A laugh fest is to be watched and enjoyed, not written about. How does one even begin to translate those one-liners, repartees and memorable insults into words? But, we are going to try in all seriousness. Laughathon was first launched in 2007, and this was its eighth edition. Day one started with Atul Khatri, the Sindhi from Mumbai, who warmed up the audience. Whether it was the Sindhis, Gujaratis, the Madrasis, the Punjabis…they were all butts of his jokes. And the audience lapped it all up. The laughs became louder when Dr. G. Lakshmipathi, the funniest man in Coimbatore, picked up the mic. Like always, whatever he said sounded hilarious. He spoke of politicians who ceased to be funny once they stepped out of the Parliament House, wondered about the ubiquitous Tanjore Plate that everyone gifted but no one wanted, and the melancholic shehnai music of Bismillah Khan for three whole days on AIR and Doordarshan when someone died…
Then came the Bangalore-based Sandbox Collective with Trivial Disasters , short sketches performed by three actors — Ashiqa Salvan, Swetanshu Bora and Vinod Ravindran. The skits were about a boyfriend who’s bad with words, a TV interview with a serial killer and a salesman who is stumped by a customer who is claiming warranty for a kettle his wife threw out of the balcony and broke. Another one was about progressive parents who think their son is gay and have joined an LGBT support group, but are disappointed to realise that he is not. They are shocked to learn that he is a homophobe. While some of the lines were genuinely funny, one could not find anything funny, try as one might, in the serial killer interview. That was rather macabre and unfunny. The evening came to a close with ‘Absolutely Danny’ by Goa boy Daniel Fernandes’ and ‘Just Kidding’ by Vipul Goyal. Danny joked about everything from the way Maharashtrian women tie their saris to how Indians behave once they get out of the country. One must confess that a few of the comments were condescending: “You’ve heard of Swacch Bharat, no?”, “You’ve travelled to Mumbai, yeah?” … But he redeemed himself with his concluding joke — about a girlfriend who was half Pakistani and half South American — which left him “half turned-on and half scared”.
Vipul was really funny, and his jokes were full of sexual innuendoes and double entendre. But he was genial, expressive and delivered his punch lines spot on.
Sharul Channa, a Singapore-based stand-up comedian, took off right away on the second day. She made fun of annoying fitness trainers, mothers-in-law and her Chinese neighbours who think every groom in India comes to the mandap on a horse!
Sharul studied theatre in college and is married to a stand-up comedian. “Ï used to give him suggestions on his jokes. And, one day he asked me to perform.” And, after the first show Sharul was hooked!
Girls in India do not usually dream of becoming a stand-up comedian, she says. “Our society is still conservative. But I always used to mimic my relatives.”
The other funny man Rajneesh Kapoor spoke of how he was the jester in the family. “I was not allowed to have food with dad. Because he would crack up every time I said something and choke!” he made fun of himself. “You know why I look like this? I was born to a Punjabi mother who was married to Spock from Star Trek !”
Dr. Lakshmipathi made a grand entry on a wheel chair, with the background score of James Bond. “It is just to get some sympathy,” the physician winked. He said there was lot to be said to being old and of faint memory. “Think of all the books you can read again because, you can’t remember any of them.” He mentioned his friend who always called his wife endearingly as kannu; because he could not remember her name!
“Men Are From Bars”, presented by Sorabh Pant, Atul Khatri and Kunal Rao was all about the man-woman relationship. Atul, married with kids, said wives possess a weird instinct when their husbands flirt with other women. Kunal, is not married but does find his girl friends complicated. “They want chivalrous men to open doors for them and accompany them to the restaurants. Why don’t they get lift-men instead?” he asked.
Saurabh spoke of his Bengali wife who launched into fiery speeches against consumerism and corporate culture when they argued over his fancy purchases. He said he had to often stop her and ask, “Excuse me, what are we fighting about?!”
The Indian matrimonial ads generated much mirth as they were read out and discussed. One of the comedians read out, “Wanted impotent boys” while another one demanded “blouseful” women instead of “beautiful.”
The laugh fest was followed by a sumptuous dinner laid out by the chefs at Le Meridien. The Hindu was the media partner of the event.
