April issue 2010

The first-ever improvisational/situational comedy act in Urdu, Aisa karogai to kon ayega, directed by Azfar Ali — better known as Azfar from the Azfar Mani show — was staged at the PACC in Karachi on March 12.

Divided into a series of acts, the six actors, Ali Gul Pir, Minhaj Ali Askari, Saqib Sumeer, Imran Ahmed, Rameez Siddiqui and Afraz Rasool, took their cues from acting coach Zeeshan, who called them forward in groups of four for the first act. One member from the group was sent out while the remaining three were given different situations/character types to act out for the fourth one to guess. The situations were ridiculous but hilarious. For example, one situation was a baby bird that cannot fly and falls out of the nest and dies at each attempt. Then there was the guy who starts biting himself every time someone addresses him as “aap.”

Especially funny was the last act where one person narrated a story and two actors acted out the same story in a minute, and then in 30 seconds, and then in five seconds, making sure they didn’t leave out the important parts. What the act started out as and eventually culminated into, had people in fits of laughter.

If an actor stalled or said something that was not funny — an incident which invited a remark either by an audience member or fellow actor — he improvised with a hilarious rebuttal.

Aisa karogai to kon ayega is Azfar’s attempt at opening up the cultural stage to those not well-versed with English, or those who do not harbour literary interests. He chooses the mundane over the profound, using slapstick and slang to provide a real flavour of the language.