Pick a screen to stay glued to coz’ India’s top comedy creators are set to put out their individual comedy web series through the Laughter Games on YouTube. Needless to say, this laughter riot will see some of Bengaluru’s own, homegrown talents, and they dish out on what to expect.
If you’ve ever been a part of the audience, you’d know that comedian Kenneth Sebastian’s sketches have something in it for everybody. “In this particular web series, we decided to appeal to a niche audience and nail it, rather than do a half-hearted job that was neither here nor there,” he says.
Kenneth along with his comedy crony Naveen Richard and Mani Prasad will star in a web series, Starboyz. A hardcore Star Wars fan, he admits that it was his love for sci-fi and the lack of related content that inspired him. “This is a sci-fi comedy set in the future and captures a group of South Indian boys. The show addresses what big budget sci-fi movies refuse to do – how to wash their clothes, which space roommate will get time on the TV and so on – mundane problems that even astronauts can’t do away with,” explains Kenneth.
While Naveen Richards is one of the Starboyz, he is also a part of his own web series called Better Life Foundation. Part of an entertainment group called Them Boxer Shorts (TBS) along with his school buds Aravind Anil Kumar, Mani Prasad, Rahul Hota and new entrant, Navaneeth Sriram, their aim is to put out a lot more original content while raising the standard of English comedy in India. Based on an NGO, their series looks at six passionate characters, whose attempts to do good are often thwarted. “This one is going to be a mockumentary,” explains Naveen, who is a law school graduate. “Audiences will notice that the jokes aren’t reference based – they may talk about something as real as colour blindness or a lisp and not sketches that sound like Buzzfeed articles or are based on something that is already famous, like Bollywood or politics,” he says.
On the Laughter Games, you’ll find everyone from SNG Comedy and Anubav Pal to Enna Da Rascalas, Random Chikibum, Arre and Put Chutney along with Kenneth and TBS that will see news comedy, sketches and web series. Ajay Nair, COO of Only Much Louder, an entertainment space that’s at the helm of this series, believes that all the audiences are online and that’s what had them bring scripted entertainment to the scene. “Kenneth is one of the fastest growing creators on YouTube and is already one of India’s biggest standup comics. He has a knack of connecting with the audience, that’s rare. While, TBS is perhaps the most unique comedy creator in India with a firm grasp of how long form content is written. The content has an international tone to it and is cliche free,” he adds.
