Comic timing

Thirdly and in my view most crucially,it brings out the happy evidence that there is a demand for interactive,self-creating entertainment. English stand-up comedy may not in its current form be family-oriented material but it is a vastly more interesting way of spending the weekend than say,watching TV or standing around a bar while twitching to the same generic tunes. One of the banes of a fast-spreading urban lifestyle is that we have all become experts at poring over menus,making small talk and downing drinks so as to distract ourselves from our immediate environment in which our restless minds cannot find anything to interest them.

The show I attended had a very nice rule: no orders while the artists are on stage. The announcement sounded like a practical joke to the regulars at the city’s watering holes,our little group included. There was some initial grumbling from people who,doubtless by force of long habit,seemed to consider plates and glasses an extension of themselves and felt quite naked to simply be standing there empty-handed. If you think about it,the only time we stand on our feet for long durations without any personal occupation or purpose is during aartis or rock concerts,both of which are fervour-inducing events that transfix us long enough to hold our ground. The stand-up comedy show offered no such likelihood. What on earth were we to do if the artists weren’t funny?

We spent the good part of an hour laughing,hooting and shaping our own experience; for it was our roars of appreciation that spurred on the fat guy to deliver one verbal bombshell after another,our groans that changed a stream of sexist jokes into much funnier relationship observations,and our thin applause that encouraged the youngest artist to raise the bar when his juvenile jibes fell flat.

The audience exhibited an impressive level of maturity for people who are not regularly exposed to such anarchic wit. It’s not always that a booed performer is allowed to continue and finish on a positive note. Everybody took everything with a pinch of salt,as they were meant to. It’s official,Pune; stand-up is the new margarita.

The author is a chess grandmaster and former national champion