The Angry Indians: A Stand-up Comedy by Prime i Events
therapy, is the best medicine. We want to create a relaxed atmosphere, offer great food choices and drinks at a very reasonable price so people can forget about their problems and worries and have a good laugh.”
The company has already had four shows, bringing in comedians from all over the world, and aims to bring the international comedy scene to Manila. The couple’s goal is to organize the First Manila International Comedy Festival next year and build a loyal audience and fan base of stand- up comedy lovers. “We have comedians from Jamaica, England, Japan, Australia, Hawaii, and India lined up [ and] excited to show off their craft in Manila,” Mr Budhrani said. “This is not only a hobby turned into business,” Mrs. Budhrani chimed in, “but it has become our passion!”
Next up was the guitar-strumming Prakash Daniel, whose four inch- long beard upstaged his act. His schtick was the racism that he as an Indian experiences in Malaysia. “How’s your boyfriend, Ganesh,” he said his girlfriend is often asked, referring to the popular elephant-headed god in the Hindu pantheon. With his beard, he’s often mistaken for a terrorist, and has his name mispronounced Plakash by the letter “r”-challenged Malaysian Chinese. But all is well, as he brought out his guitar and sang racy songs, naming audience members.
But there’s also a point when your audience can take only so much. One too many mentions of porn and snorting powdery drugs will fall flat or be borderline offensive, especially if you can’t keep the thread of your story steady. Unfortunately that was the case with the rather nervous Thenesh Skip, the greenhorn and youngest in the group. In his case, the true Pinoy audience reaction is needed: “More! More! More practice!”
The last two comics were the most seasoned, the beardless Keren Bala Devan and true Angry Indian Andrew Netto. Devan picks on everything, from Indian TV serials ( give him the script of a 500-episode serial and he’ll whittle it to one episode, “They all have the same plot!”), to how impossible it is for him to grow a beard (every follicle, a failure!), and the ridiculousness of Chinese and western astrology. “Of course I’m skeptical about astrology,” he exclaims, “I’m a Sagittarius!” A big fan of Star Wars, he wants to be Han Solo with his own Chewbacca. “Easy,” he says, “I’ll just find me a Punjabi woman!” referring, of course, to the hirsuteness of this ethnic group. Context is everything, and in stand- up, racism and stereotyping find a safe haven, and no one is spared.
The show closed with Netto, an Indian who is the poster boy of the Catholic faithful, but also likes his drink: “Every week is Holy Week at our home. I pass out on Friday, and rise again on Sunday.” He teased Filipinos on the interchange of “p’s” and “f’s” — “I went to The Port last time I was here and went to Frivé” — and how on his last trip to Manila he developed an obsession with midget boxing. He made fun of Tamil movies (from the South of India), particularly of a popular hero who in one action film caught a bullet between his teeth, reversed it, and shot out same bullet at an even higher speed, effectively killing original shooter. All reenacted in The Matrix slo-mo by Netto.
But comedy is a tricky thing. Some jokes fell flat as there were not enough beats between punch lines, then already up next was another joke or story. And if too culture- specific, there would be too much context that needs to be explained, such as when you’re listening to Malaysian Indians gripe about their issues dealing with what it means to be Tamil or Malayalee to Filipino Indians who are not generally South Indian, not to mention the audience having to filter through heavily accented English.
Mr. Budhrani has a good vision of bringing in international talent, but let’s hope that they are all truly that, international. The likes of Rex Navarette and Russell Peters are kings of comedy because they take their cultural quirks and elevate them to universal targets of ridicule. We look forward to future comedy festivals that bring us together to celebrate our differences and make us laugh at their ridiculousness together.