Local comedians give Karachi enough reasons to smile till sehri

Performances that stole the show included those by Tabish Hashmi, Fatema Shah and JD

KARACHI: One fact I learnt after attending the Smile Till Sehri comedy show is that it’s incredibly difficult to laugh for six hours straight. But the lure of over two dozen performers and the fun-filled Saturday night was too much to pass and luckily, I came out of the show with vocal cords intact. Hosted by Saad Haroon, the show included a marathon divided into two parts with significant performances by Ali Gul Pir, Danish Ali, Faiza Saleem, JD, Akbar Chaudhary, Khawatoons and LOL Waalay.



More often than not, it is difficult to maintain the quality of the show from beginning to end, especially if it’s six hours long. But Smile Till Sehri succeeded in that department, with only a couple of mediocre performances. From Kashif Shahzad in the opening act, the evening started off on a positive note, swiftly sliding through various acts, with Hassan Bin Shaheen’s unsurprisingly entertaining performance and Umar Ahmed delivering a surprisingly on-point, edgy act with great timing. Talking about edgy, it’s funny to think it took the holy month of Ramazan to bring the local comedians' 'shaitaan' out. Or perhaps, it was because of Ramazan that the (subtly delivered) edgy jokes were more effective.

Having not seen most of the comedians perform live before, if there was one that stood out as the star (even in the presence of stars like Pir and Saleem) of the show, it was Tabish Hashmi. The man, with his narrowed eyes, disarming demeanour and guiltless smile warned of the guilt one would feel, listening to his true-to-life anecdotes as he spoke of the misunderstandings with his unpredictable parents. And it made them all the more hilarious when he pointed out his mother in the crowd. His act was as natural and as entertaining it could be. And it would not be an overstatement to say, down the road, he needs his own hour-long Netflix special.



Another act that stood out was Fatema Shah’s (Auratnaak). Hers was a satire about people suffering from anxiety. Even though it wasn’t laugh-out-loud material as it wasn’t supposed to be, and perhaps didn’t garner a huge reaction from the audience, it was unique. Shah must be commended for attempting it in front of an audience who was there with different expectations. Although a little dark, she owned the performance and made all the “naturally anxious” people feel a little bit home.

Beside Hashmi and Shah, JD impressed us with his no-nonsense nonsense, delivered like only he could. Ali Abdullah brought the house down with his stories of toilet issues during a tableegh tour. The two main events of respective halves of the show were Khawatoon and LOL Waalay. The two troupes played improv scenarios, taking suggestions from the audience. The wacky scenarios created out of bizarre suggestions was more than enough to make the sold-out auditorium echo with laughter.



But most importantly, it was an absolute pleasure to see female comedians as prominently featured as their male counterparts. Given due time and platform, (most) women exceeded expectations. And lastly, the conversation would be incomplete without mentioning Saleem who once again demonstrated her accurate facial expressions and impeccable comic timing.

The show, was intended for charity, with all the proceedings going to Edhi Foundation.

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