Rant and rave: Rishi Budhrani and Sharul Channa

SINGAPORE — You’ve probably seen them do their separate comedy routines at various venues in Singapore, but Rishi Budhrani and Sharul Channa have now decided that two jokers are better than one — especially if they’re husband and wife.

The real-life comedy couple previously acted together in HuM Theatre’s Rafta Rafta and We Are Like This Only!, but The Rishi & Sharul Show, which opens tonight, marks the first time they’ll be doing stand-up comedy together.

“Our individual careers have been pretty exciting in the past few years. But a lot of people who would see us go on one after the other at comedy clubs would always ask if we were ever going to be on stage together,” said Budhrani, who added they plan to make this an annual show around the Valentine’s Day period.

The duo will be presenting stand-up and sketch comedy pieces on, you guessed it, love, marriage and their relationship.

So what’s it like for two comedians to live under one roof? “Everything is up for grabs as material. So even our arguments end with, ‘Okay, so who’s gonna do this bit on stage?” he quipped.

Which, of course, begs the question: Who’s funnier?

“My friends think she’s funnier. Her friends think I’m funnier. But our families think Kumar is funnier,” he said.

RANTS

SHARUL ON ‘FACEBOOK DELIVERY’. Nothing irritates me more than people who go on Facebook and ask, “Is anyone travelling from (insert city here)?” Who is going to waste their baggage weight on an unidentified parcel that you could not be bothered to get shipped or collect yourself?

SHARUL ON INSTANT WHATSAPP REPLIES. I cannot stand those who have seen that you have seen their message and demand an answer immediately. If I haven’t replied it means a) I’m busy or b) you’re not important enough at that moment. This is equivalent to having someone stare at you from across the room, expecting you to respond. Stop being a WhatsApp stalker!

RISHI ON EXERCISING. I’m at a phase where I am trying to get back to my work-out routine. But I haven’t exercised in a long time that my body is not agreeing to re-start my a workout routine. The other day, I tried doing a pull-up and my arms started trembling. Then I realised that it was my arms laughing at the prospect of pulling the rest of my body up.

RISHI ON CAULIFLOWER AND BROCCOLI. I love my vegetables. But I can only do leaves. Or stalks. Or shoots. Or roots. Or fruit. I just can’t do flowers. Unless it’s on a cake. Full of sugar.

RAVES

SHARUL ON EYE CONTACT WITH STRANGERS. I love having a moment with strangers while waiting at the bus stop. You know, that moment when a bus stops in front of you, and you make eye contact with someone who happens to be good-looking. Time freezes for a moment and you can only imagine they are listening to James Blunt’s You’re Beautiful while they look at you.

RISHI ON HIS FRIENDS. They keep me grounded and remind me of a simpler time in life. Showbiz can get lonely and complicated, but they never fail to remind me that I was nothing but a flabby, funny, footballer from the blocks of Bedok South.

RISHI AND SHARUL ON COMEDY. We love comedy, we love the theatre, and we love going for massages. We enjoy tickling people’s funny bones, but we also love it when a masseuse can tickle ours.

The Rishi & Sharul Show runs until Feb 14, 8pm, Goodman Arts Centre Black Box. With a 4pm matinee on Saturday. Tickets at S$35 from http://rishiandsharul.peatix.com/. You can also catch them (separately) at Moshi Moshi Bollywood’s Gypsy Comedy Singapore at Cuppage Plaza; The Comedy Club Asia at The Blu Jaz Cafe at Bali Lane or at Comedy Masala at Hero’s along Boat Quay.