Every second Saturday, Hanumantaraya Grandhalayam at Gandhinagar, reverberates with cheers, laughter and whistles in the evening. Patrons from all age groups occupy every bit of space available in the hall to watch comedy skits performed by members of Maheswari Prasad Comedy Club and others.
Established on Ugadi festival – the Telugu New Year Day in 2010, the club has been conducting comedy shows every second Saturday at the Grandhalayam. The show begins at 6.30 p.m. with a 45-minute comedy skits programme followed by a drama by different artistes.
The working committee members of the club are from different government departments working in the city. It is the passion for arts, especially comedy skits, that brought over 25 members to launch the comedy club. It is named after my parents, Maheswari and Prasad, who were stage artistes, said club founder secretary Rampilla Mohankrishna, who is a Municipal Employees Cooperative Society member.
The objective behind launching the club was to offer people a different show, which helps them beat stress and makes them stay relaxed. Being government employees, the club members assemble at the Grandhalaya on second Saturday morning for rehearsals and perform the skits in the evening, B. Srinivasa Rao, club’s joint secretary and Irrigation Department employee explained.
Another important objective of the club is to promote arts and support poor artistes and students. “Every second Saturday, we present Rs. 5,000 to a meritorious poor student and Rs. 2,000 to a poor artiste after the show. Though there are many organisations, which do such things, we felt it is our responsibility to help poor students and artistes,” adds G. Balagangadhar Tilak, club president.
The club offers free membership and audience do not have to purchase tickets to watch the show. The club extends invitation to all its 350-odd members for all its shows.
So, next Second Saturday, mark your planner and watch the comedy club show.
