This reality show by itself is no great shakes but it is the capability of the participants to present a comic act within a short duration in front of a live studio audience and two judges which makes it a great competitive platform for humor.
The great part about this show is the fantastic stage/screen presence and presentation, in short as a package. People from small towns and frail backgrounds put up an exceptionally non-mediocre act which is highly commendable and intresting simply b’cos you didnt expect so much fun and professional comedy out of them in the first place. This is like our RKL’s Common man getting a break.
The sad part is that some performances at times have bordered on cynicsm and are gladly mistaken and appreciated as humor and infact even the judges begin to indulge. I donot know if while auditioning the participants are breifed or oriented about what is a stand up act since most of them would have had no prior Television experience/exposure and whether they understand that baffoonery and humor are two seperate things. Of course it is not fair to stop any one from thinking that baffonery is not humor or vice versa but some broad hints to these chaps would have certainly pulled up the class of competition and not made it so easy for the one’s with experience to get away easy. Were any efforts put in this direction ? I do not think so.
We never get to see the studio audience.We always get a laugh track. Whenever the camera shows the judges we get a glimpes of a few blokes sitting behind and sometimes not laughing while the judges are jumping on their seats.
With due respects, both the judges should be rested every alternate show and Actual Bollywood Comdians whome people have seen and will identify more clearly with humor should also be tried. Paresh Raval, Johnny Lever, Asrani, Javed Jafri and so on...
Lastly, there is this Kola girl with one hell of an English accent - highly irritating and avoidable.Someone needs to talk to her and tell her that she does’nt fit in at least not this way. Her clothes tightly fit her though that too at the right places ! This is a Hindi comedy program boss, You need Renuka Shahne or Pallavi Joshi types to bring in Harmony and not let the audience get pesticided by this Kola !