Neel Kolhatkar is a young and new Australian comedian. Stand-up comedy is a difficult gig to break into – you’ve got to be fresh, and interesting, and possibly a bit edgy, and most of all you’ve got to be funny. It also helps if your jokes are unique.
Neel Kolhatkar has got a lot of work to do. His jokes were very hit and miss, and it was as if he’d read “How To Be A Stand-Up Comedian For Dummies” and just followed the check-list in the back of all the things a stand-up comic should include in their standard set. His material felt a bit dated: he talked about rap videos and commercials for cologne, and he began a lot of jokes with the old stand-bys of stand-up – “So, what’s up with [insert reference]?” or “How crazy are [insert reference]?” or “So, I was watching TV the other day and….” For other comedians, those would be alright, but with Kolhatkar it just felt a bit forced and artificial. Kolhatkar certainly has the potential to do well, but his performance needs a great deal of polish.
WHAT: “Truth Be Told”
WHO: Neel Kolhatkar
WHERE: The Vault, Q Theatre
DATES: Nightly, Tuesday 28 April – Saturday 2 May. All shows start at 8.45pm.
DURATION: About one hour
COST: Adults $29.90; concessions $24.90; groups of 6+ $24.90. Bookings through Ticketmaster.27th April 2015
Michael Tarry
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