Written in November, 2017 for Indonesian Youth Magazine Zetizen
When I was preparing to come to Indonesia, the last thing I expected was to be standing behind a crowd of school students as Javanese comedian Dodit Mulyanto told me he loved me. That alone was enough to send the crowd into a peel of laughter. When I blew him a kiss in return it sent another wave of amusement through the crowds. Naturally, his response was cheeky. “We’ll go wandering through the park together.”
This is the 32-year-old comedian’s standard brand of humour: a little bit “naughty” as the locals say. He has been performing since 2012, when he was urged by his friends to take part in a stand up comedy event in a Surabaya café. It must have gone well, because he later appeared on the fourth season of Stand-up Comedy Indonesia in 2014, where his career truly took off.
At one point, Mr Mulyanto turned to the Zetcon crowd of more than 500 students and called out a number of school names. With each name the students’ cheers were louder as he mocked each East Java province in turn.
I don’t speak Jaha, so my understanding of his comedy came through bits and pieces thanks to a generous translator. One thing that did translate, even with the language barrier, was Mulyanto’s distinctive conversational tone. It makes him a crowd favourite, especially with Surabaya’s younger demographic.
He says teenagers are weird and it can be hard to communicate, but if he’s funny, and relevant with the issues, that’s when they will follow him.
Before his comedic life, Mulyanto was a teacher at Surabaya’s Santa Clara Catholic Elementary School and SMK Catholic Santa Clara. It makes sense that his chosen audience would be the same people he used to teach. He says he likes to talk to students because they are the future of Indonesia; teenagers bring initiative. “Breakthrough is very important because I want to inspire young people…I want to give inspiration so they can be creative beyond limits.”
While he loves to make the kids laugh, he tries to convey the importance of being good students and not getting caught up in young love or relationships. This is the part where someone backstage hands him a guitar and he sings a love song. At least, I’m told it’s a love song, and the way he croons into the microphone bring to mind an image of Ed Sheeran. Unlike Sheeran, there are no screaming teens, but a roar of more laughter.
A musical instrument is never far away in all of his performances, his music a blend of both traditional and modern songs. His unique combination of “naughty” humour and blended music works according to SMA Negeri 6 Surabaya student Dinda Oktaviana.
The 15-year-old student said Mulyanto motivated her with the performance, and she doesn’t think she’s the only one. “It’s in a funny way... I think people will like his humour [more than] talking seriously because I think Indonesian people like joking.Teenagers like him... I think he’s popular with everyone, but I think he’s more popular with teenagers.”
As Mulyanto bowed and walked off stage, another round of applause erupted from the crowd. To these students, his message is to be creative without limiting themselves, to “go wild”. It is to keep breaking through the barriers they face in the best way he knows; with a good sense of humour.
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