S’pore comedy icon Kumar cried after first drag performance, explains why he avoids social media 30 years on

Singapore once stared and jeered at Kumar, but today, many see him as a national treasure

The first thing that surprised us about Kumar was how calm and grounded he was. Not silent, not shy, just quieter than we’d expected.

Backstage at the Sands Theatre, performers drifted between rehearsals while crew members moved purposefully through corridors lined with costumes.

Glittering gowns hung neatly on racks, feathered headpieces waited under bright lights, and the bass from a rehearsal pulsed through the air.

This is the world behind ‘Kumar Got Balls’, the latest production from Singapore’s most recognisable drag comedian, running now till 12 July.

When MS News met the Queen of Comedy, we expected someone louder, perhaps sharper, maybe even a little intimidating.

After all, this was Kumar: the comedian who has spent more than three decades saying things other Singaporeans only dared whisper, turning everyday frustrations, awkward truths, and social observations into punchlines people could laugh at (or at least chuckle nervously over).

Instead, we found someone reserved. Someone who chatted softly with crew members and checked in on staff. Who wore a simple baggy tee and printed jogger pants. Who, between rehearsals, managed only a quick bite of popiah before being ushered back on stage as the production continued buzzing around him.

Speaking to him and watching him move through the theatre, it was fascinating to see the contrast between the person in front of us and the larger-than-life performer many Singaporeans grew up watching.

Yet perhaps that duality is exactly why Kumar has endured for more than 30 years: the person may be quiet, but the performer never was.

From catcalls and stereotypes to sold-out shows

Today, audiences know Kumar as a comedy icon.

When he first stepped onto a stage in drag, though, the reaction was very different.

“I panicked and got a lot of catcalls, then I cried,” he recalled.

His director offered simple advice:

It’s either you swim or you drown.

But how do you stay afloat when there’s no roadmap for what you’re attempting? “There was nobody else before me, so I was the pioneer,” he said.

And Singapore in the 1990s was a very different place.

The entertainment scene was vibrant, with live bands performing across the island and nightlife drawing crowds night after night. But attitudes towards drag performers were far less accepting.

Many Singaporeans associated drag with stereotypes and misconceptions, and derogatory terms were thrown around casually.

“People always considered drag queens as prostitutes,” Kumar said matter-of-factly.

Looking back, Kumar remembers constantly having to push against those assumptions.

The challenge wasn’t just making people laugh. It was convincing audiences to see him as a performer in the first place.

Yet curiosity eventually worked in his favour. Word spread about a drag comedian performing in Bugis, and people turned up simply to see whether such a thing really existed.

“They were shocked,” Kumar said.

But once the initial surprise wore off, something else happened: the jokes landed, and people stayed.

Daring to say what others only whispered

Ask Kumar what made him successful, and he doesn’t hesitate: “Boldness.”

“The daring to say what people whisper to each other,” he told MS News. “I’m just using a mic.”

For decades, Kumar has built his material around the things Singaporeans recognise immediately: relationships, family dynamics, social behaviour, the strange things people do on public transport, and all the small frustrations that make up everyday life here.

He’s also been particular about not relying on vulgarity, choosing relatability instead.

Whether joking about married couples arguing, Singaporeans queueing for everything, or the latest social trend, audiences recognised themselves in the joke.

That familiarity became his greatest strength.

People weren’t simply laughing at others. They were laughing at themselves.

Even today, Kumar believes that’s something Singaporeans can stand to improve on.

“Laugh at yourself first,” he said. “When you laugh at yourself, then you’re able to laugh at everything else.”

Singapore has changed, and so have its audiences

One of the most interesting parts of our conversation came when we asked whether drag still shocks people today.

Kumar immediately disagreed.

For someone who experienced Singapore in the 1990s, the difference feels obvious.

The audiences who once stared now barely blink. The performer who once attracted curious crowds now headlines major theatre productions. And the drag queen once viewed as an outsider is now regularly described as a national treasure.

“Singapore has become very open-minded,” he said.

He also believes the shift extends well beyond drag, with people today generally more accepting of difference than they were three decades ago.

That said, acceptance hasn’t necessarily made audiences easier to entertain.

In some ways, Kumar thinks they’ve grown more cautious. Certain jokes that worked years ago no longer resonate, and some stereotypes that once drew laughs now fall flat, especially with younger crowds.

As a result, he’s adapted. “I self-censor.”

That doesn’t mean becoming less daring, though. It just means understanding where the boundaries sit, and recognising that comedy evolves alongside society.

The line has shifted, and so has Kumar. Perhaps that willingness to change is exactly why he remains relevant after all these decades.

Behind the fearless drag persona, a man who cries

Like we did at first, people often assume Kumar is exactly the same person on and off stage.

He says otherwise: “Once I’m off stage, I’m back to my reserved self.”

The stage version of Kumar is bigger, louder, and bolder. The private version is far more reflective.

He admitted he avoids social media because negative comments affect him emotionally. “I don’t want to see negative,” he said.

For someone whose career has been built on confidence and loudness, there was real vulnerability here.

As it turns out, for all the glamorous makeup, elaborate costumes, and biting punchlines, Kumar has spent much of his life dealing with the same insecurities and emotions as everyone else.

He remembers the hurt from early catcalls, the stereotypes, and the assumptions people made about him before they knew anything about him.

Time, experience, and age have all helped, but none of it made him immune.

“People should know that we are also human beings,” he said. “We also have bad days.”

More than Singapore’s Queen of Comedy

Today, Kumar is delighting fans with another major production, ‘Kumar Got Balls’.

After more than three decades, the excitement hasn’t faded. He still enjoys the collaborative process, from brainstorming and rehearsals to the sense of building something new with his team.

When asked what keeps him going, the answer is immediate and simple: “The team.”

It’s a fitting answer for someone whose career has always been built on connection: with audiences, with culture, and with a Singapore that has changed dramatically over the course of his career.

As rehearsals resumed around us, Kumar returned to discussing costumes, choreography, and jokes. Another show, another audience, another chance to make people laugh.

Following him through the theatre that afternoon, we realised that beneath the wigs, sequins, makeup, and larger-than-life persona was something far less extraordinary, and perhaps far more powerful: someone who wanted to be understood, and wanted to understand others too.

Someone who cried after early performances, who still says a prayer before stepping onto a stage, and who never imagined that a nightclub job paying a monthly salary would eventually turn him into one of Singapore’s most enduring entertainers.

More than 30 years ago, people looked at Kumar and saw a spectacle.

Today, many simply see Kumar. And perhaps that says as much about Singapore as it does about the man himself.

Those who want to see Kumar in action can catch him in ‘Kumar Got Balls’, now running at Sands Theatre.

Kumar Got Balls
Address: Sands Theatre, 10 Bayfront Avenue, B1-69/70 The Shoppes, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore 018971
Date: Now till 12 July 2026
Timings: 8pm from Wednesdays to Saturdays, with 4pm matinee shows on Saturdays and Sundays
Nearest MRT station: Bayfront

Tickets are priced from S$68 and are available via SISTIC.

Eligible Singaporeans can also use their SG Culture Pass credits to offset their purchase.

Also read: S’porean Comedian Kumar Has Had A Son For 11 Years, Says Family Is Most Important

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Featured image by MS News (photography by Felicia Fun) and adapted from Laughing Till It Hurts on Facebook and @theofficialkumarsg on Instagram.