Just for Laughs

FROM counting the number of exclamation marks in status updates on Facebook and Twitter to the annoying habit of parents letting their five-year-olds climb on top of conveyor belts at airports — these were just some of the hilarious observations that were part of Rajneesh Kapoor’s stand-up comedy act on Friday night. Stand-up comic artiste Anuvab Pal was also part of “Injia: The Many Highly Effective Habits of Indian People”,held at the India Habitat Centre.

The 75-minute-long performance by the two managed to cover almost every relevant topic. They took jabs at news shows that ride high on sensationalism,pilots who announce the freezing temperatures outside the plane at 20,000 feet,“Indian English” and the misuse of grammar. Yes,sex and politics too formed part of the script. Separately,we must add. Kapoor was all about the idiosyncrasies of people around him,often taking digs at his family and friends and emphasising on the troubled relationship between India and Bharat. “If something is happening in India,Bharat doesn’t have a clue about it. Once we had a Halloween party and my friends came dressed as Batman and Joker. On their way home,they were stopped by the traffic police,for who dresses up like that at 2 am? And my Joker friend said,‘Why so serious,bhaiyaji?’ to the cops.”

Mumbai-based Pal’s brand of humour was self-deprecating,as he portrayed himself as the “poor Bengali from the ’80s”. His jokes ranged from lingerie labels being inspired by the Freedom struggle to the fight to get one’s child admitted in the top five schools,calling Bappi Lahiri a Dubai gold mall and comparing the Bengalis to the French. Though,we wonder if he was constantly imitating the British accent or does he really sound like that.

While the two did a splendid job at keeping the audience in a happy,happy state,the host Vipul Goel too deserves a special mention for his animated act and his humorous take on newly-weds.