Yes, you may think you are funny; Yes, your friends may laugh at your jokes, but it’s a whole new ball game when you are on a dais in front of a television audience and millions watching at home. At one time the only Indian who could claim to be anywhere close to a stand up comedian was Shekhar Suman, who I personally found as funny as a fifty kilogram gunny bag of fertilizer, but I come here not to talk about Mr. Suman, but of this refreshingly new comedy show called quite conceitedly ’’The Great Indian Comedy Show’’.
The standup routine on TGICS is quite superb. These are guys have studied the greats - Carson, Leno, and Letterman - to learn the art of delivery and timing, but have never tried to ape any of them. The skits are silly at times, and sometimes black but will always tickle your funny bone. The topical comedies rarely revolve around Indian politics (which is funny as it is); the observational comics remind you of people you know at work, and at home; the impressionists range from Mahesh Bhatt to a dysfunctional Superman; and the character comics spoof advertisements, movies, award shows, saas bahu soaps, and other things left unsaid.
Don’t forget this dosage of comedy everynight before you hit the sack.