Kenny Sebastian’s Netflix debut with his stand-up special ‘The Most Interesting Person in The Room’ takes on everything between chappals, tall guys and classism, and with some good music too.
Often accompanied by a guitar on his ‘Chai Time’ sets available on YouTube, Sebastian, in his first solo Netflix Original comedy special, included a harmonium to somewhat give the experience of a fusion concert to the audience.
He starts his bit by telling about his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya, and how the CBSE curriculum was a sad and awful trauma (which reminds us of his YouTube stand-up video on CBSE). He talks about how in his school, Music and Art periods were compulsory, and the irony was that the Music and Art teachers were more strict than his Maths teacher.
He mentions that his father was an alumnus of IIT Kanpur, and he himself has a fine arts degree in painting and sculpture. When the crowd cheers for him on this, he says, “Don’t patronise me.” He says, in India, it is a disappointment in society and that is what connects us as Indians. ‘That is failed expectations’.
He tells how in school they used to ask us to play the guitar, and he did that. They said, “Don’t draw and sketch in class,” and he got a four-year degree. In school, they said don’t make jokes, and he says “I was like, I did it off.” He saied he gravitates towards things that are useless. And so do we, every one of us loves things that are useless.
The one thing that unites us all, he says, is failed expectations. Be it a gag about an (ugly) ostrich that not only cannot fly, but also cannot be the fastest on land, or a chappal with dreams of being a fancy footwear.
He ends the special with a commentary on how lazy indie music is getting. He mockingly strums acoustic single chord notes with soft vocals. Without naming anyone, he says, “It is just about musicians who think they are creating art, but it’s really just substandard music.”
Sebastian, with his subtle and sarcastic comedy, attracts everyone.
Netflix in its endeavour to add comedy specials to its catalogue roped in Kenny Sebastian. A well-known artist in the Indian comedy circuit, Sebastian began with his trending YouTube series. Sebastian, with his subtle and sarcastic comedy, attracts everyone.
Being an ex-Kvian, I could relate to a lot of his experiences, such as about the music and art teachers in Kendriya Vidyalayas, where we made only one drawing in our entire school days and the only instrument music teachers preferred was harmonium.