Tumua Tuinei - Master of Crowd Work
Show Note 3
Last night I experienced one of the most incredible live comedy shows I’ve ever seen, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that. Seriously, there’s zero exaggeration. I went to a live taping of Tumua Tuinei’s crowd work special at The Blue Note in Waikīkī. It was the first time I’d seen him perform live and I still can’t stop thinking about it. I’ve been to countless comedy shows over the years. I’ve performed alongside some stellar local comedians in various clubs and breweries, and I’ve seen legends live—Jeff Ross, Daniel Tosh, Demetri Martin, Kevin Nealon, Nate Bargatze, to name just a few. Some of these comedians are on my personal Mount Rushmore of Comedy and have done astoundingly good shows. Even so, I have to say, Tumua’s show was, without a doubt, the most remarkable live comedy experience I’ve ever had. Ever!
As a student of comedy, the word “masterclass” honestly doesn’t even begin to capture what I witnessed. Tumua’s performance was beyond effortless; it was pure gold. He had complete command of the crowd, even managing the drunk lady sitting a couple tables away from me, and he did it all hilariously. Watching him work was like watching a magician whose tricks you think you know, but you’re still left in awe. Scratch that! It was way better than that. Tumua used callbacks upon callbacks, seamlessly and easily weaving together moments from different audience members’ lives, strangers tied together in the funniest, most surprising ways.
The intimacy of the small venue played to his strengths, too. And I loved that he started by mentioning how being back at The Blue Note was a full-circle moment for him, since that’s where one of his biggest shows happened earlier in his career. Tumua brought people on stage, engaged them in matchmaking attempts, and turned an already personal experience into something even more extraordinary. A couple sitting at the table behind me had gotten into an argument right before the show started, and the wife stormed off and went home. Tumua discovered this during the show and, in a moment that was equal parts hilarious and jaw-dropping, got the man’s phone and called the woman while she was on her way home. She was pissed! Sure, I’ve seen comedians do that sort of thing on film before, but in person it was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Every interaction was organic, every joke original and on-the-spot. Nothing felt forced, nothing at all, not even when he called on people in the audience he clearly did know. He never used those moments as setups to land pre-planned punchlines. Everything was fresh, effortless, and hilarious. And everything was clean.
I’ve seen and studied enough comedy to recognize the common techniques at work in crowd work, but Tumua’s execution was so sharp and so quick that it left even me amazed. He had the audience in the palm of his hand from the first word to the last, and his rapport with them was exceptional. The love the audience had for Tumua was clear, and it’s equally clear that he loved them right back. He is a local guy making local people proud and, in Hawai’i, that’s worth its weight in gold. The relationship between the comedian and the audience is the most important thing in comedy, and last night was a perfect example of how beautiful that bond can be.
The sheer excitement of the crowd said it all. The doors opened an hour-and-a-half before the show, but even an hour before that, the line to get in was long. When I left the first show, I saw a similarly long line for the next group waiting to get in. Tumua’s ability to draw that kind of enthusiasm—I mean he sold out the Blaisdell arena here a few months back!—is a testament to how much people love him and how much joy he brings to the stage.
Leaving the show, I had a mix of emotions. As a comedian, there was a moment of despair—how could I ever pull off something like that? Tumua felt like a veteran up there, so at ease and so skilled that it was hard not to compare myself and wonder how far I still have to go. But I also felt hopeful, because in a world filled with so much pain and heaviness, what Tumua did last night was something lifegiving. He made all of us laugh so hard that we didn’t just forget about life for a while, we got through life (a wife leaving her husband, a woman getting cheated on, a drunk trying to drink her problems away, etc.) and that is a gift.
I paid almost $70 for my ticket, $30 for food, and $30 for parking. Altogether, about $130. But it was worth every single penny and then some. The host, local comedian, Jose Dynamite, and the opener, local comedian Mike Rayo, were great, too. I must say though, watching Tumua’s mind work so quickly and connect so many dots and in such a hilarious way to boot was beyond inspiring. It reminded me why I love comedy, why I do it, and why it’s so powerful. Tumua’s crowd work special wasn’t just a show—it was an experience and, honestly, it’s one that I’ll be thinking about for a long time. I can’t wait for the film to drop so I others will get to see it but I also want to watch it again and see parts from the second show that I wasn’t there for. What I can say is, when it does go live, it’ll be one of the great gifts of 2025 for us all.