After watching tons of videos of standup comedians online from all across the globe, getting hold of tickets of a show in Pakistan, No Offence was such a pleasant surprise. Expectations were high and excitement was going through the roof.
First and foremost, we need to have more standup shows in the country to give a boost to the comedy landscape of Pakistani entertainment. It was thoroughly refreshing to see a live comedy show. Many in the audience, especially uncles, found most jokes relatable and laughed their lungs out.
The show was held in Ali Auditorium on Ferozpur Road on a foggy winter night in Lahore. Expected to get defrosted by the warmth and hysteria of jokes, we were introduced to Mohsin Ejaz performing for the first half. His set literally was the music to the ears. The situations he created with old classic songs had some really good laugh-out-loud moments. The way he compared the nineties music of Bollywood and Pakistan and how he made Mehdi Hassan the pioneer of stalkers because of his song “Zindagi mein to sabhee” is one such example. He proved the power of his vocal chords and the audience appreciated him by singing along. His set did take a dramatic turn towards the end which hit the right chord and made us all emotional (you’ll have to go and see to understand). The use of dark humor was done in the right proportion.
The audience was charged up when we were introduced to Dawar Mehmood, the man of the hour. He started off by acknowledging his association and training by the legendary Anwar Maqsood. The stakes were high now. He started off nicely by doing a set about PIA air hostesses and how Punjabi humour does not appeal to a Karachiite. One could sense a hint of Moin Akhtar in them. His mention of the jokes shared by Anwar Maqsood were legit taking a dig at the current political landscape had a healthy amount of sarcasm in them. The way he relayed the story of his show getting cancelled because of Lahore’s obsession with Imran Khan during the days of his arrest was indeed funny. It would have been great had he just remained there because even though, the show was meant to be inoffensive, the jokes about cheating men, the Me Too movement, and feminism were archaic if not offensive. In today’s day and age, we are past these jokes, aren’t we?
In a nutshell, it is a great attempt for a start and Kopykats deserve all the applause for initiating this.
