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The emancipation of Joanne Kam into the entertainment industry in the 90s, turned around and introduces a whole new meaning of comedy in the conservative night scene of Kuala Lumpur. The explosion of her talent on stage also catapulted the success of Kuala Lumpur’s first cabaret club called the Boom Boom Room. Boom Boom Room quickly became the Studio 54 of Kuala Lumpur with Joanne Kam, reigning as its risqué mistress, dishing out her scandalous jokes to her ocean of eager fans that commuted weekly to pay tribute to the “Diva Queen”. Kuala Lumpur was never the same again.
Joanne’s distinct style of acid tongue humor earned her the reputation of being one of the most notoriously funny lady on Malaysian stage. The audience just couldn’t get enough of her candid, risqué jokes.
Her outfits as well were a statement of their own, tight fitting sequins gowns with plunging necklines that accentuated Joanne’s full ample assets. Her style created a revolution and confidence booster for women of all shapes & sizes who started idolizing her for her daring fashion sense. Bigger-sized females in Kuala Lumpur began showing off their ample curves instead of covering up in sacks and having as much fun as their skinny counterparts. KL was shocked and in awe, and fell head over heels for this bawdy, voluptuous comedian.
Besides holding court at the Boom Boom Room cabaret, Joanne also did her fair share of TV appearances in local sitcoms such as NTV7’s highly rated comedy series Kopitiam, Spanar Jaya and “Ah Girl”. She also co hosted an episode of Six degrees of separation with Asha Gill for the Lonely planet.
Ever the versatile performer, Joanne also co-hosted the Saturday morning program on Mix FM 94.5 in 2003, one of the nation’s leading radio station for a 6 months stint and due to overwhelming popular demand, she returned to Mix FM in 2006, this time co-hosting the morning breakfast show with Richard & Shazmin.
Joanne’s first foray into theater started with Actor Studio’s Life Sdn Bhd 2, where she left behind her sequin dresses and performed in just a casual T-shirt and jeans. Dress or no dress, Joanne worked her magic with the theatre-goers and the rest as they say is history!
In Christmas 2005, Joanne landed the role of the wicked stepmother in Paul Loosely’s successful pantomime Cinderella at KL Pac, acting along side the likes of Elaine Daly, Indy of Comedy Court, comedian Douglas Lim from Kopitiam fame and TV star, Zaibo of TV sitcom Phua Chu Kang fame.
The following year, Joanne played “Yat Soh” in the Boh Cameronian award winning musical, Broken Bridges. As the eldest of the 3 aunties, Ms Kam played Yat Soh with such zealous passion that her ‘3 fingers’ ruling for girls became an instant hit.
Not long after she also headlined Broadway Parodieslah, an original Malaysian musical comedy which played to sold out audiences during its run at the Actors Studio.
In 2007, Joanne attempted a more serious role in Gavin Yap’s play, Dreams are Big Business, where she played Marilyn, the Dream master’s assistant. Paul Loosely’s new Christmas pantomime, Aladdin, which takes its inspiration from the Beatles, saw Joanne as the Empress of China.
Joanne made her directorial debut in 2008 with the musical-comedy-cabaret titled, Kam…In Your Face which she also co-wrote, co-produced and played lead in Malaysia’s first ever cabaret production for theatre. Joanne will next be seen in Eve Ensler’s The Good Body which is opening in June 18th for a 10-day run at the Sime Darby Convention Centre, under the patronage of Tourism Minister Dato’ Sri Dr. Ng Yen Yen. One of play’s platform aims to help raise awareness to stop violence against women and part proceeds from the play will be donated to the Womens Aid Organization (WAO).
Her versatile talent has made her one of the most sought after artist in the industry, with her knack of entertaining all levels of audiences. Her quick wit coupled with her ability to adapt allows her to charm her crowd with professional ease and have them lapping up her inimitable brand of humor that they can’t seem to get enough of her.
Joanne Kam is currently still the only female stand-up comedian in Malaysia and her reign remains unchallenged, sealing her DIVA status. Albeit she has since lost some of the weight from her Unisense ambassador stint, she has lost none of the funny and looking even more va-va-voom than ever!
OTHER NOTABLES:
• One of the Malaysian celebrities chosen to be a part of the MOTOROLA RED campaign.
• Ladyboss of her own creative events company, TONIQ creative management sdn bhd.
• She is a single mum with a 4 year old daughter.
• The very first ambassador for one of Malaysia & Singapore’s top health & slimming centre, UNISENSE.
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