Shit Some shitty Pretend- Comedy Promoters Say and Other stuff.

Hello One and all!

First of all i apologize for not being able to update my blog with the weekly comedy gigs in Singapore..i'll be doing that through my facebook page! So to know more about where i'll be performing and what's happening in and around singapore's comedy scene , Like it! ---------> https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sharul-Channa/182385105207710?ref=hl

Comedy has been making me travel quite a bit this year which is always good as you get to meet , explore, understand and perform to the many kinds of audiences. I have performed in Sydney, Perth, KL, Thailand, Penang and a few more places have been lined up for the rest of the year. Different cities, different sensibilities. Kumar shows are going on too and this week i performed with him in three different venues..again in one country itself different kinds of audiences exist. What binds them together? Laughter.

I have recently started writing more material in Hindi. Yup. I am trying to perform both in English and Hindi - let's see how that turns out :)

OK. So This post is based on what rising stand-up comedians have to hear from shitty pretend promoters and you SHOULD avoid them!

Things shitty promoters say and my humble answer to them.



1. " Just come and perform for 10 mins - we will give you free food".

Answer : Dear asshole, i don't need free food and if i really needed free food i would have visited my neighbors house every chinese new year with a red packet with nothing in it - in hope that they say " Please have something!" and then i would take out all the plastic boxes i had brought along and wiped out their fantastic stingray. Why don't YOU come over and clean my entire house and i will give you free  food.. then you can officially be my maid.

2. " Can you emcee and then introduce yourself and DO AN ACT and then introduce the next act and then while you're at it introduce the next too?"

Answer : It's important to have a comedian emcee who just heats up the crowd so that the acts can go on. I am not going to emcee it and also do a 20 min set you cheapo!

3.  " I am providing you with an opportunity. I will pay for your airfare and hotel!"

Answer : Sure. Thank you for your opportunity. Can i have a business class ticket and also a room in a  5 star hotel with a good amount of money for meals. Upon arrival?


4. " We don't have a budget."

Answer : "This line has been terminated for the past 5 secs..Please don't call back ever."

5. " Can you produce 20 mins completely new material for the comedy show which is in a week's time."

Answer : "Is it possible to build a 20 storey building in 1 week?"


Dear Rising Stand-up comedians from all over the world,

Please avoid these people who try to exploit new talent for their own material gain. These people are not comedy promoters..they are just leeches who are not ethical in business. There are some fantastic trustworthy promoters around. If you are unclear make sure you ask other comedians who these fantastic promoters are as good people will always have a good word going around. I have been lucky enough to work with such ethical and fantastic promoters so when i come across a terrible one - i know.

Trustworthy and awesome Comedy promoters in Singapore are :

1. Umar Rana ( Comedy Masala)
2. Jonathan Atherton ( Comedyclubasia)
3. Heazry ( Comedyclubasia)
4. Quill Potter ( thecomedypimp)


Thank you.

Have a great week ahead!

Love Love,

This Week in Singapore's Comedy Scene!

COMEDY THIS WEEK

Hey guys! I have decided to update you guys on all the comedy happenings every week from now on so we can help grow the comedy scene together!

I will be performing on Wednesday at blujaz for talk cock comedy night and won't be at the Kumar Show at Home club on thursday this week as am traveling to KL coming thursday and Friday! Back to doing comedy on Saturday - doing a set at Additions, Still Bar ( Dempsey) for the Kumar show!

I'll see you on Wednesday and Saturday but don't forget to go down to the rooms below and share the info too! Paul ogata is in town - don't miss that one!

1. Tuesday - 16thApril2013  Comedy Masala , Home Club  (Open-mic Comedy)             Price : $10
    9.15pm onwards  - PAUL OGATA Preview set  


2. Wednesday - 17thApril2013  Talk Cock Comedy, Blu Jaz Cafe ( Open-mic Comedy)  Price : $10
    8.30pm onwards ( Comedyclubasia)

3. Wednesday - 17thApril2013  Paul Ogata 1 hour solo show at the Royal Room  8pm    Price : $28
                          tickets at www.gatecrash.com.sg


4.  Thursday -Fight Comic - 18th April 2013 Talk Cock Comedy, Blu Jaz Cafe ( Improv Stand-up)   Price :  $10 / 9.00pm onwards (TheComedypimp)


5. Thursday - The KUMAR Show - 18th April 2013 ,Home Club                                                       Price : $16

6.  Saturday - The KUMAR Show - 20th April 2013, Additions ( Still Bar, Dempsey)                      Price :  $25


Love and Laughter,

Sharul Channa

Only in Bollywood Movies!

Hello One and All.

Welcome to my rant.

I have been watching lots of bollywood movies recently. I have to say that we are full of bull! No really, we are. Although we have some real good bollywood films - we have many unrealistic trashy ones too. So if you're a die-hard bollywood fan..i suggest you stop reading here.

STOP.



OK. You Chose to read.


So - i have been watching many bollywood films recently in between of work. Yes - i work!
And i must say that i have found myself gagging with laughter and sometimes ending up in a pool of my own piss. So below is one film i watched and my personal take on it!



 Raja Hindustani

A story about a rich girl falling in love with a taxi driver in India. They rebel and end up getting married. This movie is the only reason women have started giving second looks to their drivers.

Reality Check !


Driver in this movie :

Driver in Reality :

You know what i mean? No! DO YOU NOW KNOW WHAT I MEAN!?

This is what i call a clear case of Reality ka Baap-Bhai*!  ( *Think of it as an insult to the male race)

If my driver was Aamir Khan! I wont marry him - i will tell him to direct a film for me. On me. With me. For me. *drools*



Do you now know what i mean?!


Lots of comedy shows happening this week!
In the next post!

love love,

Sharul Channa

A Very Happy Valentine's Day!

Hey people.

A very Happy valentine's day. I just want to share with you how i prepared for my valentine's day.

                         I GOT MY UPPER LIP THREAD!
No! It's not the first time i have done it but i realized how important it is for women to thread their upper lips and eyebrows on time so that we don't look like the chinese uncle under our block who will occasionally strike up a conversation with you about how its getting hotter in Singapore while they stroke their thin but evident mustache. (No..not a mustache. Indian men have mustache.)


THIS IS A FREAKING MUSTACHE.

But in my case and I am sure for millions of Women out there - if u don't get the hair off..you can very well take it as your life is over if a handsome man walks past and he knows you! When i don't have my upper lip hair off and i know a hot man  is coming from the distance and he knows me - I hide. I run. I take cover. The last thing you need is talking to a hot guy under bright white light and you can see his glance slip from your eyes to your mouth. He has noticed it. He has noticed that you have hair on your upper lip and the equation my friends is very freaking simple.

Woman with hair on upper lip = Not attractive = Will never date her = Not excited to meet her the next time

And if a hot guy i know does bump into me and catches me off guard before i run to take cover..i end up covering my mouth the entire conversation. THE ENTIRE CONVO!


So now the mustache is off! - till it grows back within the next 10 days.

Happy Valentine's day.

love,

Sharul

A trend I notice in the Asian Stand-up Comedy Circle..

Performing in KL for One Mic Stand

Dear one and all,

Hope all of you are doing well !

Well - I just want to talk about a trend I have noticed in the Asian stand-up comedy circle. To be completely honest - I am guilty too! Most asian stand-up comedians are cracking race based jokes. Nothing wrong with that but recently when i travelled to KL for the Comedy Club Kl show - i realized how much I needed to steer away from the race based jokes. Its not that those jokes are easy to come up with..it takes as much effort,writing and numerous trials to perfect but everybody is doing them. What is the difference between me and the comic after me? What is my brand of humor? How can i be different? These are questions i asked myself when i came back from KL. If i want to travel the world with my comedy - then i have to make my material understandable and relatable to the entire world. I should be able to perform these jokes infront of a full british audience and if somebody transported me to africa - i should make the masses there laugh. I also dont want to disregard the fact that i should be able to entertain Singapore as much as i want to entertain the world. So this is my solution for this : Having one set for Singapore and one for the rest of the world and then another one for the Corporate world. I think having 3 sets of joke lists to entertain the different kind of audiences is needed. 

These are just my thoughts and i dont hope to offend anybody with them. If you already have your different set lists for the different kinds of audiences - Congratulations! 

Have a great Wednesday. I am off to Stand-up for Singapore ( Blu Jaz Cafe, Bali Lane) proudly brought to you by Comedyclubasia! Need to try a couple of new jokes. Will tell how it went ;)

Warmest Regards,

Sharul Channa

"We are like this only" , KUMAR, Upcoming shows

Hello One and all,

Hope you'll have been doing great! I have been busy with the rehearsals of a play - yes yes, i am acting.
For those who don't know, i have 3 years of formal training in acting for theatre,film and television from Lasalle-SIA, College of the Arts. The play is called " We are like this only" - forum theatre style.
This play shines a light on the problems new indians and local singaporean indians are facing in terms of integrating with each other. It's a hot hot issue dealt with sensitivity for sure. So come on down! You can purchase tickets from www.humtheatre.com . The show is on  - 26thFeb2013 to 3rd March 2013 at the Goodman Arts Centre, Blackbox .

It's been so nostalgic cos the rehearsals and the play are held at the old Lasalle-sia, college of the arts at Goodman Road. Life comes around full circle in many ways.

In terms of Stand-up comedy - I have been performing with Singapore's most famous and entertaining stand-up comedian - KUMAR. That's right. She gives me 10 mins of stage time during 2 of her shows. Isn't that fantastic?! I mean i remember watching this genius perform at Hard Rock Cafe as a teenager and thought to myself.. Whoa. How liberating and hilariously funny. I never thought i would get to share the stage with this legend. Here is a picture i recently took with her :

Sharul Channa and Kumar

When people find out I perform with Kumar - they ask me weird questions but they are completely justified i guess cos people think an artist's stage persona is how they are like in personal life. " Isn't it scary to talk to Kumar? Don't you feel scared? " - WHAT? Once and for all let me answer this question. Kumar is one of the nicest human beings i have met. If she seems dismissive - it's just an artist's personal space and she is a very shy person. But she is amazing. She has her one man show coming up for this year at the Esplande which is called : What makes a man man.  Can't wait to watch it!

THIS WEEK I PERFORM AT :

1. Wednesday - 6th Feb2013 - Stand-up for Singapore at the blu jaz cafe, Bali Lane : 8.30pm onwards

Proudly brought to you by : Comedyclubasia, Singapore

2. Saturday - 9thFeb2013 - Kumar's Show at The Still Bar, Dempsey Road : 10.30pm onwards

Stay tuned for more posts coming up! I promise to be regular! :)

Warmest Regards,

Sharul Channa 

Finding your Voice in Stand-up

Hey guys!

Hope you'll are well! First of all, a very very Happy New Year! 


Now I just wanted to talk a little bit about the concept of 'voice' in stand-up comedy. I have heard this many times from comedians around the world who say ...".. and then i found my voice in comedy"... What are they referring to when they talk about this voice? I always recoiled in confusion and tried to act cool as if i knew what they were talking about! - Clearly, i didn't! I know other growing stand-up comedians wonder to themselves about finding the  'voice' in comedy.... so i put my foot down and decided to ask some of my favorite stand-up comedians in Asia what exactly the 'voice in comedy' means to them! Let's see!

Vivek Mahbubani ( Hong Kong )

I think when someone speakes of "finding your comedy voice", it means finding the style of person you want to be on stage. For example, when I'm on stage, my voice is of someone who likes silly things, who is cheeky and playfully agressive. This relates to the style of comedy I personally enjoy, which has slowly transformed into the style of comedy I like to perform.

In my experience, people who haven't found their comedy voice are usually those who aren't sure what they themselves find funny (it takes quite a lot of soul searching, studying and of course laughing), thus when they're on stage, all they're trying to do is be funny to everyone, but often neglecting to be funny for themselves as well.

Gb Labrador   ( Philippines )

For me when a comic says "I have not found my comedy voice" - it only means the comic is still trying to figure out the real reason why-- he/she goes up on stage and tell jokes.

To find one's comedy voice is to find a greater reason in holding the mic. To deliver jokes that are more personal-- to finally have the courage to open up to the audience.

Dr. Jason Leong Say Keong ( Malaysia )

"I think they are referring to the fact that they are not 100percent where they are in comedy or that there is still a disconnect between them and the audience. For me, it means that the bloody microphone is not working or I got a sore throat. "



So, have you found your 'voice' in stand-up comedy? :)



Warmest Regards,

Sharul Channa