Today I speak about stand up comedy and its potential in Sri Lanka, on the Buzz. I caught up with the team at Nut & Bolt to chat about what makes them click. Today I speak to Ravindu Amendra, Sathees Nadesan & Hasalaka Thushara about their journey.

HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AND THE WORK YOU DO?

Ravindu : I describe myself as a storyteller who sees the funny aspect in any situation and shares it as an experience. My theory is simple. Your pain is someone else’s pleasure. In a world where we avoid embarrassment, I embrace embarrassing moments in my life to engage with my audience. Life can be traumatic, but as a stand-up comedian, I have gained the confidence and courage to convert negativity into positivity.

DO YOU THINK THERE’S A PLACE FOR STAND-UP COMEDY IN SRI LANKA?

In our opinion, it does have great potential and can be developed into a fully pledged industry, which may become one of the most prominent components of the SL entertainment industry. In fact, that is our main goal as Nut & Bolt Productions. Nut & Bolt Productions is the one and only stand-up comedy Event Management Company in Sri Lanka. With the political and religious beliefs in Sri Lanka, it will be slightly turbulent. However, we are determined to build this industry with the help of like-minded people.  

DO YOU FEEL PEOPLE ARE OFFENDED WHEN YOU USE AUDIENCE REACTIONS WHEN YOU DO YOUR SKIT?  

We would say, with our experience in crowd work, so far no one has been offended as ‘yet’. As a matter of fact, Sathees and I do at least 5 to 10 minutes of crowd work during our skit, which our audience finds very hilarious and interesting. We basically make them feel like they are part of the skit. We try and make them feel special.

WHAT IS NUT & BOLT? THE NAME IS QUITE INTERESTING. TELL ME ABOUT THE CREATION OF IT. After the chaos that happened on the 26th of May, related to Modabhimanaya 3.0 (Fools Pride 3.0), our team had to literally lay low and shut down our work for 3 months. This was the time when people thought that the whole team (Colombo Comedy Central now known as Comedy Land) was doomed and thought there would be no comeback. It was like a plane crash that resulted in utter destruction, with the remains of only nuts and bolts to be found. Sathees and I were struggling to get shows as there were no shows at all. So we thought, why wait for opportunities? Let us create opportunities instead. Let us connect our nuts and bolts and start rebuilding the aircraft again. That is how we ended up creating this once again.

REASON BEHIND THE NAME AND HOW IT CONNECTS TO THE COMPANY? We were the residual nuts and bolts of the crashed aircraft. In order to get it back on air, we started working. On the 2nd of September 2023, we had our first show OOOPS with Taniya Lewwanduwage, Yoshan Perera, Sathees Nadesan and me (Ravindu Amendra). Sathees and I had no clue about event management but we did have faith. I designed the flyers and Sathees managed all of the operations. Until the 01st of September 2023, we only had 10 tickets sold. We had to decide to either cancel or go ahead. We love our art. We especially respect whoever has registered. So we decided to carry on with the show regardless of the count of audience members. Ten or one, we were going to perform our best. With that faith and immense pressure, we went ahead with the show. Would you believe that on the event day, amidst heavy rain, we had a crowd of 65 people? This was a blessing to us. Till now, we have been so grateful for every one.  

Thereafter, we approached our main guru, the King of Sinhala Stand-up Comedy, Hasalaka Thushara, with our show management idea. Without a second thought, he agreed to work with us. For the very first time in Sri Lankan Stand-up comedy history, we produced a Sinhala comedy special called “La Makalo Kay”. This was written and performed by Hasalaka Thushara and hosted by Sathees (Bolt) and I (Ravindu, Nut). There was also a special musical parody performance by Shanaka Senanayake.

On the 11th of November 2023, at BMICH, La Makalo Kay attained success with a full house of 330 people. We are humbled to say that our show, La Makalo Kay, has successfully completed 4 back to back shows in November, December, January and February. They were not only hosted in Colombo but also, in Kandy and Galle. Speaking of success, we must also mention Modabhimanaya 4.0, which was successfully conducted on the 1st of April 2024, with a whopping audience of 700 people. We came back with a brand new style, defeating the thoughts of people with the notion that we would never recover. Hence, the Plane started soaring in the sky with Nut & Bolt.  

OUT OF ALL THE COMEDIANS IN SRI LANKA, WHO HAS REALLY INSPIRED YOU AND WHO DO YOU FEEL HAS INTERNATIONAL POTENTIAL?  

Hands down, it is Hasalaka Thushara, who is insanely hilarious and at the same time provokes your thoughts on matters on never seen brain wrecking points of view. He will punch you with his lines where you will be falling off your seats and at the same time, he will manage to change your thoughts smoothly. He is a full package of rich content, delightful delivery and above all, pierces your mind like a bullet. Sathees and I are blessed to work with him. I must mention that his generosity in sharing knowledge is admirable. We thoroughly believe that he will soon hit the international audience, which is one of our goals to take our SL Stand-Up comedy to the international stages with him.

FUTURE EVENTS FOR YOU?

We are happy to announce that LA Makalo KAY will be back with a performance in Dubai on the 12th of May 2024 and in Australia on June 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd at Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Also Sri Lanka’s grandest English Stand-Up comedy “Colombo Comedy Carnival” will be held on the 22nd of May 2024.