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Business News/ News / Business Of Life/  A very southern Tamasha
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A very southern Tamasha

Funny, nostalgic, relevantEvam Standup Tamasha's show, 'Aiyaiyo', is all about being south Indian

Evam Standup Tamasha has four actsPremium
Evam Standup Tamasha has four acts

OTHERS :

Evam Standup Tamasha takes everything south Indian—myths, superheroes, temples, and funny accents—and gives it a humorous twist in their stand-up act Aiyaiyo. Bhargav Ramakrishnan, the director and host for the acts, says: “I won’t say that it’s like a myth-buster or anything, but yes we want to tell the world what south Indians are all about—in a funny way, of course."

After a month-long tour in the US, the full set of Aiyaiyo is being performed in Bengaluru for the first time.

Comedy isn’t easy, and when you’re up on the stage not knowing how the crowd will react to your jokes, life gets tougher. “When we took Aiyaiyo to the US, we went with zero expectations, and it was brilliant the way
people took to us. We even had a few house-full shows," Ramakrishnan says.

Having said that, he does admit that stand-up comedy is one of the toughest forms of performing arts. “In a play, if you goof up, the audience will either blame the director, or the actors, or the writer. But in stand-up acts, it is you who is on stage, with your lines, and presenting them yourself. If you don’t do a good job, you’re the one at fault. It does create quite a bit of pressure."

There are a slew of funny videos and songs online that have set out to dispel the “myths" about south Indians, but this isn’t what inspired the group. “We aren’t trying to get north Indians to see south Indians the way we would like to be seen. We are only celebrating what we are," explains Ramakrishnan.

The complete set of Aiyaiyo, which runs for approximately 90 minutes, is divided into four individual acts, presented by S. Aravind, Aswin Rao, Karthik Kumar and Ramakrishnan himself. “Each comedian gets about 20-23 minutes under the spotlight, and apart from presenting my own set, I will also act as the host who comes between the acts to introduce the next performer, and engages with the audience," Ramakrishan explains.

He says that if Indian stand-up comedians are given more opportunities to perform, they will get better. “Stand-up is still at a nascent stage in our country. Everyone needs more shows to improve their skills, and that is not happening enough.

“It’s also important for a comedian to scan his crowd before he starts," he adds. “When we do a public show we know that the audience is coming specifically for stand-up comedy. These guys are more or less aware of what to expect. However, when we are invited for private shows (by an organization) we want to know what kind of an event it is, the profile of people who will be attending it, and so on. So we send them a questionnaire—it makes things much easier."

Aiyaiyo will be held on 12 December, 8pm, at Alliance Française, 108, Thimmaiah Road, Vasanthnagar. Tickets, 400, available on in.book myshow.com. For details, call 9620999202.

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Published: 11 Dec 2014, 10:26 PM IST
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