When American streaming giant Netflix called home-grown comedian Fakkah Fuzz to say that they wanted to tape one of his gigs for a comedy special, he had no time to celebrate.
"The first thing that went through my head was, 'I have only an hour. What am I going to say? How will this play out?'
"The excitement of it being a Netflix comedy special came only later when it all sank in. Then, I was like, 'This is crazy,' and there was a little bit of jumping up and down," he tells The Straits Times.
The 31-year-old, whose real name is Muhammed Fadzri Abdul Rashid, is the first Singaporean to have a Netflix comedy special, which is a taping of a stand-up comedy session.
As Netflix is available in more than 130 countries, subscribers of the service from India to South Korea would be able to view his show.
"It's definitely very surreal. I wouldn't have even dreamt that I could get a huge opportunity like this just a few years ago," he says.
Given the massive international reach of the show, he admits that he felt a little pressure over choosing the material he would condense in the hour-long show. The session was taped at a sold-out gig at Capitol Theatre.
"There's a little something from every part of my time as a comedian, so there's material that I have worked on for years and there's newer material too.
"I had a basic guide for what I wanted to say, but a lot of the times, I just let things roll and went with the flow. The point is that all of it is very Fakkah Fuzz," he says.
What does that mean?
"It's basically everything I experience and it's observations taken from my point of view.
"For example, there are jokes in there about being an ordinary Malay guy living in Singapore and there are some political jokes.
"And being me, it's not going to be clean. I have a filthy mouth which, sometimes, gets me into trouble," he says.
Not that the bachelor is concerned about courting controversy. After all, his Netflix comedy special is titled Almost Banned.
If anything, being controversial has only benefited him, he says.
In 2016, he found himself in the soup when he poked fun at Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in a video he posted online.
Some viewers across the Causeway were so offended that the Malaysian Artistes Association lodged a police report against him and called for the Malaysian authorities to ban him from entering Malaysia.
He then apologised on his Facebook page, saying he had meant no harm.
"They're like, 'Oh, so he's that kind of comedian. Let's see what kind of s*** he has to say.'"
He has come a long way since starting out as a stand-up comedian eight years ago.
At the time, he had to take on odd jobs to support his comedy passion, doing everything from waiting tables at restaurants to being a fitness trainer in the day before doing stand-up gigs at night at the now-defunct eatery eM By The River. He started doing comedy full time about two years ago.
"I'm definitely in a good place. I'm going to keep doing what I do, but in the long run, I also hope to pave the way for other aspiring comedians.
"I hope to inspire young entertainers in Singapore. I want them to say, 'Oh, this guy from Singapore can get a Netflix comedy special.
"Maybe, I, too, can be like him one day.'"
• Fakkah Fuzz: Almost Banned is available on Netflix.
