Early this week, Star Rock at the Spring Hotel hosted the Evam Comedy Knight, a series of stand-up acts. The first performance was from S Aravind, a two-time visa reject, a big mouth from down South and a film maker or at best, a director’s assistant. The 24-year-old Aravind shared quirky stories of his stinted passion for films and English football. The latter being his beloved, with a soft corner for less-than-successful Leeds United, whom he follows on chat-rooms and online message boards instead of attending the games.
This led him to reach the hilarious anecdote of how he was twice rejected a British visa to watch his team. Each time he was given an identical letter which puts his rejection down to his choice of club. Manchester United were preferred for an Indian visa applicant.
The second act was even better. Navin Richard could be described as a guy born in the 90s, but stuck in the 70s. He wore flairs, sported a retro barnet and held a severe distaste for modern music. He shared funny stories of social awkwardness, the total obscurity of his boring hometown, the trials and tribulations of boarding school, being mugged by transexuals of Bengaluru and a hilarious analysis of relieving yourself both Western and Indian style. For someone who couldn’t be far into his 20s, Navin showed no stage fright and was probably the best act of the night.
The third and final act was from Karthik Kumar, co-founder of Evam Entertainment and Kollywood actor. To be perfectly honest, his act was outshined by the first two. He shouted through most of his performance and the one thing that sticks in one’s memory is that he spent more than two-third of his time talking about toilets.
I personally found myself suddenly enthralled in the label of my Kingfisher. His act may not have made much of an impression, but I most certainly learned that the Heineken Group holds a 37.5 per cent equity share in United Breweries Ltd. Thanks Karthik!