Laugh out loud: Watch this puppet show with your children in Navi Mumbai this weekend

Natekar (centre) interacts with children following a previous show at the venue in 2023

There's no sweeter sound than a child's laughter. But getting a child to laugh? Now that's a tough one to crack. Your most polished and practised punchlines might fall with a thud in a room full of kids only for you to find them snorting and rolling on the floor howling about a goofy sound effect they heard somewhere. Vinay Natekar, a ventriloquist and stand-up comedian from Belapur would know. Having cracked the code to making these young critics chuckle with his friendly puppets and their absurd escapades, Natekar makes his way to Vashi this weekend for an engaging storytelling performance crafted specially for young audiences.

"You need to toss all the complex joke structures you know in the bin and strip a joke down to its simplest form to make a child laugh," Natekar shares as a thumb rule that he discovered, admittedly, a tad too late. "I began with performances for adults in private shows, and my jokes did well most times. Things changed in 2017 when I was invited to perform at a child's birthday party and I tried my usual set. A deafening silence ensued, joke after joke," he laughs, adding that although the incident was embarrassing at first, it put him on a path to write comedy for children. For the 30-year-old, that meant turning to ventriloquists like Vighnesh Pande and Jeff Dunham in 2018 to study the art form.

Vinay Natekar

Today, Natekar's troupe consists of Bunny, Cuckoo, Teddy, and Genie - his four helper puppets. The foam puppet quartet have been crafted and imported from the USA. They set the premise and deliver the punchlines for him. We learn that the overarching narrative in the hour-long performance revolves around Bunny fighting against Teddy and Cuckoo for dibs over a magic lamp that holds a witty genie. When the spotlight's on Bunny, expect some unfiltered jabs and pranks. "Bunny is easily the most loved character across shows. Children love interacting with him during and after the show and he often indulges in some playful leg-pulling and pranks with the mischievous ones from the audience," the artiste reveals.

For us, however, the highlight of this conversation is the revelation of Cuckoo's official name. ‘Cuckoo Hyderabadwala', Natekar states in an almost Bond-esque tone. "She brings the distinct dialect of Hyderabad with her to the performance which gives the story an Indian touch," he adds. If Natekar's characters sound silly to you, that might just be the reason your jokes haven't exactly been the life of the party lately. "We often overthink and overwrite jokes. The funniest moments on stage arise from what were once the silliest sounding ideas. You don't have to build on layers or inject subtle messaging in jokes for them to work," he notes.

To that end, the artiste reveals that the performance is two hours of pure entertainment. "I set clear boundaries in my mind while writing the show to not make it sound too preachy or like a lecture in moral science. The kids have just entered the holiday season; it would be cruel to invite them to the performance and end up sounding like their teacher," he laughs.

ON April 7; 11 am
AT Vishnudas Bhave Natyagruha, Sector 16, Vashi, Navi Mumbai. AGE GROUP 7 years and above
LOG ON TO in.bookmyshow.com
ENTRY Rs 100 onwards