Raju Korti
In one of my cerebrally expansive moods I had once unwittingly said that laughter is an instant vacation. The only depth, if any, that came from this instant quote was its "instant" value in an era of instant coffee and instant noodles. Condemned to a debilitating condition physically and financially in the last couple of years, I have actually come to realise that there is a longer shelf life to my quote than the "instant" value I had intended to convey.
Having emptied my pockets on medical expenses, the only vacation I can afford is laughter. But nothing can confound a wise man more than laughter from a dunce. I have been watching some of the laughter shows on television channels these days more out of desperation than as a therapy for the depressing and unhealthy times I have been in. Try hard as I might, I just haven't been able to summon my wit and sense of humour to laugh at the cheeky and ribald buffoonery dished out with alarming regularity on these shows.
When you watch the judges' and the audience reaction on laughter shows, you realise how devoid you are of humour. Or your inability to take "jokes" in your stride. Those in the audience laugh their guts out like startles hyenas, patting their tummies and until tears start rolling down their eyes. The second one seems more genuine. The judges laugh like there is no tomorrow with a frantic flurry of actions. The performers come out with a script so pathetic that I suspect many who laugh do so because someone from behind is tickling them under their armpits. It is a show where the audience, both passive and live, give it their best shot trying to outdo each other in laughing.
In one show, I have been seeing the invitees falling off from their chairs laughing and trying to regain their breath. Many of them start guffawing even before the so called joke has begun from an assorted slapstick comedy genres like buffoonery, mimicking, dark humour from stand up comedians. Cricketer-turned laugh-a-holic Navjyot Singh Sidhu, among the judges at one such show, split himself even when there was no joke. The idea probably was if no one else will, at least Sidhu will laugh. It left people like me seriously wondering whether we have the stomach to know and understand what is comedy. Maybe it was a case of Errors of Comedy. There are exceptions, however.
In one show, I saw a former chief minister sitting through the entire comedy show as if he was watching a funeral. The performers tried their best to force the man to at least smile but he continued to sit poker-faced. Now that was real humour because this man is never known to laugh unless he decides to do it himself. Whoever decided to invite him to the show deserved a big dose of humour himself. It could have been an ideal start for something like AIB Roast.
The loony brigade has made a virtue out of Comedy Nightmares. Why not institute an award for the one who laughs most wildly? He is the one who deserves it most even if that sounds like wicked humour. That brings me to make another profound quote: It is the ability to take a joke, not make one, that proves you have a sense of humour. I am trying hard to develop one.
In one of my cerebrally expansive moods I had once unwittingly said that laughter is an instant vacation. The only depth, if any, that came from this instant quote was its "instant" value in an era of instant coffee and instant noodles. Condemned to a debilitating condition physically and financially in the last couple of years, I have actually come to realise that there is a longer shelf life to my quote than the "instant" value I had intended to convey.
Having emptied my pockets on medical expenses, the only vacation I can afford is laughter. But nothing can confound a wise man more than laughter from a dunce. I have been watching some of the laughter shows on television channels these days more out of desperation than as a therapy for the depressing and unhealthy times I have been in. Try hard as I might, I just haven't been able to summon my wit and sense of humour to laugh at the cheeky and ribald buffoonery dished out with alarming regularity on these shows.
When you watch the judges' and the audience reaction on laughter shows, you realise how devoid you are of humour. Or your inability to take "jokes" in your stride. Those in the audience laugh their guts out like startles hyenas, patting their tummies and until tears start rolling down their eyes. The second one seems more genuine. The judges laugh like there is no tomorrow with a frantic flurry of actions. The performers come out with a script so pathetic that I suspect many who laugh do so because someone from behind is tickling them under their armpits. It is a show where the audience, both passive and live, give it their best shot trying to outdo each other in laughing.
In one show, I have been seeing the invitees falling off from their chairs laughing and trying to regain their breath. Many of them start guffawing even before the so called joke has begun from an assorted slapstick comedy genres like buffoonery, mimicking, dark humour from stand up comedians. Cricketer-turned laugh-a-holic Navjyot Singh Sidhu, among the judges at one such show, split himself even when there was no joke. The idea probably was if no one else will, at least Sidhu will laugh. It left people like me seriously wondering whether we have the stomach to know and understand what is comedy. Maybe it was a case of Errors of Comedy. There are exceptions, however.
In one show, I saw a former chief minister sitting through the entire comedy show as if he was watching a funeral. The performers tried their best to force the man to at least smile but he continued to sit poker-faced. Now that was real humour because this man is never known to laugh unless he decides to do it himself. Whoever decided to invite him to the show deserved a big dose of humour himself. It could have been an ideal start for something like AIB Roast.
The loony brigade has made a virtue out of Comedy Nightmares. Why not institute an award for the one who laughs most wildly? He is the one who deserves it most even if that sounds like wicked humour. That brings me to make another profound quote: It is the ability to take a joke, not make one, that proves you have a sense of humour. I am trying hard to develop one.
There are some amazing artists on Youtube catering to all kinds of audiences. Much better alternatives to most Hindi comedy content on television.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, do take care of your health!