KARACHI RESONATES WITH LAUGHTER

The LOLWaalay had organised an evening full of laughs for Karachiites at Pakistan American Cultural Centre. Led by Akbar Chaudry, the group consisted of everyone’s favourite Ali Gul Pir of Wadairay-ka-beta fame, Sannan Wastani, Syed Muhammad Kumail and Zubair Tariq. The boys are a part of improvisational comedy troupe, which means their show is unscripted, spontaneous and is based entirely on audience suggestions. Undoubtedly, improv is one of the most difficult forms of comedy simply because the success of the show depends on the nature of your audience; if they are a tricky lot, that seems uninterested, or gets easily offended, there is not a lot the performer can do. But the cheers that filled the auditorium on Sunday night last week told a different story.

The LOLshedding Special talked about the loadshedding problem to start with, with Akbar playing off a few jokes on the issue that has everyone frazzled. Following the introductions and warming up the crowd a bit, he kept introducing different improv games which required participation from the audience, sometimes in the form of a verbal suggestions, sometimes by physically joining the group on the stage. During the preliminary introductions, a member of the audience, Sajid, came to attention, as he happened to work for K-Electric. There were many jokes played off him and then, he finally joined the boys for one of the games which required him to explain a funny situation, suggested by the audience, to the rest without speaking any words. He was a really good sport throughout the show! One of the funniest bits was when Ali Gul Pir played a Sindhi husband and talked in a stereotypical Sindhi accent. A young lady named Rafia and a man named Mohib were also called up for the last game of the evening. Akbar talked to both of them for a while about their work and hobbies, while the rest of the troupe observed them. After this, the boys played out their characters in a make-belief blind date situation, in a game called Date Night. The audience mostly comprised of a young lot and it truly felt like a group of friends hanging out on the weekend, cracking jokes with one another and having fun. – Sidra Khan

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