Whose line is it anyway? Here’s the answer

They are a laugh riot and as far as their Indian connect is concerned, they totally dig Indian spicy food and love performing in India. Famed comedians - Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood from Whose Line Is It Anyway, performed recently at a club in Gurgaon. We spoke to them about their second India Tour, and they answered in their own inimitable style .

You both are back in India after a gap of six years. What took you so long?
Brad: Colin was in jail so we had to wait before he got back from prison.
Colin: We haven’t been here for six years. It took a while. All I had was a spoon and some colas.

You performed in Hyderabad and Mumbai before taking to stage in Gurgaon. How was the experience? Any stand out moments?
Colin: Yes, both shows were great. Audiences were lovely. We had a really good time. We managed to celebrate Holi. That was fun. We’ve been having a really good trip.
Brad: We hardly remember any moments from the show because we were too busy trying to figure out what the heck we were doing. It’s only afterwards when someone said, ‘Oh yeah! You were a fireman and you were a rabbit monkey.’

Have you had a chance to explore the places you performed at?
Colin: We went to Qutub Minar where there are giant bricks. After Gurgaon, we’ll go to Bengaluru, where we will see a couple of more places and that’s where we finish our tour.

You both have been doing Improv comedy for several years now. How has the journey been?
Colin: When we started doing Improv, It was still an unknown art form. There weren’t many people doing it. A thing called Theatresports was developed in the 80’s. Then when Whose Line happened. That really got Improv into the mainstream consciousness. We started to tour 13 years ago. We went on road to see if it was something we enjoyed doing. Every year has just gotten better.
Brad: I have had fun for the last 20 years teaching Colin how to do Improv.

You two are a riot on stage. How do you keep the bromance alive and the synergy intact?
Colin: We’ve never felt comfortable talking about our bromance. He’s more like the young and annoying brother. I am more like the sensible one who is trying to teach him the error of his ways. We do a lot of cuddling.
Brad: Yes, on cold Delhi nights. It’s more like a family thing. We feel more related than a bromance. We are more like actual brothers.

What are your views on the Stand-up comedy scene in India?
Colin: We spoke to some improvisers and stand-ups around town. We haven’t had the chance to see many of them perform. We realised it’s a very young art form in India. These things take time. Like anything, it takes time to grow. We were here six years ago, after that the comedy scene just exploded. We are taking total credit for every bit of comedy India has right now.
Brad: We would like to be considered grandfathers of comedy here in this country. Someday there will be large comedy festivals that we will headline and people will come and laugh with us.

Do you make a conscious effort to make your show more local when performing for an Indian audience?
Brad: We don’t do anything to adapt. The only adaptation we do is we talk to Indian fans in the audience and get their suggestions. That will influence the show the most. Our show is fairly clean, as far as it’s not offensive.
Colin: It’s all on the spot. We may look at a newspaper just to catch up on what’s happening in the world. We may or may not use it that night. We don’t make a conscious effort to make the show more local.

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