As a proud partner for the inaugural Sugar & Spice Festival that’s happening this 1-15 August 2020, we are bringing you this series of interviews with presenters so that you get to know them better and their workshops.
Today, we speak to Joanne Kam, Malaysia’s Queen of Comedy, who will be presenting the stand-up act “Kam Overlord” on the 12th August and panel “Sex, Money and Power” on the 8th August. We ask her some questions about the sessions and her background. Please enjoy and do sign up for the festival!
Q: You are part of a trio of panelists on topic of “Sex, Money and Power”. Out of these three elements, which describes you the best (sexy, rich or powerful)? What experiences will you be bringing into the conversation?
The best element that describes me is Sex…this is of course because I have built a career out of telling dirty jokes and most of my productions have cheeky sexual innuendos built around them. Also, my surname is KAM (which rhymes very well with cum) and fortunately or unfortunately, I have used my surname as a pun in most of my show titles. Here are some to give you an idea: Kam overload; Kam with me; Kam….in your face; Kam…on me; Seriously Kam. So you can see how this wordplay in the titles of my comedy shows can already tell you that it is an 18-and-above-only showcase. Also, most of my material revolves around sex and my sexual encounters so I guess it is very easy for people to associate me with sex.
I have been performing comedy and cabaret shows for almost 29 years. So, when you are talking about Sex, Money and Power, I guess you could say that I’ll be bringing my experience of making a living by talking or joking about sex and on stage. I also have an audience interaction where I bring 3 men up on stage and get them to do really silly stuff such as pretending to be a gogo pole dancer, or I get them to wear big bras with balloons in them and get them to do a sexy catwalk routine. Basically, the power to be able to get them to do whatever I want on stage. Understanding that the other panelists are BDSM mistresses, I guess my experiences although not similar to theirs but in a way, it’s also connected. Last but not least, I will be bringing my humour into the conversation as well.
Q: As participants are able to send questions for your stand-up act “Kam Overload”, what kind of questions would you want to entertain the most?
I am comfortable to entertain most questions and have a way to answer them in a funny way.
Q: Your co-hosts for the panel are professional dominatrices. If you can swap places for one night, who will be your ideal client and humiliation play?
My ideal client would allow me to do a mix of verbal and physical actions (with consent, of course). I would definitely be a DOM as I already have the costume and I would like my client to be my sex slave and allow me to slap him and order him to lick my boots, etc. I guess the ideal client would be someone who is bigger than me but is totally in awe with me.
Q: As the Queen of Comedy in Malaysia, what kind of social barriers did you have to overcome?
My social barriers are that sometimes, the public has this preconceived notion that I am highly sexed and am constantly on the lookout for sex. That was especially so at the beginning of my career. My stage persona is a woman who is highly sex and has a lot of sexual encounters and talks freely of those encounters, so sometimes, I feel that my social barrier is having the public understand that the stage Joanne is not the real Joanne but those two are still intertwined.
Q: You have been involved in numerous theatre, comedy and radio productions. What else have you not conquered and what’s your dream project (e.g. a film, worldwide comedy tour, etc)?
I recently co-produced Queens of Asia where I got 3 other female headliners from different countries into Malaysia to perform a one-night showcase that sold out to 1,500 people. We were going to do it in Singapore as well but unfortunately, COVID-19 came about and we had to postpone it to next year. I would love to continue with Queens of Asia as a reoccurring annual event and engage other notable female comedians into the series. This is a stage show but it would be great if we are able sell it on an international platform.
My dream project is to have a show-club the likes of Vegas in Malaysia – a mixture of cabaret, spank, pole and burlesque.
I do have a movie project in mind but since it is in discussion at the moment, I can’t divulge any information at this moment.
If you’re interested to attend Joanne’s sessions or other presenters’ workshops, please go to www.sugarandspice.asia to get your festival pass!
Images: Joanne Kam
