Written by: Shahnawaz Ramay
Posted on: March 28, 2019 | 
Safeerullah Khan
Theatre Wallay, in collaboration with The Hangout, presented a rather dull stand-up comedy night last Sunday in Islamabad. The jokes, often lined with homophobia and sexism, failed to charm the audience. If anyone was laughing, it was only because of how uncomfortable the silence was.
Ramil Aftab, Adnan Aziz, Awais Khan, Safeerullah Khan, Usama Ahmed Khan and Adil Javed were the headliners for the event. The opening act was Ramil Aftab, who failed to take responsibility for setting the tone of the event. His jokes, which focused on being friend-zoned, accidently picking up prostitutes and his approach to courtship, were more distasteful than hilarious. His material came across as inside jokes shared amongst friends, which often left the audience grasping at straws to figure out the context.
Following him was Adnan Aziz, who talked about the woes of depression and being broke. What he lacked in content, he more than made up with his mannerisms, which prompted the audience to respond positively. From NAB sidelining him in the anti-corruption drive, to how Bahria Town is actually the Naya Pakistan, his jokes were few and far between. From that point forward, Awais Khan took everything further downhill, by constantly reminding everyone that he’d forgotten his material.
Perhaps because his comedic senses were tingling, Safeerullah Khan knew he had to step up and regain the attention of the audience with an interesting topic. His jokes revolved around the reluctance to discuss the topic of sex in Pakistan. Immediately grabbing everyone’s attention with a good joke about how most married couples behave after marriage, and backing it up with a personal experience in the bazaars of Mardan, he managed to woo the audience and maintained focus on himself. Towards the end, however, his material felt too dragged out, concluding with clichéd punch lines. Nevertheless, Safeerullah stood out as significantly better, in comparison to the previous three.
Usama Ahmed Khan, a jittery ball of energy who kept flitting about the room, seemed more prone to using theatrics to compliment his comedy. Most of his material was borrowed from the first three acts, and his comedic observations weren’t hilarious enough to elicit laughs.
Ending the show, Adil Javed joked about how his appearance has often landed him in trouble, and quickly built a connection with the audience by describing a personal event. But from that point onwards, it seemed the material was being milked for all its worth. However, his gimmick of taking digs at the participants to compliment his jokes, kept some people interested in his act.
Though the entourage of comedians would often punctuate a dead joke with a guffaw and claps, but usually this laughter would feel forced. Long winded stories meant to eventually deliver an internet meme joke, felt awkward instead of comical. Overall, the night felt poorly planned and executed, since the material wasn’t particularly fresh or relatable. We sincerely hope to see comedians from Islamabad improve over the coming years.
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