Brad Sherwood & Colin Mochrie get their lines right anyway

Yes, they actually do it live, with no retakes. For those who’ve grown up watching Whose Line is it Anyway? , Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood of the acclaimed comedy show kept a packed house in splits at the Maurya. The duo, who love to dismiss those who doubt their ability to ad lib as a bunch of “ bastards”, were here on Sunday night as part of a ‘ Relax and Unwind’ five- city tour organised by the whisky brand Black Dog.

The entry to this house- full event was by invitation only and the front row had sports minister M. S. Gill, Rajya Sabha MP Satish Sharma and his wife Sterre, and the evening’s host Vijay Mallya, who came with his mother Lalitha Ramaiah. And they were rolling over with laughter.

It was an open bar before the event and the guests soaked in the spirits before heading to the performance area. They were chatty and whispers of “ I hope I’m not in for a disappointment”, or “ I know somebody’s cell will ring during the performance” or “ I can’t believe that they’re really here”, ensured that the decibel level was quite high.

True to their interactive style, they picked people from the audience and used their ‘ think words’ to spin comic tales. Starting with a dig at Delhi’s ‘ smooth’ traffic to the famous ‘ what is the crime game’, they did it all. Mochrie was the investigator in this game and Sherwood the confessor.

The audience, obviously in the mood to test the two, assigned Sherwood the tough task of confessing to the absurd crime of “ making love to a cat while robbing a sperm bank in Jhumri Talaiya with a vuvuzela and pogo sticks”. Jhumri Talaiya and vuvuzela stumped Sherwood ( and Mochrie, too) — naturally, because, as someone in the crowd shouted, “ they are American”. Sherwood did the impossible by getting Jh- um- ray Tea- layer right.

The show’s highlight was the impromptu rap number by Sherwood and Mochrie with fashion designer Nikhil Mehra as their muse.

Nikhil became MC Nikhil, as Sherwood rapped and Mochrie beatboxed. Before the act, the duo asked Mehra’s wife Vidushi ( she’s making her film debut as Sonam Kapoor’s screen sister in Aisha ) about what her husband likes to do when he’s alone.

She said he loved to clip his ear hair, which inspired Sherwood and Mochrie to dub Mehra the “ coolest man in town”. Talking to this correspondent before the show, Sherwood said he was keen on sight- seeing. “ We hope to stay on for a couple of days after the tour. My wife would like to see the Taj Mahal,” he said.