IO, Jakarta – The first comedy festival in Indonesia – and the biggest in Asia – the Jakarta International Comedy Festival 2019 (“JICOMFEST 2019”), was successfully held in the Jakarta International Expo (JIExpo) Kemayoran on 3-4 August 2019. The event was hosted by KapanLagi Youniverse (KLY) in collaboration with Visual Indomedia Produksi (VIP), and supported by J. Trust Bank, Daihatsu, Axis, Dana, Payless, Teh Kotak, and KlikDokter. The two subsidiaries of EMTEK Group have successfully brought out the laughter of comedy lovers.
The event presented various types of comedic entertainment, including stand-up comedy, comedy video, comedy music, and traditional comic shows. The JICOMFEST 2019 also held a national-level stand-up comedy competition. On the second day, the winners of the National Stand Up Comedy Competition were announced: Tulus from Depok as 3rd-place winner, Bonar from Pekanbaru as 2nd-place winner, and Alif from Jakarta on the top spot.
Edwin Kartawinata, KLY’s Marketing VP, stated that stand-up comedy has a big potential. It initially started with small communities, but it has expanded greatly. “Before, the only events available were local-scaled. The JICOMFEST 2019 is our breakthrough, as we held it to be in the international scale,” he said. Indra Yudhistira, VIP’s CEO, added, “I want to thank everyone at JICOMFEST. Today, we have created a new milestone. We were even informed that JICOMFEST was the biggest comedy event in Asia,” he said.
JICOMFEST was held in four stages in Halls B dan C of Jiexpo Kemayoran. The Daihatsu Stage lined up the parade of comics and showed a special show featuring international comics Maz Jobrani and Yumi Nagashima, as well as special roasting night of Deddy Corbuzier by Ernest Prakasa, Adjisdoaibu, and Pandji Pragiwaksono on the first day. On the second day, Raditya Dika went on stage with youtubers Young Lex, Ria Ricis, and Mak Beti to the standing applause of the audience.
The Axis Stage did not lose to the Daihatsu Stage. On the first day, it was opened by the Majelis Lucu Indonesia (“Indonesia’s Council of Humor”), followed by Gilang Dirga, Awwe, and the international Angry Indians (Kavin Jay, Andrew Netto, Prakash Daniel, and Keren Bala Devan). On the second day, famous local comics Dani Aditya, Tretan Muslim, Arie Kriting, Mamat Alkatiri, and many more showed their stuff.
DKI Stage had a long queue on the first day as the audience waited to get entertained by famous lady comics such as Kiky SUCA4, Ligwina Hartanto, Sakdiyah Maruf, and Improvindo; as well international Funny Insya Allah (Rizal Van Geyzel, Mo Sidik, and Zainal Bostaman). On the second day, Andhika Pratama performed stand-up comedy for the first time at JICOMFEST. The audience cheered immensely at his performance.
Audience of the final stage, the J. Trust Bank Stage, enjoyed music performance of Oom Leo’s karaoke, Diskopantera, Musikodian, Nunung et al., and a spectacular show by PASKI (Komeng, Jarwo Kwat, Narji, Opi Kumis, etc.).
JICOMFEST’s outdoor area was full of interesting booths and various choices for food and beverages. JICOMFEST 2019 closed with a special solo show by Pandji Pragiwaksono on the Daihatsu Stage, followed by music performance by Orkes Pensil Alis (“Eyebrow Pencil Orchestra”). The orchestra was composed of several comics collaborating on the J. Trust Bank Stage. They were so much fun that the audience danced along until the end. See you again at JICOMFEST 2020 then!