Keep your eyes peeled for the emerging comedian Shamik Chakrabarti. With his dry wit and delightfully awkward charm, he makes his international debut an unforgettable night.
Chakrabarti knows how to connect with his audience; he’s not just standing up on stage telling his rehearsed jokes and stories; he engages and interacts with the audience without straying away from his performance. His awkward and dry humour works well with the audience, too consumed by laughter to catch their breath. In an almost meta-type style of humour, Chakrabarti admits to making up stories and exaggerating and closing his opening act by handing out a slip of paper to the audience declaring that he’s done his local jokes and the real show can now begin.
Chakrabarti delves into life in India, humorously contrasting the ‘rules’ of driving there to that of America, quipping that in India ‘traffic lights are just colours’. He also takes a playful jab at the phenomenon of the Western sex bots – those spammy accounts lurking in the comments of Instagram Reels – comparing them to their Indian counterparts. His joke will not be revealed, as the audience has been sworn to secrecy. Chakrabarti’s versatility shines through as he seamlessly navigates a range of comedy genres: dry and dark to raunchy and witty; there is something for everyone.
What he really excels at is his masterful delivery and storytelling. He has an uncanny ability to transform a simple tale into a cinematic experience, weaving in dramatics and seamlessly sliding in jokes that keep the audience enthralled. His story about losing his laptop is definitely the highlight; he has you hooked into what he turns into a cat-and-mouse chase mystery. You really want to know how the story ends and if he eventually recovers his brand- new laptop that he left on the tuk-tuk. He creates such a hilarious reenactment of the night, putting on quite the theatrical show. He brings every character to life, from the police officers questioning him why he left his laptop on the tuk-tuk, to even the unexpected twist of solving a side mystery: cracking the password to unlock the CCTV footage. You definitely do not want this comedy mystery spoiled for anything.
Despite Appearances is a must-see – a perfect debut performance and introduction to Chakrabarti’s unique comedic style; you will want to see him again to keep up with more of his looney adventures.
Featured Image: Artist Shamik Chakrabarti, photo credit Rupak Jena
Review by Rim Alkaiat
Read Rim’s latest Review: A curation of well-loved ‘Cats In Cartoons’ – The Cartoon Museum – Until 7 September – Abundant Art
Tickets: https://sohotheatre.com/events/shamik-chakrabarti-despite-appearances/
