Amazon Prime Video has secured a firm position on the list of things that are trending online daily.
With latest OTT first Diwali releases dropping every night, fans finally got the chance to see their favourite stars on the screen (At least on your TV screen!) at the comfort of their homes. But this isn’t the case about the stand-up comedy circuit, which has come to the grinding halt since lockdown started.
Cherishing the vibe of a live audience, responding to their reaction and landing a joke with thunderous applause from the crowd is the sacred norm to satisfy for any stand-up comedian performing on the stage.
Some comics have shifted to performing virtual standup gigs via zoom and some have started live streams on YouTube showering us with marathon content.
Amazon prime video has been the digital home of stand-up India. The platform currently has close to 40 comedy specials from different comedians all around India. It is also a hub for a variety of sketch comedies and improv shows apart from series and movies.
Until live shows resume, now feels like a suitable time to scroll through the sea of stand-up comedy clutter on prime and highlight the best of them. Let us warm up to the mood of the live show ambience and soak up with laughter and love.
In no particular order, here is the list of best stand-up specials streaming on Prime Video right now -
1) Problems (2018) - Azeem Banatwala
The show kick starts by Azeem Banatwala's witty observation about Eminem, who became wealthy by making us learn by heart his own life’s problems.
This is Azeem’s second special (The first one named cometh the hour has many problems on its own!) which is self-assured and superbly well-crafted set with zero lows and relatable observations. Sticking to his strengths, he has efficiently employed his eloquent wordplay.
Each joke is looped to rhyme and structured perfectly if decoded deeply. Touching upon topics ranging from his religion to slipping in a Salman Khan joke that we won’t see coming!
Problems are thought-provoking and honestly funny because it is personal without a hint of being pretentious and solidly proves that this witty and lanky comic is one of the smartest in the comedy business.
2) Madrasi Da (2017) – Aravind SA
Regardless of where you are living in India, you must be familiar with the stereotypes that encircle South Indians.
Starting down south bashing the traditional idiosyncrasies of Tamilians to turning on the heat with the language debate that Hindi to be considered as the National Language, Aravind SA ends with groovy Tamil remix mashup of Lungi dance.
3) Keep It Real (2017) - Kanan Gill
Keep It Real by Kanan Gill has a poise mixed with a maturity that is bizarre and amusingly funny. It is on par with the genre of international comedy specials.
Kanan Gill gives you a comprehensively layered set that is far beyond the reaches of surface-level humour that we are accustomed to witnessing every time an Indian comic holds the mic.
Then comes the gold ‘There is a cow’ bit that pops up in your brain every time you see a cow hereafter or even while writing a driving school exam. His unusual approach and perspective allow him to segue into various angles of absurdity.
Keep It Real is a laugh riot that serves as a firm reminder to upcoming comics on how sharp and neat an hour-long special has to written.
4) Don’t Be That Guy (2017) - Kenny Sebastian
Kenny Sebastian is one of the prominent names in Indian stand-up scene today. If you don't know who Kenny Sebastian is, just type his name on YouTube and you will spend the rest of the day binging his stand-up clips. His fame boomed from the small screens of our phones to colossal auditoriums across India.
His YouTube comic bits create unconsciously a sense of addiction towards him. You connect to his jokes on the ground level and relate to it eternally. (No wonder, his famous bits include how to get an economical bucket bath and his forever crave for dosa and chai!)
He sets up his special Don't be that guy with a refreshing blend of common middle-class family problems and fresh insights on going through the process of growing older.
His slapstick interludes are hilarious and they land harder because of the attached visual appeal he adds to the scene (His quizzical facial expressions are already funny GIFs for your WhatsApp texts!).
He improvises every situation he narrates into a quick sketch and adds flavour with voice modulations and different accents. The Goa trip bit purely works because of his whacky voiceover and prime video has even released an animation makeover for that bit.
He ends the show on a ‘high note’ by asking the audience “Can I do some music for you guys?”.
As he takes out a guitar, lighting alters to give us a music concert vibe. Kenny knows fully that it's time for the audience to groove to his beats. The musical comedy is a tough nut to crack and to serve jokes out of it is a risky task.
Kenny Sebastian is a surprisingly proficient musician who improvises on stage with a little crowd work (Such as prompting us for lyrics and blending names of the audience with whom he had interacted earlier) before elegantly shifting to remix indie songs and destroy them.
This combination becomes his unique selling point and there is no end for his fanbase when it comes to his meta guitar act (Don’t miss out the sketch comedy called “Sketchy Behaviour” by Kenny and Kannan!).
Other mentionable prime specials include Sushi (Biswa Kalyan Rath), Kaafi Filmy (Angad Singh Ranyal), Vicky his side – Varun that side (Varun Thakur), Haq Se Single (Zakir Khan).
Written by - Deepan R
Edited by - Ivanova
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