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Freddy 3: A New Hope – the machine is not racist

21 Oct 2018

‘Freddy 3: A New Hope’ had its opening night at the Lionel Wendt on 18 October. Written and directed by Feroze Kamardeen, the stand-up comedy show tailored specifically to Sri Lankan locals staged for the third time and luckily enough did not appear to have suffered the curse-of-the-threequel. It featured a fantastic line-up of six stand-up comics: Dino Corera and Ifaz Bin Jameel – whom the Freddy loving audiences are now used to – and a few new faces in Adin Mathitharan, Yasas Ratnayake, Nisal Katipearachchi, and Shannon Misso. Freddy, third time around, proved to be hilarious, engaging, and quite a bit sentimental. Speaking to some of the audience members, many were of the opinion that this was the best one they’ve seen yet. Mandira Fernando, who had watched the previous Freddy, said: “It was far better than last time. Not that the last one was bad but this time, there was an underlying message which was great.” The message was simple. The show, boasting a diverse cast of different genders, religions, and ethnicities had just one very important thing to say – they’re all 100% certified genuine Sri Lankan. The message was timely, sentimental, and necessary. The show had a pretty basic structure; each comic took the stage for a 30 minute set; each one carrying their own theme. Some took shots at the media, at certain schools, and in true Freddy fashion, at varying politicians, all in the name of comedy. There was also an accompanying musical number for each comedian; even the ones who weren’t particularly strong singers had a go – though they weren’t many, considering every single one belted out fun little musical sets with little to no effort. Shanya and Shavinka Ratnayake who were there to support their good friend “Kate” aka Nisal Katipearachchi, wanted to give a quick shout out to their beloved Kate “for his first time, he did a great job. We’re very proud of him,” adding “the show overall was better than we expected”. If you’ve ever been to one of these shows, or if you’ve seen any of the sets online, you’re probably familiar with the general tone of Feroze’s show and while it is familiar and actually almost always hilarious, it has a tendency to get a little stale. Every comedian, pretty much adopted that similar tone, and if one was asked to take a shot every time you heard someone use “men” at the end of a sentence, “yes men”, “no men”, what are you talking about men”, you’d leave the show catatonic. Sri Lankan aunty and uncle talk is all good and well but accompanied by that same tone, it’s a bit much, but this is a nitpicky gripe at best and it didn’t take away from the show all that much. The sixth and final set of the show felt like it was a set too long, unfortunately for Yasas Ratnayake, who was left with the final set. The subject matter was amusing but it felt like they could’ve reined it in. The comics individually delivered solid performances and Adin’s set was a particular stand out. It was a strange mix of hilarious and emotional, and you’d definitely feel evil for laughing at most of the jokes he cracks. We also see Freddy’s first female cast member Shannon Misso, who made the obligatory feminist remarks; but it was entertaining and had most of the males in the audience dutifully applauding and the women feeling very, very proud. Overall, ‘Freddy 3: A New Hope’ was a solid show, cleverly written, packed to the brim with killer performances and came complete with a timely and uplifting social reminder. Also, disclaimer: The show starts on time; if you stick to Sri Lankan standard time and choose to be fashionably late, then please note – you’ve been warned. ‘Freddy 3: A New Hope’ runs 18-23 October from 7 p.m. at the Lionel Wendt. By Dimithri Wijesinghe @justmesrilankan  

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Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!


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