It’s Tough to be Funny, But WE DID IT!

August 16, 7pm  at the Diamond Room at Sheraton Towers Hotel:  a day that some of us at TMCS were dreading and yet looking forward to, in excited anticipation. 

Yes…it was the day of our Annual Humourous Speech and Evaluation contest. The challenge was to deliver an original humorous speech of 5-7 minutes and make the audience laugh, laugh and laugh some more! 

The more laughter a speaker generates with every punchline delivered, the higher the chances of winning.

Seven brave souls – none are stand-up comedians – took up this challenge. 

  • They were
  • Leow Sue Yen,
  • Elsa Lim,
  • Avi Liran,
  • Ernest Chen,
  • Saravanan,
  • Manoj Vasudevan and
  • Oh Hock Chong. 

Their speeches sure kept the audience in stitches…. They laughed at

  • Sue Yen’s description of our local habits of queuing and “table reservations by tissue paper”.  
  • Elsa’s speech of “Missing the Boat” tickled when she described her fruitless attempts at fishing for boyfriends.  
  • Jewish mothers and the habits of Jewish cab drivers came to life in Avi’s speech. 
  • Hock Chong evoked the smells and sights of the toilets of his youth; 
  • Ernest recounted how he “bartered” his wife in exchange for a hotel room and
  • Manoj generated waves of laughter when he gave the audience tips on how to lie convincingly and go to heaven.

After a short break, the audience came back for more  - this time it was the Evaluation Contest which attracted 8 contestants:

  • Lee Wei Ching,
  • Dev Raj, YY Lee,
  • Ng Cher Khim,
  • Oh Hock Cong,
  • Ernest Chen and
  • Elsa Lim.

Test Speaker Sean Loke for SIM Toastmasters delivered a dynamically humorous speech on “The Joys of Falling Down” and each contestant were given 2-3 minutes to deliver their evaluations.

Time flew and the before we knew it, our laugh-a-minute Chapter Meeting had come to an end. 

The verdict: 

Humorous Prepared Speech

  • Champion -  Manoj Vasudevan;
  • First Runner-up – Ernest Chen;
  • 2nd Runner Up – Elsa Lim.

Evaluation Contest

  • Champion – Ng Cher Khim; 
  • First Runner-up – Ernest Chen;
  • Second Runner-up – Elsa Lim.

Congratulations to all our winners!  It’s now on to the Area and hopefully, the Division Contests for our champions Manoj, Ernest and Cher Khim.