The Presence Of The Single Comedy Community For The First Time In Indonesia In Today's Memory, July 13, 2011

The fifth portrait of the initiator of the Indonesian Stand Up Single Comedy Community (from the left: Isman HS, Ryan Adriandhy, Raditya Dika, Pandji Pragiwaksono, and Ernest Prakasa). (Personal Blog Ernest Prakasa: neonspark.wordpress.com)

JAKARTA - Memories of today, 12 years ago, July 13, 2011, the narrative of the revival of Indonesian single comedy (stand up comedy) surfaced. Ernest Prakasa, Ryan Adriandhy, Raditya Dika, Isman HS, and Pandji Pragiwaksono are behind it.

Everything started with a single comedy show at Comedy Cafe Kemang, South Jakarta. The ceremony, which was later recorded, shocked the whole of the archipelago and gave birth to the Stand Up Indo Community. Previously, single comedy was not a new item. Single comedy was popular in the 1980s.

Single or what is usually abbreviated as kompung often adorns the entertainment world in the country. Many big comedian names are born through kompung, or at least kompung has been one of the careers of being a comedian.

The existence of kompung cannot be underestimated. The performance medium is unlimited. From celebrations (marriages and circumcisions), competitions, radio, to television. Anyone who wants to hone their talent, they live freely choosing the medium by honing the right comedy material.

The narrative makes kompung one of the comedy formats that is difficult to conquer. However, that does not mean that it cannot be conquered. Komtung can be conquered with the habit of honing the material every time there is an opportunity.

Geliat pentingan kompung mulai meningkat ketika masuk era 1980-an. Komtung banyak dijadikan komedian amateur untuk mempertihkan talentnya di dunia komedi. Mereka bersedia bahkan menawarkan diri untuk menjadi pembawa acara kegiatan nikahan atau khitanan tanpa dibayar.

The study brought many successes. However, not all comedians'stage' started from celebrations or competitions. Warkop Prambors, then known as Warkop DKI, for example. The comedy groups fronted by Dono, Kasino, Indro, Rudi Badil, and Nanu actually appeared through radio events.

There is no doubt about their individual greatness. They can play a variety of characters at one time. This greatness makes the talent of Warkop DKI even more honed. They were then invited to fill the Komtung show.

"If you remember again, when the Warkop group was present at the entertainment business arena together with the playing of films and recording comedy recordings, it felt like in the 1980s the market was already crowded with types of entertainment media such as Warkop".

"Because, apart from the existence of other jokes, the Srimulat group comedy industry from Surabaya and Solo has also been present in Jakarta. In fact, the comedy group from Warung Kopi also appears and there are fans. Dono, Kasino, Indro realizes that Warkop's entertainment style is already considered a joke, is also able to present fresh music, funny and melodious colors," explained Rudi Badil in the book Warkop: Playing-Playing So Not Playing (2010).

After that, kompung's journey to seize the entertainment world was not easy. The commutung format must compete fiercely with the famous comedy group format. As a result, the fate of Komtung is not clear. Even though there are efforts to revive kompung.

Everything changed when five young people held a popular kompung performance called stand-up comedy at Comedy Cafe, Kemang, South Jakarta on July 13, 2011. The five were Ernest Prakasa, Ryan Adriandhy, Raditya Dika, Isman HS, and Pandji Pragiwaksono.

The event was greeted with great fanfare. Hundreds of people who came were entertained and those at home were entertained because the footage of the event appeared on one of the various video platforms.

Therefore, the event that day was considered the birthday of the Stand Up Indo community. A community that houses Komtung comedians (usually called Komika) to develop their talents. Even the community grew bigger and appeared in big cities. Viva La Komtung was also used as the slogan.

July 13, 2011, history began in Kemang, South Jakarta. Five young people held a stand-up comedy performance at a cafe. At first, three of them intended to appear in an open mic session -- a material training session for stand-up comedy aka an amateur session without being paid, aka anyone's session who wants to try please appear -- because they are the finalists of the stand-up comedy competition held by a TV station.

Without being noticed, more than a hundred people came to cafes that could actually only accommodate dozens of people. As a result, many people packed the parking lot. This is because two of the five young people who had the initiative were celebrities, aka many followers on Twitter. The curiosity of their followers finally made people spill into the cafe, in order to witness the stand-up comedy format from Indonesians," explained Soleh Solihun in the book Kastana Taklukkan Jakarta (2013).