The crowd at ITA Machkhowa in Guwahati was pumped up, to an extent that they were chanting various jargons of Standup comedian Kunal Kamra minutes before he took the stage. The socio-political stand-up comedian was in the Assam city on October 12 performing live at ‘Fresher Thoughts’ — organised by Fukra Factory and LAP.
Fukra Factory is the first stand-up comedy and music management agency of Northeast. It scouts and promotes the best of both spheres; local as well as pan-India artistes.
LAP known as Lakshey Anand Project a sister concern of Fukra Entertainment Group based in Guwahati, Assam. LAP aims to bring all the best talents to the city and the region in all the art scape and form. Be it Comedy, Poetry or Music. LAP is an experimental and emotional project of Lakshey Anand, Founder – Fukra Entertainment.
Garv Malik was the opening act at the show and he seemed to be an apt choice with his astute jokes on class divide and socio-political affairs by drawing inspirations from his own life. Warming up the audience for the after-piece, Malik gave an entertaining opening act. However, the crowd was already waiting for the man of the evening and without further delay, Kamra took the centre stage.
Amid the rapturous claps, Standup comedian Kunal Kamra dived straight into his act bringing out his big guns; Modi’s Vikas, the threat to the Hindu culture, and of course Baba Ramdev. These made their debut within a few minutes of the act. His impeccable comic timing and ability to make people relate to his experiences were things to look out for.
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One of the highlights of the evening was the instantaneous donning in avatars of his parents, uncle, PM Narendra Modi and a famed journalist from Guwahati (his favourite target and the name who he refused to speak out on stage for obvious reasons of defamation), to name a few, in rapid succession. Watching each avatars with their unique quirks, diving into serious issues with a humorous flair was captivating and fun. His whataboutist reply “Hum to fakir aadmi hai jhola lekar chal padenge”, threw the crowd into bouts of unstoppable laughter; regardless of the number of times, he used it.
Amidst all the fun and humour, one thing was made clear, Kamra hates “buddhas” (no, not the Buddha but old people in general). “…in buddho se mein unka budhapa chinunga” (I will take away old age from these old people), said Standup comedian Kunal Kamra recounting an instance from his past where he was charged with an attempt to murder case on an old man who he hit while reversing his car. Ironically, the old man turned out to be a lawyer and filed a case against the then 17-year-old Kamra three days after the incident took place. The trauma triggers Kamra even now and he has made it his life’s mission to make the lives of old men a living hell.
The auditorium was packed with people from all strata of ages coming together to enjoy the show. With a footfall of over 500 people, one could see the reach of Kamra who even brought in issues of the un-reachability of Northeastern news to the nation’s capital.
Standup comedian Kunal Kamra still maintained the energy and humorous flair as the curtains for the comedy show drew to a close. A stand-up comedy show with a perfect blend of socio-political issues with a dab of personal touch is a hard one to come by. Kamra didn’t disappoint the audience and closed the two-hour show with his iconic lingo: “Siachen mein hamare jawaan lad rahe hai,” which became the perfect ending line to an amazing evening.
