The Khawatoons celebrate third anniversary with a hilarious improv show

Karachi : South Asia’s first all-female comedy group, The Khawatoons, completed three years this July and celebrated the occasion with an improv show. With a duration of one hour and forty five minutes, the show took place on Friday (July 26) at Pakistani American Cultural Centre (PACC) in Karachi. Featuring eight female comedians, it was a laugh riot that entertained attendees of varied age groups, followed by a cake cutting ceremony.The Khawatoons was founded in 2016 by actor, comedian and host Faiza Saleem, who brought together girls from different backgrounds and trained them for six months before putting up their first show. So far, the troupe has performed in various cities of Pakistan including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rahim Yar Khan and Topi. They have gotten both national and international recognition, from BBC to the Times of India, in addition to local publications. Coming back to the recent anniversary special, it was full house and comprised multiple segments/games that were first explained to attendees who gave their suggestions to carry them forward. Host for the evening, Sara Ashraf, set the tone for what was awaiting the audience; she was smart, she was confident and above all, she kept the energy high throughout. Among the performers, the very dynamic Amtul Baweja, the spontaneous Faiza Saleem and the wittiest Natalia Gul stole the limelight, leaving everyone in fits of laughter, while Jaweria Khan, Shanzeh Ishtiaq, Sana Khan and Zemal Amin made for some good laughs. A major plus about the show that needs special mention is that the troupe chose not to be politically incorrect and avoided making jokes surrounding sensitive issues such as sexual harassment, despite suggestions from the audience. In present times where most comedians base their content on sexist jokes, body shaming and other inappropriate topics that exist in our society [and used as fodder for cheap one-liners], the Khawatoons deserve a pat on their back for refraining from such isssues. As founder of the troupe, Faiza Saleem, put it while speaking to Instep after the show, “Since we are an all-female group, we are often told we play the gender card to bring people to our shows and we come under more scrutiny than anyone else. Hence, we make sure we don’t attack anyone’s religious or political views and we refrain from classist, racist, body shaming jokes. However, there is a slight touch of that at times that comes naturally as comedy plays on the tragedies of human life.” With nine members in the team at present, The Khawatoons have come a long way despite the challenges they have faced being an all-female group. When I attended their improv show in 2016, I wasn’t too impressed but what they delivered in their recent performance was commendable and showed just how much they have evolved. Reflecting on other challenges over the last three years, Faiza informed that it was very difficult to find girls to join the group. “I looked for them at different places like theatre, get-togethers and other platforms and chose the ones I found potential in. It was a challenge to keep a balance between friendship with them and taking on the role of their boss to maintain the discipline. We have travelled together for so many shows and it is a delight to see young, enthusiastic girls coming on board.” Faiza also pointed out that there is a misconception about them that they only perform to female audiences, which isn’t true. They do have ladies’ nights to provide a safe space to women who aren’t comfortable around men but they perform for a mixed audience too. “We have put up a lot of corporate shows with leading brands lately. We do short-form improv and plan to continue with that for at least the next two years, alongside a bit of long-form improv that has different dynamics,” she explained, speaking of their future plans. Faiza added that she wishes to make the shows bigger and expand to more cities of Pakistan such as Hyderabad and also outside the country.

from The News International - Instep Today https://ift.tt/2LOrpoP