugh. People like Jim Carrey, Robin Williams and Jerry Lewis… very physical (comedy), like Jerry Lewis falling on the floor and slapping his own face.
Here’s a little fun fact: When I first came into TV, management asked me to try more atas (sophisticated) and intelligent jokes. I looked them straight in the eye and said: “I would like to think I’m very clever… but I’m stupid, how do I do that?”
Because you only do the jokes you’re comfortable with. People will see through a lie very easily. They’ll know this guy is not enjoying it, he’s just forcing it.
THERE’S A SAYING THAT THE FUNNIEST COMMEDIANS ARE OFTEN THE SADDEST. TELL US ABOUT SOME OF YOUR LOWEST MOMENTS THAT ALSO BECAME YOUR DRIVING FORCE LATER IN LIFE?
That’s a tough question. The main things that brought me to my knees, my low points, were the moments my parents passed away. In 2001, it was my mom and in 2003 it was my dad.
Those were the worst times to be a comedian. On the streets, people’d ask me, “Hey, tell me a joke”. But I was in mourning, and the last thing I wanted to do was to smile and laugh.
So I found myself hiding in my car, in my house, not trying to go out, just avoiding contact… Every time I passed by something that reminded me of my parents, I’d just break down and cry in the car. I had to collect myself, dry my eyes and come into work.
That was tough. But they say time heals. And… because I have a family to feed, I have a sense of responsibility to come back to work and perform and get back on (my) feet.
YOU’VE DESCRIBED YOURSELF AS AN INTROVERT WHO’S FORCED TO BE AN EXTROVERT. HOW DO YOU FIND THAT BALANCE BEING AT TWO EXTREME ENDS OF THE PERSONALITY SPECTRUM?
It’s tough, and I’ve an inferiority complex as well, so I don’t watch my own shows. As an introvert, there are many things I’m unsure of or afraid to do.
But when I’m performing, I have this chance… to go and try (things). Go and be a contractor, a security guard, a judge, a police captain… and just escape.
It’s something that I know that it’s not me, but I (get) a chance to try that universe, that version of me and come back again.
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR CHILDHOOD.
I was a very naughty child and I liked to play pranks. In Secondary One, I played a prank on… a new friend I just met in class and he cried.
I remember feeling very triumphant… but I heard a voice (inside my head) telling me: “If you keep doing this, you will have no friends”.
So I told myself: “OK Gurmit, let’s be funny for other people. Even if they laugh at me, so be it.” I think that was when my comedy thing started.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT BEING SO SYNONYMOUS WITH PHUA CHU KANG? DOES IT GET TIRING PLAYING THE CHARACTER?
Phua Chu Kang came out in 1997 and it ended in 2007 but I’m still (playing) him at company dinner and dances (in) Singapore and Malaysia. I’ll go up there, do a one-man show for one hour and then sing karaoke.
I get tired from playing Phua Chua Kang because he is larger than life. It’s very physical. After I’m done, I’m sweating buckets…
But I’m never tired of (playing him), or of any work that I do, because I just love the experience, the process. The whole idea that I can do something to make your day is a driving force.
If (someone) comes up to me and says, “Yesterday, the episode, I laughed until I farted,” I’m happy.
HAVE YOU EVER FELT LIKE PHUA CHU KANG WENT ON LONGER THAN IT SHOULD HAVE?
At the eighth season, I told (Singapore’s) management: “No more, I think we should end here… this is as high as it gets. Let’s leave them wanting”.
But for Malaysia, we could do at least two more seasons because they were crazy (for Phua Chu Kang). When I went (to Malaysia), I got chased. It felt like Beatlemania. They chased me in the mall, they tried to get my mole, my wig.
By the way, I have eaten one of my moles – not on purpose. It was a dining scene right in front of a live audience. I finished my bubur cha-cha in a bowl and after the directors shouted “cut”, (someone) pointed to my cheek and I realised my mole was missing. I had remembered seeing a black garnish in my bowl… so yes I swallowed it.
ANY ROLES YOU’D HAVE LIKED TO PLAY OUTSIDE OF COMEDY?
Yes, as an artist and actor, I’m always trying to find new roles, even non-funny roles. What I’d have liked to play, (but I think that) ship has passed, is to be a Chinese martial arts and kungfu (character) like Wong Fei-hung. I really love kungfu. I grew up watching Jackie Chan.
YOU JUST TURNED 60. ANY PLANS FOR RETIREMENT?
I have to keep working until my youngest (child) is 21. That’s my plan. She’s 12 this year, so I have another nine more years to go… and then I can sit back and relax on the porch.
