The Comedy Fraternity – The SaMachi Veedu

The Comedy Fraternity is made up of 5 British Tamils who are familiar faces on the London university scene, having hosted and performed in a number of student shows over the past six years. Made up of Prav, Anujen (a.k.a. "Local Hero"), Thiluxan, Ruban and Sujan, the ComFrat’s ambition is to make people laugh.

We featured their first video "The Rise of Sakmanathan" last month, and now they’re back with their second offering, entitled "The SaMachi Veedu".

In the video, the boys take a look at what a coming-of-age ceremony would be like for boys. For those of you who are not familiar with the concept, a girl is sometimes thrown a huge family party to celebrate her "coming of age". This ceremony stems from an age-old tradition, back from the days when child marriages would take place. The ceremony was a way for a family to inform others that their daughter was "ready" to be married. Whilst it has died out in some circles, for others, the coming-of-age ceremony is an important tradition that is still maintained today.

We spoke to ComFrat member, Anujen, about his thoughts on the coming-of-age ceremony, and why they wanted to make a video about it. "It’s an event unique to some Tamil communities but for a long time, you don’t really understand it. I remember when I went to my first one. I wasn’t really sure what was going on, I just remember seeing my cousin being all dressed up and my mum told me she had become a big girl," he laughs.

"Once I was older I understood what I was going on, and my first thought was ‘What do boys get?‘," he continues. "It’s one of those things that nobody says, but everybody thinks it!"

Of course, many girls feel awkward or embarrassed to be made such a fuss of for something that is just a natural stage of life, so…what would Anujen do for his daughter? "Hahaha, I don’t know. I mean, obviously I’d give her a choice as to whether she wants one…I wouldn’t just subject her to a day of embarrassing photos without letting her have her say. But I have a feeling my parents will be on my case!"

The group have a got a lot planned for the coming year including webisodes and even a few songs!

"We’ve got a few ideas together for character-based sketches, sort of Goodness Gracious Me-esque skits," says Anujen. "And we’re planning a few music videos, too. Some will be a ComFrat spin on a popular track, but we’re also writing and composing our own material. Plus, we’re planning on having some exciting guest artistes featuring in our videos too!"

It looks like there are a lot of exciting things in the pipline for ComFrat this year, and we can’t wait to see what they come up with next! Keep it locked on Thamarai.com for more news and updates about what this talented crew get up to!