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Having visited all the restaurants in town and singlehandedly kept the mask industry employed during the pandemic, businessman Raj Kundra took a stab at a new occupation recently. On Wednesday, he took to social media to share a snippet of his first standup comedy performance, which boldly coincided with the world-famous Trevor Noah’s India tour.
Wearing a black jumpsuit, the kind you’d wear if you were walking into flames, Raj Kundra stepped onto the stage in his trademark mask, which he acknowledged immediately. Even though he arrived with a bunch of bodyguards, Raj didn’t think to get an MC to introduce him, which meant that he had to the responsibility upon himself. He said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m Raj Kundra, also known as ‘mask man’, also known as Shilpa ka pati, and also known as ‘sasta Kanye West’.”
He began his show by immediately making fun of his audience. He asked those who are uncomfortable with ‘sexual jokes’ to leave the venue for 10 minutes. When nobody did, he called them all perverts. Confidently ignoring the proven theory that one of the biggest weapons in a comedian’s repertoire is their face, Raj continued from behind his mask, “18 saal ki umar mein London mein taxi chalaya karta tha, 21 saal ki umar tak pashmina shawl ka empire khada kar diya maine. Mera kaam hamesha se kapde chadhane ka tha, utaarne ka nahi (I was driving taxis in London at age 18, by 21 I’d set up a shawl empire. I was always interested in getting people to wear clothes, not to get them to take them off).”
Raj’s punchline seems to be directed at the porn app scandal that he found himself embroiled in a couple of years ago. He was arrested by the Mumbai Police for alleged creation and publishing of pornographic films on mobile applications. It was actually after this scandal that he started wearing a mask in the first place.
The reviews have been mixed. “Kaam aisa karo ke laakhon logon se muh chupana pade (Ruin your reputation so monumentally that you have to hide your face forever),” read the top remark in the comments section. “Your mask is reminding of your sins, please stop using it. It’s the worst thing you can do with your self respect sir. Move on, do some good work,” another person advised. Some others pointed fingers at Munawar Faruqui, assuming he’d come up with the jokes for Raj, seeing as his name was mentioned in the post’s caption. But several others seemed genuinely impressed by the comedy, and asked if Raj could share a ‘CD or a link’ for the full set.
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