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Azhar Usman: Hilarious yet astute
insights into racism, terrorism and more |
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Rajiv Satyal: Spotlight on social and familial issues from stingy parents to Indian matrimony sites |
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Hari Kondabolu: Wittily vicious take on political, racial and gender issues |
Things got down and dirty and desi at Kala Mandir on Saturday evening as the trio of Azhar Usman, Hari Kondabolu and Rajiv Satyal made the audience ROFL (Roll On the Floor with Laughter, for those who still don’t know) with Make Chai Not War, the stand-up comedy act organised by the American Center in association with t2.
So, while much ho-hum is going on about the Indian government zipping up Facebook and Twitter, a liberal and easy tone was set for the evening by Dean Thompson, the US consul-general in Calcutta, as he got the audience to a smiley start! “It is with a little bit of nervousness and a whole lot of hope that I want to take an opportunity to introduce the performers for the evening,” he revealed.
The smiles soon turned to laughter and never stopped for the next 100 minutes and more. As diverse in their looks as in their style, the three 30-minute-plus slots that these Indian-American comics filled, was proof of the cliché, unity in diversity. At least as far as the indomitable qualities of ludicrousness, cheapness and ethnic “uniqueness” of all things Indian is concerned, even if one is born and bred in America!
But these guys are far from your average ABCDs (American Born Confused Desis, silly!): they wear there Indian-ness on their sleeve, from Ramayana to fake, branded Abibas shoes!
QED: Super Saturday was all about rib-tickling, stomach-stitching, floor-rolling laughter, as the audience lapped up the fun poked at every community, every state and every issue in Indian lives.
Big guy Azhar Usman, who has travelled 20 countries over five continents, walked in casually dressed and sporting a “questionably textured” beard. He got the crowd warmed up for the evening with his loud, boisterous, often risque cracks on terrorism, desi aunties and — “at the risk of deportation” — on the US government itself, all the while asking people to achieve peace through humour.
Hari Kondabolu, who added a touch of “serious” to the evening with not only his professorial “bespectacled-and-jacketed” look, but also his more direct and scathing take on issues such as colonialism, sexism and racism, drew rousing and passionate applause.
But it was Punjabi munda Rajiv Satyal who brought down the curtains and the house with his cute, self-deprecating humour as he handled the more hilarious, social and familial issues of Incredible India, all the while emphasising the importance of adding a touch of humour to our lives, taking a look at the lighter side of things, and laughing at oneself for a more “peaced-out existence”. |
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