BackThe laughing stock
Over 70 comedians will perform across nine venues for the inaugural Weirdass Pajama Festival in Mumbai
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On most weekends at Mumbai’s National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), the city’s culture vultures show up in their Sunday best to attend plays, dance and live music events. This coming Sunday, though, comedians and lazy people of all kinds will get a chance to stroll into the venue’s prestigious Jamshed Bhabha Theatre in clothes as comfortable and casual as their night suits for a new comedy festival called Weirdass Pajama.
The three-day festival, starting Friday, will be a multi-venue event with simultaneous performances by over 70 comedians planned across four major neighbourhoods—south Mumbai, Lower Parel, Bandra and Andheri. This means you can spend the weekend laughing your jammies off at any of the eight participating cafés, bars or hotels closest to you.
Film actor and comedian Vir Das’ comedy consultancy Weirdass is programming the festival along with Only Much Louder, the Mumbai-based event management company best known for organizing the Bacardi NH7 Weekender music festivals. “Attending any festival can be very hard work for an audience member. You have to pack a bag, drive out of town, find accommodation and all that stuff," says Das. “What if you stayed home all weekend in your pyjamas and watched comedy all day? Weirdass (Pajama) is exactly that weekend, except this time the comedy won’t be on a DVD or on your TV, live comedy will travel close to you."
Shows are divided into three categories depending on the size of the venue—Briefs, Boxers and Grand Pajama. The four biggest shows or Grand Pajamas will take place at the NCPA on Sunday, each with its own all-star cast made up of the festival’s top comedians, along with Das and surprise celebrity guests. The Briefs for up-and-coming stand-up artistes, workshops and talks will take place at smaller venues on Friday and Saturday, while a major chunk of the programming with established local and international talent is reserved for the Boxers on all three days.
Sunday’s four big shows include Nation in Mourning, a news satire show with stand-up comics Rohan Joshi, Ashish Shakya, Sorabh Pant and Das making and faking Sunday morning headlines. Anuvab Pal, Tanmay Bhat and Das, along with sports commentators Gaurav Kapoor and Harsha Bhogle, will take on the 30 greatest moments in Indian sports in Good Sports.
The Weirdass Master-Full will feature the best bits of the festival’s top-billed stand-up comics like Papa CJ and Malaysian performer Harith Iskander. The grand finale, Weirdass Tandoor, is billed as India’s first celebrity roast. Ranvir Shorey and Vinay Pathak have been selected for this cruel, mock toast in which festival headliners, along with celebrities like Rajat Kapoor and Suresh Menon, will take turns poking fun at the two comedians.
Apart from Weirdass Comedy, well-known comedy collectives like All India Bakchod, Schitz En Giggles and East India Comedy will also participate in the Boxer and Brief shows. Other must-watch shows at these venues include Phunny Rock, featuring comedy rock bands Smart Casuals from Australia and Das’ Alien Chutney; DEL-BOMbed, in which top comics from Delhi and Mumbai will be pitted against each other in 5-minute stand-up slots; and the Women of Comedy Show featuring five women comics—Kaneez Surka, Anu Menon, Aditi Mittal, Neeti Palta and Jamie J.
“This is like the starting point where Edinburgh or Montreal or those great comedy festivals began. So for the first year, my goal is to make it as easy for the audience as I possibly can to watch comedy," says Das. “Short of me coming and sitting in your bedroom by your bedside, this is as good as it gets. You don’t even get dressed up or make an effort. Let us make the effort. You just come and chill, that’s the idea."
The Weirdass Pajama Festival, 10-12 January, is being held at venues across Mumbai, including Jamshed Bhabha Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point (22824567). For details, visit www.pajamafest.in. Tickets for the Pajama shows at the NCPA, ₹ 1,000-2,000, and entry passes to Boxer and Brief venues, ₹ 200-600 each, available on in.bookmyshow.com
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