Chennai: No matter what the occasion is, humans love to be connected with music – be it gleeful or mournful happening. And there is a song for every trivial cultural event which you’ll find out if you ask your granny. Then comes comedy, that ends up cheering us and brightens our mood. But, what if there is comedy in music? Or, how about combining the two to evoke laughter? Does it not sound satiating?
This is precisely what the popular Chennai-based stand-up comic, Alexander Babu does in his show ‘Alex in Wonderland’, which streams on Amazon Prime. On contrary to the English stand-up comedy, Alex brings the local, cultural flavour to the table effortlessly and makes the audience roll in the aisles (not literally, though!) with his musical comedy. As the comic rightly puts it, “Music is the God-given rabbit hole for mankind.”
Just like any typical Indian cinemas set in the 80s, it opens up with a devotional song played in a Southern village with a vintage tinge. Young Alex wakes up to the tune of it and gets on with his work. Much similar to the lives of every other teen, he decides to pursue engineering and reaches the peak of his IT career by being employed at Bay Area, California. Soon, he realizes that it isn’t his calling and becomes a stand-up comic.
The comic, who is also a yoga teacher, begins his act with a religious note and invocates a prayer song having names of Allah and Jesus, and throws a surprise to the audience by adding the name of Hindu God, only to prove them wrong that he isn’t here to convert others to Christianity.
Like this, the 134-minute-long show, set in his ‘wonderland’, is a brilliant testimony to Alex’s wit and his capability to weave music with comedy and switches between playing instruments like thavil or double bongo or harmonium. The comic celebrates the songs that were released in ’80s and ’90s by musicians like Sirkazhi Govindarajan, MS Viswanathan, Ilayaraja, Vidyasagar and Malaysia Vasudevan. He mocks the numbers, only to glorify them once again.
Packing the show with a variety of elements, he culls out the moral lessons from their lives. For instance, the 40-something Alex narrates how Vasudevan grabs the opportunity, who is tagged as an unsung hero, and would rush to the studio soon after getting a call, no matter what time it is; or how Yesudas gives his soul for all his songs that have a similar pattern, yet it becomes popular. Going a step ahead, the comic imitates as many singers as possible to give a lively feel.
All in all, when you enter Alex’s wonderland, religion does not dominate and you would fall in love with the melodies all over again while you walk out humming Anadha Arabi Kadaloram or Malare Mounama. But do not forget to watch out for the gems like Poga Poga Seria Poidum, if you can breathe, you can do it. Period and when you get that opportunity, Udane Auto La Eridanum.