Venue: Akshara Theatre
Date: 6 August 2016

A lot of puritans take umbrage in the inclusion of stand up comedy in theatre or sneer at its popularity. We just find it funny. We love theatre and we love stand up comedy. Both are live performances and at times a comment on the society and current times that we live in. Theatre may or may not use comedy to depict that but for stand up comedy, it’s a must, to express the malaises in a comic/funny manner. The agenda is to entertain people and leave them with something that they can take home. Some of our earlier stand-up comedy experiences are listed here.

Laughter Nation’s  Lolmaal was a recent stand up comedy show that we watched at the very beautiful Akshara Theatre.

Collectively performed by Gaurav Gupta and Kishor Dayani and hosted by Cdr. Manish Tyagi, Lolmaal was a laughter ride for everyone in the audience.

Tyagi was an apt host for the show given his confidence, command over language, effortless connection with the audience and being at home on stage. He warmed up the audience with his comic skills and paved the way for the first act by Gaurav Gupta.

Gupta’s act was mostly geared towards a particular Indian community and was so rooted in reality that every Delhiwalla can connect with his lines. This young standup comedian made people laugh without trying too hard and we can see if he plays to his strengths, he has good future ahead as a stand up comedian.

The mic was returned to the host once again who held the show strongly by his humour and spontaneity. His part was the most interactive one and the audience sitting in front rows would be longing for back seats as they bore the brunt of Tyagi’s jibes.

But all said and done, Lolmaal is not for people who get touchy easily or can’t take jokes on themselves.

The next and the final act belonged to Kishore Dayani. Dayani’s start was a little wobbly but once he picked up, he turned the smiles of the audience into laughter with his small act. Just like the previous acts, his act was also desi and “Not-for-Kids“. He ended the act with a song/poetry that depicted the challenging times that we live in. This poem covered society, politics, and other than anything else, our approach towards things.

Nisa, from the Akshara family played guitar to accompany Dayani. We have been fans of her musical and singing skills since we heard her sing “Fever” in “The revised Kamasutra” a few years back.

Just like Lolmaal, we look forward to watching many more stand up comedy shows in Delhi NCR. Looks like Laughter Nation is raring to go in this direction with their team of pros as well as freshly brewed comics.