At the other end, Alexander Babu a.k.a Alex sounds excited as he talks about his visit to Kochi. “It is my first visit,” says the standup comedian, who is in the city to perform his solo standup special, Alex in Wonderland. “It was begun in July 2017 in Chennai. These two years, I have been travelling across the nation performing. Kochi is my 114th stage,” adds Alex, a native of Chennai.
His performance is a blend of humour, story-telling and music. Alex, who is passionate about music, says he couldn’t have envisioned it without music. “Music is an integral part of our lives. It appears in one way or other. My show is about what music meant to me — what was my feeling when I got cassettes of my favourite musicians’ songs and listened to them at house; what happened to that tape recorder? All these memories converge in Alex in Wonderland.”
In brief, this show is a humorous take on Alex’s life. “It draws inspiration from my desire to be a musician, stage performer and actor, growing up in a village in Tamil Nadu,” says Alex. But, like many others, he too had to put his dream to rest, and pursue the traditional mode. Later, he moved to the corporate world in the United States, only to return after a few years to follow his heart’s call. Alex says it was a risk resigning the job and doing what he loved. “I decided to try it for two years. If situations don’t go as expected, I would return. That was the plan.” However, everything turned out good. And, now here is Alex touring to different places, showcasing the magic of his wonderland.
The solo special has dialogues both in English and Tamil, accompanied by music. When asked if Tamil dialogues posed any difficulty in conveying his thoughts to the audience, he says, it has never been a barrier. “Everywhere, Tamil people formed the primary audience. However, the show is designed in a way to cater to everyone. Almost 70 per cent, especially the introduction acts, is done in English,” says Alex, comparing the experience with watching a foreign movie with English subtitles. “You may not understand everything shown in the film, but you will definitely get a hang of the culture, won’t you?” he asks.
Alex in Wonderland will conclude in Chennai next week. In Kochi, the performance will take place at Hotel Luminara at 6.30 pm on July 7.
