Two years ago, comedian Tumua Tuinei told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that in 10 years, he hoped to be headlining a show at Blaisdell Concert Hall.
He’s cut that timeline considerably, in spades. Next weekend, he’ll be bringing his local kine comedy to Blaisdell, not just for one show, but for three. Two are sold out already — all 2,100 seats — and the third is well on its way.
“I’m just happy and so grateful to the local people for supporting me,” said Tuinei, a former University of Hawaii football player and scion of the famous Tuinei clan of football players.
The pandemic provided a path to success for the Punahou graduate. With local performance venues shut down, Tuinei started creating videos, featuring bits from his stand-up routine and skits about daily life in Hawaii.
“Everyone was on their phones, and everything was closed down (during the pandemic),” he said. “I did a lot of social media videos and skits and that blew up my following.”
As things reopened, local promoter Jose Dynamite gave him opportunities to perform, and a shoutout from Hawaii favorite Jo Koy helped spread his popularity outside of the islands. He’s planning a tour to the West Coast in 2022.
“It’s crazy it’s happening so quick, and I’m enjoying the ride,” said Tuinei, who now has nearly 40,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel and sold out 28 shows at local nightclubs. He also netted a guest appearance on the new “NCIS: Hawai‘i” TV show, playing a paparazzo.
Tuinei’s characters are an endearing bunch. There’s the Costco shopper who empties the sample trays and sizes pants by stretching them around his neck. He’ll pump up the pidgin for some videos. He also does an appropriately sleepy-eyed Gov. David Ige announcing that “There has been some rumors about a lockdown happening soon. I just wanna say that that is false. Rumours has been closed down for awhile now.”
“I try to make everything relateable,” Tuinei said of his characters. “I want everybody to watch me and look at me and tell themselves, ‘I know that guy. That guy reminds me of my dad, my neighbor, the guy at Costco.’ ”
In a way, his success was predictable. As a student at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, he took a stand-up comedy class, expecting “an easy A” but finding a challenge instead.
“For our final presentation, we had to perform 10 minutes before a live audience,” he said. “I didn’t know that before I signed up for the class. So when I heard that the first day, I wasn’t sure I wanted to take it. But I ended up taking it, and I wound up doing well in that presentation.”
A bit from that routine: “I’d talk about going to Punahou, and then I’d say, ‘I used to go Kamehameha High School, but I didn’t want to be a flight attendant.’ ”
He got an A in the course.
—
Tumua Tuinei
“Bringing Back Local Comedy”
>> Where: Blaisdell Concert Hall
>> When: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 12 (Friday and Saturday shows sold out)
>> Cost: $36, $46, $56
>> Info: tumuacomedy.com or ticketmaster.com
