If you are looking for a partner, or are in a relationship, or want to get married, or are already in a marriage, arranged or otherwise, this stand-up comedy show, titled Man Matrimoney Marriage, is for you. With two immensely talented comics — Prakash Kumar Rathinavel and Prabhu Krishnamoorthy — bringing observations and experiences from their lives — some real and others cooked up — to tell you truths about marriage and married life, this performance, divided into two solo acts (called half solo) is sure to crack you up. We say, it’s the best way to begin the Valentine’s week. What better than celebrating love if not with some humour and laughs!
Prakash tells us that the show is “completely about the struggle of a man to find a girl for marriage. While I speak of instances before marriage, Prabhu continues about life after marriage. And we coat the instances with humour. The jokes are from our personal lives as well as based on observations we made, but they are very relatable. Those looking for a bride or groom can definitely and easily relate to our sets.”
Giving us a glimpse into his jokes, Prakash cites an example, saying, “When I tried looking for a match on matrimonial sites, I couldn’t find any match, because on these sites there are usually comparison rates to check compatibility quotient. In all of the matches, out of 10, my score was only three!” he says. As we burst out laughing, Prakash lets us in on another joke. “A friend of mine suggested that in the description (on matrimonial sites), I should write something good about myself, only then a girl will be interested to accept my proposal. So, I wrote all the good things: ‘Open minded, ‘broad minded’, I even wrote ‘no mind’, ‘never minded’. I still didn’t get any match! Surprisingly I saw there was one match, and I was so happy, only to find out that it was my ex-girlfriend!”
Just when we begin to believe all this is from Prakash’s personal experiences, he is quick to correct us, laughing, “All this is cooked up!”
Man Matrimoney Marriage is completely in Tamil and that’s because “I can perform better in Tamil. It’s my mother tongue, I have grown up speaking this language. So, I can make better jokes in Tamil,” says Prakash, who works as an IT engineer, and has been doing stand-up comedy for the past four years. He dreams of moving to full-time comedy, and is “waiting for a ‘break’. I’m planning to release a video in March, titled First Night. Please don’t get ideas! There’s nothing obscene about this. It’s just a story about my friend who got married,” he says.
When we dial Prabhu to know more about his set, he tells us that the decision to spell matrimony as ‘matrimoney’ (in the title) was deliberate. “A marriage involves too much of unnecessary expenditure, particularly in an arranged setup. People spend a bomb on photographers. In my marriage, it was `1.5 lakh for the photographer! I don’t think it was required because no one is looking at the album after marriage,” begins Prabhu, whose set is basically going to be life after marriage, modern day problems and relationship with the partner.
But unlike Prakash, Prabhu’s jokes are directed towards himself, and he tells us that it’s easier this way. “I can make a joke about others, but there are chances people will get offended,” he explains, adding, “I follow comedians like Louis CK and Dave Chapelle, who say the more you talk about your truths, the more relatable it is to the other person.”
Further, Prabhu tells us, “I got married six years back, but I didn’t have a kid for four-and-a-half years. So I went through IVF process. Then I ended up making a video where I narrated my story but in a very fun way. I want to create a whole show based on my marriage and my personal experiences.”
A digital marketing manager, Prakash has been performing for the last two years, and just like Prabhu, he too wants to move to doing comedy full-time but admits he has “a long way to go.”
Tickets start at Rs 199.
February 10, 6 pm.
At Backyard, Adyar.
Email: rupam@newindianexpress.com
X: @rupsjain
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