Gerald D'Cunha

I am an old-fashioned connoisseur when it comes to enjoying comedy acts. Comedy acts have always been there. Much before the TV came in, our only entertainment, back home in our village, used to be some dramas or musical nites. Every drama and every musical nite had sprinkles of comedy. As we went to watch these shows as a family, the comedy always used to be clean and subtle. Very, very, very rarely it was crude. Even in the films, the comedy was an integral part of the family package. We watched it with our heads high. But, now, in these times of the so-called ‘standup comedy’ or ‘roast’, or whatever that is, people like me have become dinosaurs... Extinct. The young crowd, especially girls, simply can’t control their laughter – or, so they portray. Whenever, by default, I try to watch an act or so, I end up getting a complex… “Hey, don’t I really understand this?” or, “Have I lost my libido?” The fact is that, if comedy is crude, crass and vulgar, it just ...

“Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious.” - Peter Ustinov W hen I was a school boy (St. Aloysius), there was no Television in our country. Our school had a small auditorium, where, every now and then, they used to show us a nice English film, mostly a comedy. My favourites were Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Buster Keaton.  They were all B & W films. All Charlie Chaplin films used to be without dialogues. There was only one theatre in our hometown, Mangalore, which showed English films. I don’t remember watching a single film over there till I landed in college… There was no money to watch. Thus, we kids made the most of every film shown to us in school. Now, almost fifty years later, thanks to the internet boom – particularly the Social Media – we get to watch many of those old English comedies (or their best scenes) on our mobile and computer screens. Every night, before going to bed, I make it a point to watch some funny scenes fro...