Review: The Rishi Report Live by Rishi Budhrani

Bringing you hilarious ‘live’ coverage of the latest news.

In a year that has seen too much sad news plague our screens, it takes a certain special someone to lighten that mood by directly addressing those headlines – with humour and heart. That someone happens to be comedian Rishi Budhrani, who started his online video series The Rishi Report last April. But with live shows starting up again, he’s decided to go one step further, and bring The Rishi Report to the stage, live!

Similar to a variety show format, The Rishi Report pre-show begins with resident DJ Vishaal spinning music and our host Siraj, getting us in the mood for the evening ahead. As the lights dimmed, Rishi arrived onstage in a dapper suit ready to start the night off with his segment Headlines or Fake News. With great audience interaction that got the boisterous crowd all revved up, it was time to start the show proper.

While the content of each sketch varies wildly, from recent events that grabbed the headlines to touching on ‘iconic figures’ as unexpected as Bei-Bei, the ‘language change enabling cup’ from several important speeches, the quality is consistent throughout. There’s plenty of thought that’s gone into planning this show, with skits that were up to date and sharp with their satirical wit.

We will forever remember Lap Cheong Sum and Teh-O Songkok, not to mention the roving reporters as they surveyed how the public takes to the vaccines. The improv and interaction almost made us feel like we were on the set of SNL, all so well-executed.

Musical guests Jack and Rai were a welcome sight, and having not performed in front of a live audience for the last year, their performance showed how much they missed it, bringing us a song called “trace together”, much to the audience’s delight.

Later on, Jack and Rai joins joins host Rishi with other guests Haresh Tilani and Terence Chia from Ministry of Funny, it’s interesting how each two duo has been creating content together for the last 19 and 10 years respectively, and it shows in their strong chemistry throughout. In this segment, we get updates from both duos, what they are up to, how they are keeping up and how they’ll be celebrating the upcoming Lunar New Year. It’s heartening to hear that both are doing well: Jack and Rai are busy working on an F&B venture (The Flying Squirrel), while Ministry of Funny are preparing for a brand new show that’s set to premiere on the Vasantham channel soon.

With a quiz that involved both the audience and the guests, a spontaneous dance off between Haresh and Jack, and a final Jack and Rai song celebrating the Chinese New Year, The Rishi Report, suffice to say, has gotten off to a great start. The quality of the show is testament to how much heart, thought and hard work has gone into the writing and research, certainly a labour of love and passion. Ladies and Gentlemen, The Rishi Report is now LIVE!

The Rishi Report Live played at the Gateway Theatre Black Box on 6th February 2021 at 630pm and 9pm. More information available by following Rishi Budhrani on his website, Facebook and Instagram