KUALA Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has brought the curtain down on Crackhouse Comedy Club, permanently blacklisting owner Rizal Van Geyzel from registering for a business licence in the capital.

Deputy Federal Territories Minister Jalaluddin Alias tweeted the decision this morning, adding that it had been backdated to July 30.

“We have decided to blacklist the owner for life from registering business licences in Kuala Lumpur,” the deputy minister said.

“DBKL’s licensing committee decided to revoke the comedy club’s licence effective July 30,” Jalaluddin said.

He added, DBKL has also decided to blacklist the owner for life from registering a business licence in Kuala Lumpur.

“This means that the owner of the club cannot register any business activity in Kuala Lumpur, even using a different name and company,” he told Berita Harian.

The Malaysian Insight has reached out to Rizal for further comment but has yet to receive a response.

Rizal – who went viral for his controversial stand-up routines, for which was accused of inflamed religious and racial sentiments – was hit with three charges last month.

The 39-year-old co-owner of the Crackhouse Comedy Club in Taman Tun Dr Ismail was later released on bail of RM12,000. He had to surrender his passport to the court, with a gag order on his social media.

His next court date will be on August 19.

Earlier in July, Crackhouse Comedy Club was ordered to close temporarily by DBKL, following a controversial incident when a woman performing during an open mic session removed her outer clothing and hijab to reveal a mini skirt and a spaghetti-strap top.

Jalaluddin said the decision to close the club was to send a message that the ministry and DBKL would not tolerate any behaviour disrespecting the sensitivities of religion, race or sovereignty.

It was later revealed that the woman and her boyfriend targeted Merdekarya before ending up in Crackhouse Comedy Club.

The woman, Siti Nuramira Abdullah, later pleaded not guilty to causing disharmony among the Muslim community.

Her boyfriend, Alexander Navin Vijayachandran, was also charged for uploading insulting content on social media.

The pair were released on bail after a sum of RM40,000 was raised through crowdfunding organised by legal rights group Lawyers for Liberty. – August 17, 2022.