CHENNAI: On Tuesday night in Alwarpet, stand up comedians making their way into the business, bunched together in the courtyard of Ashvita Bistro to make people laugh. The irony lies here: Within the sun coloured walls, in the heart of Chennai, these comedians, led by the host Deepu Dileepan made fun of Chennai. Not in a vitriolic manner, of course. It was done all in jest and the audience lapped up every moment of it. And the Big-Mic Comedy, as the stand-up comedy competition was aptly called, took the audience on a joyous ride.
Priyanshu, a self confessed Chennai hater, led the crowd into a fit of giggles by complaining about Chennai, noting that the people in this city don’t fight at all, but threaten to fight. “They roll up their sleeves, they roll up their tongues but they never pack a punch,” he said to a roar of laughter.
Priyanshu then incited further laughter and understanding nods when he noted how indifferent people are in Chennai to any event. Citing the Tsunami as an example, he joked about how the reaction to the Natural Disaster was “just a call about how we couldn’t go to Bessy beach, machan.”
The event did not stop there, participants flooded the humid courtyard with hilarious anecdotes about life in Chennai, from meeting a transgender prostitute to encounters with the Chennai police, the lack of a “hot girl” quota in colleges in Chennai to Tamfros (Chennaiites embracing their curly haired destiny). You really should have been there just to laugh along.
Vikram, in particular who was the winner for the night, recounted a breakup with a lot of humour thrown in. The poor guy walked in to find his girlfriend cheating on him...with another woman. Feeling guilty about it, she called him the next day to make amends. I just said, “Next time, I want to be there, right from the start,” he said with a laugh.