Cross-cultural cocktail

Comedy duo JordIndian says everything is grist to their humour mill

- NIRMAL JOVIAL

In ‘Basti Bounce’, a groovy single released by Bengaluru-based hip-hop star Brodha V on January 11, the comedy duo JordIndian (comprising Vineeth ‘Beep’ Kumar and Nasser Al Azzeh aka Nas) features in a colourful street fight. The song, powered by Brodha V’s amazing lyrical prowess and JordIndian’s hilarious acts and dance moves, has already got over 23 lakh views on YouTube. The duo’s quirky and relatable comedy sketches, often delivered in Indian and Arab accents, are inspired by the streets, their surroundings and the people they know. Over the last six years, they have created a unique fandom, with over 27.5 lakh followers and 5.5 crore views on YouTube alone.

“Two friends, one from Jordan and the other from India, came together and said, ‘Hey... Let’s make some videos’. Hence the journey of JordIndian began,”—that is how they describe their origin on their YouTube bio. But there are backstories that go back to the late 1980s. “My dad is a Jordanian with a Palestinian bloodline. And my mom is Indian,” says Nas. “My dad studied in Bengaluru, and my mom grew up there. They met through mutual friends. I was born [in the Middle East]. We were in Kuwait at that time. With the war going on in 1990, we had to move. We went to Jordan for a while, and then came back to Bengaluru. So, I am half-Jordanian. And that explains the Jord part of JordIndian.” The two were batch-mates in senior secondary school in the late 2000s, and they bonded over a joke by Canadian stand-up comedian Russell Peters. According to one version of the story, Nas was explaining a joke to a friend, and Kumar eavesdropped on the conversation and gate-crashed into it. They soon realised that they were from the same neighbourhood, too.