Finding humour in mundane situations

Hot Chocolate for the Mind’, a stand-up comedy performance, was held at the Humming Tree recently.

The evening, which featured Mumbai’s Azeem Banatwalla as the opening act, followed by Brooklyn native Dwayne Perkins, was topical and funny to the end. The opening act consisted of many jokes relevant to the Indian context, making the audience break into applause at intervals.

Azeem’s jokes about being named Lamboo, how people in the country thought that adding ‘oo’ to any adjective made it sound better and the concept of women’s shopping compared to men’s amused the audience no end. Other jokes — like the rumour about Nana Patekar’s death and the choosing of the new Pope — also got much appreciation from the crowd.

After the first act, Dwayne took the show to a whole new level with jokes of international appeal.

They included ones about how, when he grew up at his grandmother’s place, she would always know the true expiry date of an eatable; the changing trends of gaming; lane disciple in India and the real reason why a man proposes in a discreet place. Dwayne narrated that since his mother was just 15 years older than him, she could never play the ‘back in my days’ card.

He also spoke about how she finished her homework while he would be doing his and how they grew up together. Well-received by the audience, the jokes also reflected his way of looking at life and his ability to convey it in a hilarious manner.

Shwetha Rajendran, a college student who was at the event with her fiance, commented, “I’m glad that I didn’t come to the event with my parents, since the content had a lot adult humour. Nonetheless, I had a good time. It’s amazing how sometimes day-to-day things in life turn out to be humorous.”

Usmaan, another audience member, said, “Both the artistes had features about their performance which made them stand apart. But their success lies in the fact that they could make us laugh by presenting the commonest of things seen around us in a hilarious manner.”