Pub crawls: Hip hop & hee-haw, folks

Not too long ago, city folks were exposed to the idea of pub crawls — intensive bar hopping in pursuit of myriad unwinding experiences. Revelry married with the best of music and grub, the idea found massive takers owing to the luxury of choice it offered. Interestingly, looks like the ‘from point A to point B’ plan is working out just right – but this time, with a streak of rib-tickling humour, of course! With the city’s first stand-up comedy crawl, Stand-up and crawl’ (Ongoing till February 13) featuring 12 popular stand-up artistes from across the country, creating quite a buzz; we chat up with enthusiasts to take a deeper look at how the idea of chuckle-hopping is panning out.

Turning tables on the host: “The whole idea sprouted out of a desire to work towards making you laugh wherever you are. Bengaluru is very cosmopolitan, and people are aware and receptive towards different styles of comedy. But, unlike a pub crawl where the customer moves to get the best deal, here the performing artiste checks-in at a venue to perform. I think the arrangement works well as it offers flexibility to both sides,” opines Vamsidhar Bhogaraju, a city-based artiste, who will be performing at the on-going crawl.

The other side of the coin: Incidentally, while the trend is seeing a burgeoning curve, a motley of youths comment about how the comparisons are misplaced. “Laughter being perceived as a therapy aside, let’s not deny that different people come in with different expectations. For instance, a bar with a stand-up gig in the background would work better for those wanting to enjoy food and drinks amidst a young crowd. Meanwhile for someone who’d just want some peace and quite sans any disturbance, a comedy club could be more appealing. So, given the number of options we have in terms of venues, I think its probably the way forward,” comments Siddharth Lakshmanan, a 24 year old automobile enthusiast.  

With a motley of comic shows happening in and around town, Akanksha Singh, an IT professional adds, “Considering it’s a one of a kind edition of sorts, I’m sure the crawl will garner attention. But again, more than offering shows in a string, I hope the quality of the shows doesn’t see a downward slope. The idea of comedians venturing out from one venue to another sounds interesting, but to ensure the turnout of the audience is just the same as their first check-in, I hope comics step up their game. I’d love to be on a laughter roll, but only there’s something concrete to propel me enough to follow the train of shows.”