FringeNYC 2013: What's an Anjan?
Previously performing for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Comedy Central Asia, Anjan draws upon his life as a young brown man in the U.S., Singapore and the U.K. for a hilariously un-PC exploration of sex, racism, drug-ventures, and self.
Official production websiteShow details/ticketing at FringeNYC
Review by Mel House · August 10, 2013
What’s An Anjan?
Breathe. Here goes.
Imagine packing into the cozy dimly lit Venue #9 at Jimmy’s No. 43. This small wooden space with a raised stage and a mic is perfectly situated behind an East Village dive bar. Ten to fifteen strangers become your allies or neighbors or those people that will accompany and even influence your journey. The house folks don’t mention it, but you can get a drink from the bar to enjoy throughout the comedy hour. You won’t need it to enjoy this show, but for the light-of-heart or uptight it might grease the wheels.
Music with a contemporary Indian flavor ushers Anjan Biswas to the stage. He immediately dives into the title of the piece and lays down the rules for the hour. He appears to be just-out-of-college, but he’s charming, charismatic and delightful to watch.
Gliding in and out of roles with ease, Anjan introduces us to varied and hilarious people--his mom, his wife and an assortment of ‘special’ people. He jumps about from topic to topic exploring race, culture, identity, family, religion, politics, sex and marriage. Though he says himself, “I have no segue-ways,” he does circle back on themes several times with effective physical gestures and references to hit just that sweet spot.
Anjan warns on his website that “If you’re easily offended, homophobic, very racist, not racist enough, extremely old, or extremely young, odds are you won’t like (his set)...On the other hand, if you like borat, Louis C.K., Archer, or South Park, you might.”
His take is funny and occasionally edgy, but I want to see his late night set. Take me to the edge and then jump, please. Don’t mistake me. There were surprising laugh-out-loud moments and turn-to-your-neighbor and make the “did-he-just-say-that?!” face.
I wonder what Anjan’s set might be like if he covered less topics, and committed to taking the audince over the edge? In his nytheatre.com preview, Anjan mentions that his act, much like the movie Bridesmaids, also relies on mirth derived from gross bodily functions. But imagine if in Bridesmaids the diarrhetic debacle stopped in the bathroom and didn’t make it all the way to the street. It’s awesome, it’s funny, and it should keep going til there’s no where else to go.
However, it could be that Anjan knows just what he’s doing. After all, the old adage says, “Leave them wanting more.”
I definitely want more!
Preview: Interviews with Artists from What's an Anjan?
We're asking artists from each show to answer questions about themselves and their work to help our readers get a detailed advance picture of the festival:
Theater Beats Movies · Anjan Biswas (Other)
- Is there a particular moment in this show that you really love or look forward to? Without giving away surprises, what happens in that moment and why does it jazz you?
This show is made of great moments. Haa. My primary goal is to entertain and make you laugh, but there are some pretty thought-provoking (if I may say so myself) bits about being smelly and human. No I will not elaborate. - Does a video trailer help promote your show?
Definitely. Stand-up comedy is so subjective and contextual - people will never buy you're funny till they've actually seen you perform. Hence the age-old 'oh-you-do-stand-up?-tell-me-a-joke' curse. To that end, here's a wee link. Copy-paste netizens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h49C05qsvc - What things does live theater allow you to do that you can’t do in movies?
Stand-up comedy specifically is a dialogic performance medium and needs (in italics) an audience to work. If I'm making an audience laugh or titter or boo or groan, I'm getting a response that's part of an immediate, live feedback loop - that's exciting to me. As opposed to televised media, which gets its feedback from viewer ratings and box office turnouts. Which is also exciting, but probably because you're making a lot of money. That's cool too. - People who like which of the following recent movies would also probably like your show: BOOK OF PI, LINCOLN, BRIDESMAIDS, MAN OF STEEL?
Bridesmaids, duh. Like bridesmaids, my act also relies on mirth derived from gross bodily functions - I'm remembering the diarrhea-everywhere scene. Wow. What a film. It's also the only funny movie on the list. Unless you consider Man of Steel, which was a joke. Also, I think you mean Life of Pi? :) - Why should audiences see live theater instead of just watching videos on the internet?
Well they should do both, obviously. But live theater is exhilarating in a way videos can rarely be. When I'm at home watching movies/ shows on Netflix it takes a stellar performance and pre-existing emotional trauma on my part to engender an emotional response or any level of connection to what I'm watching. Like anybody else in my generation, I'm pretty jaded. But live theater is visceral, it's tactile, it's raw, you know? It's easier to get engaged because you're right there in the flesh. And something could always go wrong - which is exciting. So much bombing/ heckling goes on in stand-up, and it's half the fun.
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