Singapore’s longest running topical comedy, Fat Kids Are Harder To Kidnap, returns for its 18th year with a new show that will continue to evolve right up to opening night.
The comedy will run for two weekends from 16 October 2026 at the Ngee Ann Kongsi Theatre at Wild Rice @ Funan. As the 2026 script will be written right up to the first performance, audiences can expect jokes and sketches based on the latest headlines and developments.
The show’s format is designed to make every performance different. A total of 31 short plays are prepared for each one-hour performance, but audiences decide the order in which they are performed.
The numbers 1 to 31 are displayed on stage, while every audience member receives a programme listing the 31 plays. After each sketch ends, the performers call out “Next!” and the audience responds by shouting the number of the next play they want to see.
A countdown clock runs throughout the hour. If the performers and audience manage to get through all 31 plays before time runs out, everything gets performed. Any sketches that remain unplayed when the clock reaches zero are lost for that performance.
The topical nature of the show means the material can change right up until the curtain rises. This year’s planned subjects include the Roxy Square wanton mee drama, major moments from the World Cup, the long awaited BTS comeback, efforts to raise Singapore’s fertility rate, viral monkeys and raccoons, as well as other stories that make the headlines before the final show.
The material is written by Jay and Melissa Sim and devised with the cast, allowing the production to respond to current events as they unfold.
The ensemble features Ross Nasir, Jo Tan, Teh Jun Vinh, Fahim Murshed and newcomer Yeo Zhiyi. The performers bring experience in comedy, timing and improvisation to a format that requires them to respond quickly while keeping an audience directed performance moving against the clock.
With audiences controlling the sequence of the sketches and current affairs shaping the material, no two performances of Fat Kids Are Harder To Kidnap are expected to be exactly alike.
The show returns from 16 October 2026 at the Ngee Ann Kongsi Theatre at Wild Rice @ Funan for two weekends.
