The all-female stand-up comedy show Perempuan Berhak (Women Have Rights) returned for its third iteration with new faces and new unadulterated jokes about womanhood.

Founded in 2014 by stand-up comedian Jessica Farolan, the goal of the show has always been to give female stand-up comedians the opportunity to perform in a pure, uncensored environment.

Taking place at CGV Grand Indonesia, Central Jakarta, on Dec. 14, the latest show featured a lineup of Gamila Arief, Jessica Farolan, Priska Baru Segu, Musdalifah Basri and Ligwina “Wina” Hananto. Each comedian touched on issues related to womanhood from different perspectives.

The first performance of the night came from Priska, who calls herself a “hard-line Catholic”. Priska’s main topic of discussion revolved around her experience working at a hijab store and the hardships of being a Catholic among her predominantly Muslim friends.

Some of her jokes were spontaneous in delivery, some had long buildups and some had a dash of Eastern Indonesian charm commonly seen in comedians such as Abdur Arsyad and Arie Kriting.

Next was Jessica, who drew from her background in psychology to talk about sex education, its connection to womanhood and a little bit about religion, particularly Christianity.

Differently from Priska, Jessica did not start with bombastic jokes. Rather, she built up momentum throughout her segment, piling jokes on top of jokes to create an overarching narrative that came together to successfully attract laughter from the audience.

After Jessica came Musdalifah, also known as Ifa. For her segment, Ifa talked about her life after participating in the 2015 Stand Up Comedy Academy and her hometown of Pinrang, South Sulawesi.

Ifa’s signature style is in her seemingly innocent attitude, which allowed her to pull off offhand jokes that triggered uproarious laughter from the audience. Other than her use of throwaway humor, Ifa also supplied amusing anecdotes about her hometown and her marriage life.

“After I got married, I was ushered into a room full of aunties where they gave me advice for my marriage,” she said in one of her bits.

“And then, out of the blue, this old lady came up to me and asked ‘who’s your god?’” 

“I was so confused. All these people giving me advice and taking selfies with me and then this old lady suddenly asked me, ‘who’s your god’?” 

Then came Gamila, who talked about her life and lamentations as a married woman with two children. In her segment, she deplored her “break up” with housemaids and the uncontrollable cravings brought on by pregnancy.

Perhaps the quirkiest from all the comedians featured at the show, Gamila relied quite heavily on gimmicks to make her segment work.

She brought her two children on stage and put on a zombie-like act during her deliveries. This attracted some laughter from the audience, particularly during her questioning of why her housemaids left her.

The last segment of the night was from Wina, who talked about her upbringing, the infectious nature of Sunda culture and the seemingly unlimited power possessed by women over 40 who wear a hijab, like herself.

It was a night full of laughter, with the stand-up comedians showcasing their capability in a male-dominated industry.

Wina noted that there was a lack of women’s voices within the stand-up comedy community in Indonesia and Perempuan Berhak tries to address this.

“Looking at the first, second and now the third shows, we’re happy to see that women come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.”

The message of diversity was also echoed by Priska, who has mostly been featured in off-air stand-up comedy shows.

“What’s interesting is that each of us has different characteristics, and that led to different topics being discussed,” she said.

Keeping with the tradition of most off-air stand-up comedy shows, Perempuan Berhak has a no-holds-barred approach to comedy. It is unapologetic, explicit, vulgar at times and it does not shy away from sensitive topics. The show is free from the usual hurdles of censorship on television and other mainstream media.

“Stand-up comedy is art, and art cannot be censored,” said Wina.

“The stand-up comedian is free to say anything on stage, depending on the stage’s context. Be it offensive, annoying, eccentric or repulsive, it’s all up to them.”

For Wina, it’s important to be able to laugh at oneself.

“To laugh at the stupidities in women’s behavior is important in my opinion, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Every stand-up comedian involved in the show has their own writing style and pace, coming from different levels of experience.

Some, like Jessica and Musdalifah, came from nationally broadcast stand-up comedy competitions. Others, like Wina and Priska, mainly performed at off-air stand-up comedy events.    

As for Gamila, she had never performed as a stand-up comedian prior to this year’s show. While she was featured as a singer during the 2017 edition, this year marked the first time she came on stage as a comedian. 

“Stand-up comedy requires honesty by way of stripping yourself clean and saying things as how they are,” said Gamila, who is also the wife of stand-up comedian Pandji Pragiwaksono.

“It’s a challenge and possibly also an advantage.”

The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.

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