Let me start off by saying ‘Kudos' to Art Chennai for their incredible initiative. Comedy Night Live with Vikram Sathaye and Cyrus Broacha was a fantastic idea and, judging from the raucous laughter all around, a thumping success.
The evening did, however, begin with a few glitches. Firstly, the lack of parking space and alternative parking arrangements was rather bothersome, causing people to frantically scramble all over the place to park their vehicles. Secondly, the show did not begin on time.
All things Indian
Right from Vikram Sathaye's hilarious introduction as “the most highly paid comedian in India, Nepal, Bhutan and certain parts of Romania”, the show was met with mirthful laughter. Vikram was fantastic. His humour ranged from cricket to politics, Indians to Bollywood, khakra to the Mona Lisa.
I did, however, feel sorry for the foreigners who attended the show as most jokes were about Indian people, places and things; many of them looked rather lost especially when some jokes were made in Hindi. Nevertheless, everyone thoroughly enjoyed Vikram's sense of humour including his mimicry of L.K Advani, Vajpayee, Dhoni and Dravid among a few others and his funny rendition of several Hindi songs.
He had people literally falling off their seats in laughter. He even took suggestions from the audience and made witty, funny remarks about their suggested topics like Auto Rickshaws, Mayawati, Shah Rukh Khan and even about the government digging holes in Indian roads (“I keep telling them that it's good to be optimistic but there is really no oil in Bandra!”).
His 45 minute-act seemed like it was over in seconds! He finally ended by introducing Cyrus Broacha, the next act on stage, as “the funniest man in India”.
Talking funny
Cyrus Broacha walked onto stage, pretending to touch Vikram's feet. He began with a hilarious “news reading” where he read out the “headlines”. I must admit that a few of these jokes fell flat, but some had the audience giggling in their seats. Broacha's style of stand-up comedy is quite interactive. Although I personally prefer the conventional method of stand-up, his method of actually talking to people in the audience and walking around (including interviewing a gentlemen on his way back from the washroom) was highly entertaining. Cyrus Broacha is an unconventional man and this is evident from the way he talks and behaves as well as the jokes he cracks. Broacha kept us entertained with tales about his Parsi-Christian family, his experiences in MTV and so on.
All in all, it was a highly entertaining stand-up comedy show that kept us engaged and laughing throughout! Bravo. Chennai needs more evenings like this — of complete, undiluted humour!
Meghna Paul is a 22-year-old working professional.
