After successfully organizing and performing at the Comic Conference at Alhamra Arts Council in Lahore for two years, the Pakistan Tehreek e Comedy (PTC) troupe recently came to Karachi to perform multiple live shows as part of Tehreek e Comedy Live. The first show took place on May 4 at the Textile Institute of Pakistan (TIP), where the troupe received an overwhelming response. This was followed by another show at the Karachi Arts Council on Sunday while the last show took place yesterday at the Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture.
Founded by Shah Fahad, PTC has been around for a couple of years and performs regular shows in Lahore but this was the first time they performed to audiences in Karachi. Featuring some of Lahore’s finest comedians including Ali Ahmad Khan, Arzu Fatima, Sarmed Aftab, Subaina Javed, Shehryar Ahmed, Waleed Zaidi, Sohail Raza, Rehan Zia and Daniyal Nasir, the troupe put up acts that were a mix of stand-up and improv comedy that was thoroughly enjoyed by viewers. They also performed posture to posture acts, comedy talk shows, parody quiz shows and various impromptu sessions that hit all the right notes.
The show opened with a warm-up improv segment that warmed up the audience too and set an optimistic tone for what was yet to come. It was hosted by the absolutely talented and versatile Shah Fahad, who also performed a small part and did a great job as the host for the evening. From gender stereotypes to politics, to socio-cultural jokes, there wasn’t much real-life terrain that the troupe didn’t talk about, making sure that this leaves their rather unfamiliar audience in fits of laughter. Surprisingly, the effortless and on-point improv sessions caught our attention more than some scripted segments and this speaks for the troupe’s ease and familiarity with the craft. The extempore humour that stems from interacting with those in attendance was carried well too.
Reflecting on their experience in Karachi, Shah Fahad told Instep on the sidelines of the show: “Our content is more towards the social satire that clicks with masses in general and isn’t necessarily targeted at millennials or younger generation so Karachi has always been very nice. There are a few things that the audience in Lahore does not register; they relate more with slapstick, double-meaning jokes that are tilted more towards vulgarity. But in Karachi, they get to pinpoint the details and catch interesting jokes too; it is a good, responsive audience here.”
Moving on to performances, Ali Ahmad Khan stole the show with his spontaneity and versatile acts while Sarmed Aftab stood out amidst the rest due to his on-point humour. The two female artists in the lineup, Arzu Fatima and Subaina Javed, won our hearts with their own unique styles that added charm to the show.
The 100-minute-long show kept us glued throughout with very few glitches here and there that stemmed from some stretched sessions such as the ‘Good, Bad and Ugly’ segment.
We spoke to Ali Ahmad Khan, who is also the creative director of PTC and wrote the script for the show, to find out more about the troupe and its future plans.
“The response in Lahore, where we have been performing for two years, has been overwhelming so we decided to expand,” he shared with us on the sidelines of the event. “We will be coming to Karachi again after Eid, sometime around September, and plan to perform in Islamabad and Peshawar as well in the coming months.”
Speaking of the scope of improv comedy in Pakistan, he said that they have modified improv to suit the taste of people in Pakistan so that it works. “We have come up with a few games such as ‘Mushaira’ and ‘Good, Bad, Ugly’ that include input from audience too so that they can connect to it,” he added.
In addition to live shows in major cities of Pakistan, PTC aims to bring out online comedy web series that will feature clips of their performances as well as some fresh acts, as confirmed by Shehryar Ahmed, Head of Marketing and PR at PTC. Eventually, they aim to turn it into a comedy show on television but that will take some time.