‘Vir Das: Fool Volume’ shows stand-up comedy performances across three major cities in the world: London, Mumbai, and New York. This is a show that Vir Das wrote in silence. Vir mentioned he lost his voice while writing the show and had to go through several sessions with the therapist. He is truly the one Indian stand-up comedian who has a global voice. So, just make the noise you want to be remembered for and he just does it perfectly.
It’s very true when he says that there is this post-colonial resentment of the English language among the Indian masses. We equate English with privilege. Vir Das rightly says in one of the shows, “If you speak in English, then you are often called that Vir Das is not relatable, but then neither was Oppenheimer.”
Truly there is a common observation in India that if your English is bad, you will often be judged and be labelled as classless, but if your English is good, you will be called privileged or elitist. You will be called, “You sound privileged, not relatable.”
The best thing about Vir Das is that,unlike today’s younger stand-up comedians, each of his shows is well-researched and sharp, and most importantly, it is connected to the present-day situations and socio-political news happening around us.
But one thing that Vir mentioned and I totally agree with is that today’s generation of kids are outspoken, not silent. They voice their opinions without any fear. His observation of the world for today’s generation is also hilariously true when he says how the world has all of a sudden become vertical and when his nephew says, “Vir mama (uncle), the world has changed; life is vertical.”
Truly, as he mentions, new generation guys are obsessed with identity, not personality. One thing is true: when he said that during our younger days, when we complained about anxiety to our parents and teachers, we were asked to do jumping jacks. And anxiety would just jump out of the body. Truly, we didn’t have the luxury of visiting a therapist.
Netflix stand-up special Vir Das: Fool Volume touches upon several current issues, including religion, privilege, patriotis and the obsession of speaking in Marathi in Mumbai. This man is truly ahead of his time.
Rating: 3 and half out of 5
WATCH the trailer of ‘Vir Das: Fool Volume’ here: