Watch out it's going to blow! No it's not dangerous. It's only going to make you laugh your head off. It's a bomb of energy, in the form of Phil Nichol.
The Canadian actor, songwriter and comedian, who has been in the circuit for over 27 years, was in the city for a show with The Comedy Store and humoured the crowd with his trademark racist and dangerously funny jokes.
“I played with their sensibilities, and the lovely people of Bangalore were all wonderfully sensitive and I'm sure they accepted my jokes in the best humour" says Phil, who likes to poke fun at everything and everyone who takes themselves too seriously.
Before being a stand up comedian, he was part of a popular, successful musical comedy trio titled 'Corky and Juice Pigs', and even performed on TV as part of it, with Russell Peters opening his act. He jokes that they had to break up 'under the pressure of money and fame'.
Ask him where his funny side comes from, he tells us an almost unbelievable, touching story about his past. “I was born with a clinical stutter and a severe lisp. I was extremely small for my age. I was raised in a devout born again Christian family. I moved from Scotland to Canada when I was four years old and went to six different schools in seven years. I developed my sense of humour to protect myself from bullying," he explains.
That defensive form surely didn't fail him! Untiring and obsessively funny, his talent never fails to capture audiences. “I tickle them into submission," he chuckles, positive that there can never be a time when the audience doesn't find him funny.
He claims that he is at the gym everyday for about 22 hours, and clearly, he isn't joking, considering his stamina on stage.
Having been in the entertainment industry for so long, he says that stand up comedy, which he considers most challenging, 'has evolved brilliantly, especially here in India, where you have amazing new young comics and a passion for laughter'.
He urges budding stand up comedians to “Write about what you know, not what you think will get laughs. Never give up."
