As comedian Aditi Mittal hobbled onto the stage in a sari at Friday Night Funnies, the fact that I was at an Indian comedy show really sunk in. Mittal was reappearing on stage a while after her set to perform as one of her characters — elderly sex therapist Dr Mrs Lutchuke, complete with thick Maharastrian accent — at the gig at Dusit Thani, Dubai. Hearing about that combination alone is enough to get a desi person laughing.
Indian comedy is something unique, and as host Nitin Mirani laughed about earlier in the show, some jokes just work better told in Hindi. Most comedians at the stand-up gig that night used this to their advantage, going beyond just Hindi swearwords.
The night kicked off with a short set by Mirani, who used his heritage as a Sindhi to rev up the largely Sindhi crowd. Picking up on the stereotype that the Indian ethic group is cheap, he joked about how when planning a wedding, Sindhis are all talk — “the bride will come in from the sky, the groom from underground” — but when given a quotation they backtrack and suddenly want a simple ceremony.
Rishi Bhudhrani, a Singaporian national of Indian origin, also joked about his Sindhi background and life as a married man. He got a good number of laughs but he didn’t make much of an impression on the crowd.
Simple joke
Next up was Delhi-based Rajneesh Kapoor who was in Dubai for the first time. He quickly complimented us Dubai residents on the fancy cars on our roads, but felt bad about one thing — “your cars don’t come with horns.” Such a simple joke referencing the excessive use of horns in his city, coupled with his gentle, almost deadpan tone got us in hysterics. Going on about people in Delhi who use their horns at red lights, he said: “The traffic light is not the Hulk, that if you irritate it, it will turn green.”
Mittal had a lot of comedic fodder, being a single, 30-year-old Indian woman. Known for her self-effacing jokes and cartoonish facial expressions, Mittal had a lot to say about dating, Tinder and her hatred for night clubs. She ended her set with a rendition of Meatloaf’s I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That) but with her own lyrics bemoaning a terrible date and his bad table etiquette. That woman has a set of pipes on her, and a great sense of timing and humour.
Surprise of the night
Daniel Fernandes was his charming self, but some of his jokes were a little tired. Aren’t we beyond the ‘angry girlfriend who is on her period’ trope? Is joking about getting away with cheating on a partner ever funny? I’ve definitely heard better from him and I thought he would have shined if he used his more refined stuff.
Vipul Goyal was the surprise of the night, an absolute comedic natural who I wished I had heard of earlier. His jokes about life as a baby were some of the funniest things I have ever heard. He was effortless in his delivery, given mostly in Hindi, and got the loudest laughs.
There were obvious hits and misses, with Kapoor, Mittal and Goyal stealing the show with fresh content that didn’t rely on stereotypes or the same old relationship jokes. I left the show hoping to see these comedians return to the city with longer sets and even bigger laughs.
