Recently presented at Bangalore’s Jagriti Theatre, standup comedian Saikiran’s Matrimania reiterates that good comic timing can stay clear of swear words and cuss references on the merit of sheer satirical humour and plenty of food for thought.
Marriages and spousal one-upmanship have traditionally made for popular subjects of satirical scripts, be it standup comedy or laughter shows. The drama surrounding married lives is guaranteed to tickle our funny bones like few other subjects do. But when more and more people make a conscious choice to stay single or delay their marriages, they are put under immense family and societal pressure to get hitched. Many standup comedians of today put their self-deprecation to best possible use to highlight the conditioning, prejudices and judgments that equate staying single to a “social peril”. Of the several such gigs on woes of single people, one particularly stands out for its clean and unadulterated essence. And that’s Saikiran’s Matrimania. As the standup comedian recently presented the act at Bangalore’s Jagriti Theatre, his performance once again reiterates that good comic timing can stay clear of swear words and cuss references on the merit of sheer humor and satire.
And while laughter is the best medicine for a healthy mind and body, it’s also a perfect instrument of instilling social change by questioning the set social norms. Unlike many standup artists who take a more easy, shortcut approach to comedy, Saikiran prefers to do an earnest and thorough job of it with his power-packed script. From nagging relatives to cheeky HRs, every character of his act is not only truly believable but also a telling comment on the stale mindset that one needs to transform.
This isn’t the first time Saikiran goes spot-on with social satire. In the past, his stand-up comic act Dark Skinned and Getting Married had also made waves by highlighting discrimination faced by people with a darker skin color in a society obsessed with fair skin.
