The show originally intended to be held in July had to be postponed to September as most of the content of all four artists had to be re-written following the Easter Attacks in April of 2019.
Gehan Blok, Dino Corera, Dominic Keller and Pasan Ranaweera, four of the most talented artists in Sri Lanka, balled up into one show, making Politically Incorrect an absolute masterpiece.
The show directed by Gehan Blok and produced by Dino Corera was held at the Lionel Wendt theatre recently. The standup comedy plays on your sensibilities and preys on your sensitivities and was a first for Sri Lanka in speaking openly about race, religion, sexuality and most certainly… politics and each performer presented their own views on the country’s current state.
The show originally intended to be held in July had to be postponed to September as most of the content of all four artists had to be re-written following the Easter Attacks in April of 2019. The show aimed at speaking of things you would generally think about but not say out loud and did they say them out good!
Pasan Ranaweera in his first ever performance in stand-up comedy, electrified the audience in his delivery of lines which will go down as be iconic in Sri Lankan stand-up comedy. His performance piece was scripted with much fluidity which had the audience craving for more. In a 30 minute segment, Pasan launched the show into the stars with deliveries you would never have heard in a Sri Lankan production. The renowned actor is a force to be reckoned with in the stand up game. Pasan is a dubbing and voice over artist who has gained a massive following and love specifically for his portrayal of Cyril Nitharama suffering in the famed Pusswedilla franchise.
The second performer for the night, Dominic Kellar… a household name following his years of performing in Pusswedilla as H.G.H.E. Chaminda Pusswedilla himself, did not disappoint in his skit. Kellar’s performance consisted of jokes of his personal life experiences and most notably quips aimed at his brother Daniel which also incorporated certain jokes of the country, in a performance that represented himself entirely...Warm-hearted yet witty. Dominic has been part of many productions in his lifetime including the renowned Workshop Players theatre group as well and is known for his role in a great deal of popular Sri Lankan commercials.
Following the intermission, the show returned to another veteran standup comedian and one-half of the YouTube sensations Blok and Dino, the ever so poised Dino Corera. Dino’s performance was perhaps the most difficult to pull off as much of the comedy centered on intellectual/brainbox pieces. Nevertheless, his performance was executed well and garnered more commendation from the senior crowd at the Wendt, on all days of the show. Corera spoke specifically more on politics than personal experiences and scripted his lines in a rather smooth manner and showed the crowd why the show was one you did not want to miss out on. The final performance saw the director of the production himself, the other half of the YouTube sensations Blok and Dino and crowd favorite Gehan Blok, take the stage for the most politically incorrect performance of the night. Blok broke through on Facebook and YouTube on his performance on Freddy which was directed by Feroze Kamardeen (Pusswedilla), where he garnered a massive following from his skits dissing many local schools in many amusing performances. Blok started off his performance piece during the show speaking about a few schools for the first few minutes and then went on to show that his stand-up game was more than just school humour. Gehan’s skit revolved around much of his personal experiences in the country and overseas which was extremely sensitive but at the same time immensely funny and had the audiences constantly cracking up. Gehan is actor, director, voice artist and writer and has been part of many Sri Lankan theatre productions including Les Miserable by the Workshop Players in 2015, in which he played Inspector Javert.
This stand up special was not just a poke and prod at national incidences, but had a much deeper meaning to it through on an intellectual level leaving audiences to think more before making decisions regarding the future of the island. Many of the performances ended with a bigger and stronger message.
Many also believe that the show was necessary and well timed, considering everything that has occurred during the last year, and we couldn’t have agreed more as thousands gathered together, laughed and loved the humour and left with something to think about and a greater capacity to understand.