Oh, before I begin my rant, this request to perform in Lumut came from Dato’ Faridah Merican. Poised to please all charities, the founder of The Actors Studio volunteered The ComeBackKings when Cancerlink, Malaysia’s reknown non-governmental organization, which primes itself on delivering the message about the risks and dangers of cancer to us Malaysian. Ok, the Kings only found out about this the first time we met with the Cancerlink people, which, echoes loudly their need for recognition, let alone tangible support.

To tell the truth, the Kings were quite pressurized at first. Somehow, our dear Faridah had lead Cancerlink to think that The ComeBackKings are a group of experienced professional theatre performers / comedians, which, echoes loudly their need for recognition, let alone tangible support.

After the meeting with the hosts, the Kings’ first charity performance of the year 2007 was set on 15 July, 8pm at the (see title) to an audience of youths between ages 17 and 26, who suffer(ed) from cancer, the CancerChamp. The Kings ‘planned’ their departure from the office at 6am on the day only to successfully execute their ‘plan’ one and a half hours later. Besides, it was just less than five hours after the Kings returned from their post-event supper. King Chi Ho was on the wheels as he lead the rest of the Kings and Queen Dora in his royal chariot, better known to the Kings as the ‘Airplane’ (Disclaimer: nothing to do with King Niggy’s shoes.)

Its close to a five-hour drive and first stop, its Teluk Intan to drop off some supplies to King Niggy’s sister, who was posted there on medical duties. And any stop outside of the Klang Valley could mean that there’s good food nearby. King Niggy’s sister led us to a dingy Chinese restaurant that served great toasts and cheap (but good) coffee. YUM!

We hit the road again shortly. The wet weather was slowing us down a bit and when the troupe was dozing off, the Kings indulged into a spate of ‘What would you do …’ questions and this is one of my personal favourites;

Queen Dora: What would you do if you woke up one morning only to realize that you’ve changed into the opposite sex?

(long and silent ponder)

King Joonie: …pray.

As The Kings cranked down the trunk road, the stress on the Airplane’s rear suspensions sounded more and more obvious. It was a worry for the troupe and dodgy roadside signboards with unreliable distance indicators didn’t help much. After a couple of hours, the King spotted a large wooden arch that read ‘Swiss Garden Golf Resort and Spa, Damai Laut’ and followed the arrows, convinced that they’re nearing their destination. However, to reach the promise land, the Kings trundled through a wavier road littered with speed bumps and dotted with muddy marshes of either side. But it was all worth it, as the view of the straits greeted the Kings at the lobby. The room was pre-booked so all the Kings needed to do was to claim the keys, find the room, settle down and very soon, they were off to lunch.

After lunch, the Kings visited their ‘audience’ in various activities to rebuild their social lives that was lost en route to recovery. One of the activities came under The Actors Studio banner, courtesy of KLPac Academy’s Nala. Once the Kings have completed the protocol – saying ‘Hellos’ to those that matter, they took a stroll around the resort before locking themselves in their room for an intensive rehearsal. Again, new King Jon was thrown into the deep end; having to remember the longest line in the ‘Meet the In-Laws’ script. As time seemed to be running out for King Jon, The Kings opted for him to read from a piece of paper, emulating Jit Murad’s latest stand-up.

Despite the lack of practice, The Kings still managed to take a dip and few rounds of water polo. Dinner was served at 7pm and despite being late, The Kings still managed to gobble up some ground and a few more minutes to get into their ‘In-Laws’ costumes before the curtain opens. The response for ‘Meet the In-Laws’ great each time it taps on the funny sides of Malaysia’s ‘primary’ races (Apologies to the ‘…dan lain-lain’.). The crowd didn’t realize King Jon read from the script dead-panned! But the night was about to get better with, again, as always, another dose of Dance 101.

It was a sweet end to the night though; the CancerChamps ripped out three ‘Hip-hip horrays’ to the Kings as a token of appreciation before the crowd huddled in for an informal photo taking session. I almost got a tan from the camera flashes! And what sweeter end to the night with some liquid gold and dodging new found acquaintances.

DAY TWO

Well, there was nothing much on Day Two. Woke up around 10am, went to have more fun in the pool, got packing, left at about half past noon, had lunch in the nearest town and on the way, The Kings took more photos of Kings doused in slumber.

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