Getting on with gibberish

The new social media filter has everyone hooked. We get three stand up comics to give it a workout and share their experience

From Sonam Kapoor to Kriti Sanon, to more recently, Union Minister Smriti Irani, everyone seems to have tried their hand at the trending Augmented Reality (AR) Instagram filter, Guess the Gibberish. Throwing up phonetically similar phrases in gibberish, the filter makes you come up with the correct match for each. The phrases are often funny themselves and have left many users befuddled with the answers. After a few, whether you get the hang of it or not, you are hooked. You might also catch yourself uttering the gibberish out loud while the video records your uncanny expressions. We got three Mumbai-based comedians to test it out for us. Here's what they observed, jokes included.

Kajol Srinivasan

Initial thoughts
I absolutely HATE being part of social media challenges. And I saw loads of idiots doing this one, so I actually tried it to mock them on Twitter. I thought I would do a round to see how it works. Ten minutes later, I was 35 videos down. I put up many of them on my Insta story with a disclaimer 'I'm really bad at this'. And a resounding, 'Yes! you suck' is what I got.

Observation
Practice doesn't make it better. I tried everything, from logic to pronouncing everything like a character in a cheaply dubbed Kung Fu movie. Nothing works twice. The weird part is when you replay the video you can hear yourself saying the word without realising it.

Would I do it again?
Yes, I am going to do it again. For research purposes, after which I will make fun of all these idiots [including myself]. Stay tuned.

Nitin Mirani

Initial thoughts
I'm normally quite late to discover these trending filters and my response was a regular thought — Ab yeh kya aa gaya?

Observations
It is quite addictive but at the same time, it is a good exercise for the brain cells. Also, I do seem to have cracked it and have come up with the idea that if you do the gibberish challenge with a Chinese accent the chances of getting them right are quite high. Try it.

Why do it?
As a stand-up comic, I am always looking at creating content that is current and relatable, so trying it out did add to my list of jokes. Also, by mastering gibberish I'm pretty sure that if I ever get to meet Donald Trump, I will be able to understand everything he's saying.

Would I do it again?
Why not? Besides, I'm getting pretty bored of the Which Disney Character are you quiz? How can I be Princess Jasmine every time?

Abbas Momin

Initial thoughts
I thought it was fun. Unlike other Insta filters that randomise and assign you characters from Disney films or the Harry Potter series, this one actually had a set-up and pay-off format.

Observation
Initially I thought it was a filter for phrases and lingo used by millennials, like Cinnamon Challenge, but very soon I started getting 'gibberised' versions of normal phrases like, A sight for sore eyes [ace height force oar eyes], popular lines from sitcoms like That's what she said [tad swat cheese head] and ad slogans like Just do it [chest who wit]. What I did observe was that some gibberish was phonetically closer to the phrases than others, which makes me think that there's a team of people breaking down these phrases looking at them from different angles to come up with the gibberish versions. As expected, the younger crowds who are more clued in to popular culture seem to be doing better at this than older folks. Also, when you don't get the gibberish correct for a simple phrase it's great fodder for comedic improvisation.

Why do it?
I saw it on a friend's Insta story, thought it was fun and wanted to give it a try. It's the digital version of Word of mouth.

Would I do it again?
I can't really say. The charm wore off after the first 10 times. At the heart of it, the filter is essentially a one-trick pony, and unless the developers add hundreds of new phrases every day the game can get repetitive. Then again, with everyone locked in and endlessly scrolling and tapping away on their phone screens, I might just end up deciphering gibberish on my forehead again very soon.

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