Tumua Tuinei kept folks laughing with viral videos amid pandemic
By JON WOODHOUSE 5 min read
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Local comedian Tumua Tuinei will make his Maui debut with a stand-up show on Feb. 26 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. Tuinei recently sold out three nights at the Blaisdell in Honolulu. — Photo courtesy of Tumua Tuinei
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When stand-up shows and live performances came to a halt during the pandemic, Tumua Tuinei kept folks laughing with viral videos and hilarious vignettes of colorful “local boy” characters. — Photo courtesy of Tumua Tuinei
Before he sold out three nights at the Blaisdell Concert Hall in December, comedian Tumua Tuinei had been cracking folks up online during the pandemic, posting a series of hilarious vignettes of colorful “local boy” characters.
Providing needed comic relief, the stream of videos included a sleepy Gov. David Ige droning on about COVID-19 measures, Kaipo the waiter fumbling orders and offering to comp the water and the bumbling Maunaloa Movers “moving everything from mauna to lower and everything in between.”
Other hit videos included Uber driver Larry looking up the airport’s address, the dodgy Craigslist car deal with the free bell, “I see some white stuff” trainee weatherman with Hawaii News Now’s Guy Hagi, teaching Josh Tatofi how to sing and the brilliant “What Your Hawaii High School Says About You” summary, where Kamehameha grads are “either one kumu hula, one firefighter or one flight attendant.”
Making his Maui debut on Feb. 26, this rising comedy star said he most enjoys “the whole process of putting together a bit or a joke and seeing the end result and seeing people laugh, just realizing that people are enjoying their night and having a good time all from what I created.
“Stand-up is tough because it’s just you on stage, the microphone and the audience,” Tuinei said. “So it’s a great feeling to realize my material works.”
In one of the funniest comedy bits in recent years, he transformed Costco into a playground, raiding the sample trays, sizing shorts with his neck, attempting price matching and getting “stuck” in a freezer.
“Me and my friend was in Costco for about fours hours just filming random stuff,” Tuinei recalled. “It turned out to be great. I had been doing stand-up for five years and I started making video skits in March of 2020 since the pandemic hit. There was no stand-up, no live performances, no audiences, so I put together a few videos of hot topics that were happening during the pandemic like toilet paper and it went viral. I guess it’s what local people want, and now I keep popping out videos and it helps with people coming to my shows. It all just fell into place and I’m just thankful and blessed.”
Two years ago, he was asked by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser what he would like to be doing in 10 years. He hoped he would “headline the Blaisdell one time for the people of Hawaii.”
So he was amazed to sell out three nights two years later — that’s 6,300 seats — rock-star level.
“It was surreal,” he marveled. “I was looking at a 10-year plan, and it happened so quick, and a lot of it was because of the social media. My following blew up when I started posting videos, and my shows started selling out.”
Growing up, Tuinei enjoyed entertaining family and friends with magic tricks.
“From there, I found my humor being comfortable in front of an audience and realizing I love to entertain people,” he explained.
Later on, playing football at Punahou and for the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, he was able to translate some of his training to the comedy stage.
“My dad and uncle were big-time football stars, my uncle played for the Dallas Cowboys and my dad for the Detroit Lions, so my whole life I was into sports,” he said. “The work ethic stayed with me when I switched my career to comedy. It helped me being a perfectionist and never giving up and dealing with adversity. I like to use those values in my comedy career.”
Tuinei counts some of Hawaii’s comedy greats like Andy Bumatai, Augie T, Frank De Lima and Rap Reiplinger as influences.
“All those guys, especially Andy Bumatai. He’s my favorite local comedian, and he branched out to the Mainland. He made the big jump,” Tuinei said. “I worked with him before, and he gave me a few tips. They all paved the way for younger comics like me to find the pathway of local comedy and being clean too. That was one of the things they told me. If you want to make it big in Hawaii you’ve got to do clean comedy, so everyone can enjoy the show.”
Like many of the top stand-ups, Tuinei loves riffing with his audience, playfully asking questions and cracking up everyone. “They call it crowd work. It makes the audience feel comfortable,” he explained. “Each show is different, you never know what’s going to happen, so it’s always fun to do.”
Tuinei will perform at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Castle Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 26. Tickets are $15, $36, $46 and $56, plus applicable fees, and are available at mauiarts.org. All ticket holders are required to show proof of full vaccination (at least 14 days must have passed since the last dose of their initial vaccinations). A valid matching photo ID must be presented, and masks are required except when eating and drinking.
