Ash Chandler, entertainer

CHENNAI: Remember the tough guy, Inspector Kumar, in 'Little John', directed by Singeetham Srinivasa Rao. Yes, the same man with a dog, who Jyothika refuses to marry. Meet Ash Chandler, the comedy man, who can take your trip on humour quite literally.

At a recent show held in the city, Ash joked, sung a couple of songs and interacted with the audience, sipping on his whisky, while intoxicating each and every one with this witty humour sense. After his tickling-the-funny-bone business, Ash sat down for a candid chat.

His act comes with a few songs and he sings the popular ’60s hits making the crowd dance while they laugh. “I do this for a living. As a performer I need to act, sing and sometimes, a few dance moves. I need to entertain the crowd and need them to stay for the event.”

Ash keeps his jokes simple. There is no last minute preparation or writing down jokes on a piece of paper. He shares, “The first five minutes determine the rest of the show. You need to throw jokes to the spectators and judge the response. If the response is good, then you continue whether it is filthy jokes, or the decent  kind on stage.”

But being a comedian and a singer hasn’t stopped him from venturing into other fields. He writes poetry, stories, music and performs theatre. “I do write screenplays too. Now that I can act, sing and dance, eventually direction will happen. Writing is in me, it’s where everything starts, be it humour or my poems.”

Needless to say, this young Indian comedian is also a great fan of our Superstar. “Show me one South Indian who is not Rajini’s fan. His personality is impressive. He’s got the charisma to pull the crowd and his style is magical. I’m in awe for Rajinikanth and his films.”

Like most stand up comedians, he shares, “Jokes on husband and wife are a huge hit among any  audience. It is like top facts of Shakespeare that a girl should be jealous of another girl, a man and a woman should fall in love and so on.”

During the chat, Ash throws  in a few Tamil words and starts to converse in Tamil. The 36-year-old comedian has played a significant role in director Balachander’s serial, Premi. “I did 11 episodes. I came as a tough cop again.”

Then there was also Guzaarish in Bollywood and My Bollywood Bride. Currently I’m doing a film, Love, Wrinkle-free with Shenaz Patel in the female lead,” says Ash Chandler.

On a final note, Ash says, “Humour is in everyone. But using it at the right moment and the right place will make you a great comedian.”