ALFRED SATISH JONES writes from Washington D.C.: I've long thought that one of the most original and advanced art forms here in the United States is stand-up comedy. It's an art form that doesn't get much attention outside the West.

I've been completely addicted to it from the time I watched it first on TV. Some of the most biting, honest and apt social commentary can be found in the jokes and taglines of a stand-up act as opposed to the op-ed pages of The Washington Post or New York Times, or Salon.

I don't know if we have anything close back home, but a relative sent me this link to a video clip of an Indian comic Vikram Sathaye doing a stand-up routine on cricket and cricketers at an awards' presentation ceremony telecast by Sony. I thought it was hilarious.

What's weird about this clip are the audience reaction shots in between the jokes. They show Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh et al. And, boy, they look like they're in the throes of a particularly bad bout of constipation, i.e. they have such big gantu moothis! C'mon guys, laugh a little.

Anyway, here's the link:

http://media.putfile.com/CricketComedy 

*** 

You can get the monologues of Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O'Brien here: http://www.newsmax.com/liners.shtml

Also see: Will we ever make fun of our netas like this?

https://churumuri.wordpress.com/2006/05/17/will-we-ever-make-fun-of-our-netas-like-this/