The ones who succeed strive to do better each day whereas the ones who cannot make it feel dejected and surrender themselves to fate. [break]
They are so busy accomplishing their goals that they barely take pleasures in the good things that life offers.
Mannsi Agrawal, 26, and Shailee Basnet, 28, perform standup comedy once a month at various places in Kathmandu so that people can temporarily escape from their anxiety and pain and take pleasure.
Mannsi, the president of Himalaya Toastmaster’s Club, shares “The work of Russell Peters fascinated me from the time I was very young, and since I’m a toastmaster, I was very confident about speaking in public. So I wanted to attempt Standup Comedy (SUC). Although it was a different genre of public speaking, it was public speaking, nevertheless. Therefore, I joined it lastOctober and have done three shows so far.”
Shailee, a journalist at Himal Khabar Patrika on the other hand, informs how Madan Krishna Shrestha and Hari Bansha Acharya have been her heroes in comedy.
“I used to get amazed by their work because it was fun. They were making money out of it and were also earning great reputation. The immense magic with which they touch people’s hearts and let all their stress melt away and the stardom they earned for it was one inspiration for me.I also love ending my day watching American sitcoms such as Friends and Two and a Half Men... The other reason why I joined SUC is because I’m a journalist, and communication is a vital part of my career.”
She joined SUC last September and has done a few shows so far.
Mannsi says that her materials are usually centered on education, politics, her husband and some instances from her daily life that she incorporates in her speech humorously and delivers the message she wants to spread. Shailee, on the same note, gushes that she prepares sarcastic materials that depicts the problems in Kathmandu like power cuts, price hikes, environment and other social issues.
Taking on the subject of impact on the society of their work, Mannsi explains, “I think comedy gives a certain food for thought. When I’m talking about education and politics, I’m poking fun at all the ills and evils that exist in this system, and when I make my husband the subject, I’m highlighting the things that have scope for improvement. So the person who actually understands the core of SUC gets a good food for thought. But basically, it’s about entertainment, laughing, relaxing and letting out all our anxieties.”
On the same note, Shailee shares that their main job is to ease the stress that people take from their daily mundane routine by making them laugh and adds that she picks subjects from daily life as they don’t live in a vacuum. So if people understand the message that is being imparted, it is even better.
They express that they are getting very positive responses which is encouraging them to come up with more shows in the future.
“Most of our audiences are foreigners because we’ve performed at Delices De France, the French restaurant, and Internations, and they’re very happy to have something in the language that they can understand. So they come and watch us. There are also some Nepalis and a few Indians who like the idea because it’s entirely new in the context of our country. So they’re adapting to it and encouraging us which motivates us to put up other shows in the future.” shares Shailee.
Watching SUC would be a good break from the daily humdrums of life as we learn to laugh, let go of things and relish the beauty that life has to offer.
As a wise quote goes, “Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.”
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