Their Facebook description reads “5 of Colombo's top comedy acts have gotten together with the sole aim of winning your hearts (and pockets) with the power of laughter!” and that’s exactly what they are doing! Life Online spoke to the five comedians behind Comedy Club SL, namely Sacha Seneviratne, Sabreen Reffai, Laksheta Moorjani, Jeromy Jayathillake and Jayanga Nanayakkara, to find out more about this.

Tell us a little about Comedy Club Sri Lanka?

Sacha: We’re a group of five, who met randomly and decided that we wanted Sri Lankans to pay more attention to stand-up comedy. It’s a form of entertainment that hasn’t been exploited as yet so we wanted to start something new, and hopefully in future, this will be much sought after.

What inspired you to get in to stand-up comedy?

Sacha: I’ve always wanted to get in to the entertainment arena since I was a child. Many people suggested that I get in to stand-up comedy and during that time I didn’t take it too seriously. Then I saw Jeromy perform at RnR and I decided that this is what I want to do! So really, Jeromy was my inspiration to get in to stand up comedy. Through Jeromy I met Jayanga and Sabreen  and then Laksheta who is a recent addition to the group. That got the ball rolling and Comedy Club Sri Lanka was born!

How do you'll usually prepare for a show?

Jeromy: Well, there is no hard and fast rule saying this is how you prepare. As a comedian, you have to keep your eyes and ears open, because you never know when inspiration will strike. The stories you see on tv, newspapers or random crazy moments and conversations you have with family and friends can be taken as a joke. Personally, I try to talk about real life experiences. About things that has happened to me and other people around me. The team and I have regular meetings and we talk about content and share ideas. It’s a team effort.

We do not want to forget anything, so we try to note down interesting stories. Before a performance, we will go through the notes and mentally map out what we're going to say and do our thing on stage. It is not an easy thing to do. But you got to have nerves of steel and make sure that you speak with confidence. It's easier said than done. But the team and I take every performance as a learning experience. We talk to the audience after the show, get feedback and improve ourselves for the next one.

What are the challenges of being a comedian?

Jeromy: Challenges can range from sorting out content to the audience. We feed off the audience. Unlike professionals, who do the same performance when they travel around the world, we have to come up with new content every month. It sounds easy, but in reality it’s not. That is a major challenge. Stage fright is another. Forgetting what you are going to say and even freezing on stage (which happened to me once), audience not laughing is also a concern. Because, we all know it’s not easy to make Sri Lankans laugh.

So far, we have been blessed with an amazing audience that comes to see us perform. When they clap and laugh, it is an amazing feeling. We are still learning our craft. Every performance is an experience and we learn from it. But our goal as a team, is to be the best.

How successful is stand-up comedy in Sri Lanka?

Laksheta: Stand-up comedy in Sri Lanka in perception is something that is going to start growing now. From the little time I have been exposed to the arena I can say it will surely and steadily grow for two main reasons. One is that people want to laugh now, they crave good entertainment. Two because our aim as a team is is to make sure they laugh each time they walk in through the doors of our gigs. It's tough no doubt because some like to refrain from laughing cause they get stuck in this posture to evaluate the performance rather than enjoy it. And that makes our job all the more challenging yet very much interesting and dynamic. To sum up, it's growing. People want to laugh, and we want to make people laugh. Problem solved!

Where do you all usually perform?

Laksheta: We usually are now performing at Curve, Park Street Mews on a monthly basis. You can stay tuned to our page on Facebook Comedy Club SL for updates and information.

What kind of audience is your favourite?

Sabreen: An audience that's prepared to laugh. One that isn't self conscious and one that's looking to just loosen up and have a good time.

You all have full time jobs. How do you'll balance CC with your work?

Sabreen: CC is a passion and therefore it never feels like work. We're constantly writing new material for future performances and we take time aside every week or two to rehearse with each other or meetup and bounce ideas off each other.

Best/worst part of being a comedian?

Jayanga:The best part about being a comedian, for me, would be the feeling you get when you make someone laugh, I've taken to calling it the”fuzzies”, it's nice to know that you helped put a smile on someone's face. Hmm, I'm trying to think of a "worst" but nothing seems to come to mind, coming up with good material and keeping things fresh is somewhat of a challenge, but all the comedians work on their craft simply because we love what we do, so we tend to look at everything that happens as something to learn from.

What plans do you'll have in store for Comedy Club in future?

Jayanga: To improve as individual performers since we all have distinct style of comedy, to make stand-up comedy a part of Sri Lankan comedy culture and hopefully take things to greater heights, as Mr. 305 would say very fast "worldwide", but above all, to spread the laughter!

By Shenali de Silva