Show Time

The lane near ABC Farms was jammed with cars waiting for parking space, patiently. None of them blew horns or shouted at the car in front — an unusual thing to witness in the city — but maybe, it was the event at High Spirtis that night that called for such behaviour. Perhaps, those in the car were rehearsing in their heads for the talent show at the first Open Mind night at the venue.

After registering at the reception, the participants made their way through the audience and stood around waiting for their names to be announced by the MCs. The show kicked off at 9 pm, with an array of performances ranging from stand-up comedy to singing and musical instrumentals. Some participants were cheered on with endless hooting while others had the audience taking a break to go over to the bar to refill their drinks. The audience was amused by some performances and disinterested in others, but nonetheless, they hooted and cheered on in varying degrees.

A participant came on the stage with a rather unprepared stand-up comedy act. He struggled with his jokes, but eventually landed some funny punches. Another participant came on to the stage with his guitar and sang a romantic ballad fit for the relaxed ambience and the chilly weather. The show-stealers, however, were the MadPoi brothers who thrilled the audience as they played with fire on the stage. The first of the three brothers came on the stage with two long ropes in his hands. At the end of the ropes were glass-like objects that were set on fire. He swirled and whirled the ropes in rhythm with the trance music being played in the background. As he finished his piece, the second brother came with a long stick ignited at both ends. He left the audience wide-eyed in awe. After his piece, he called two girls from the audience to blow out the fire, which they could only do successfully after three-four big puffs. As the third brother came on to the stage, the audience's expectation was raised to a level where they thought it couldn't get more fantastic, but he was all set to have them jump off their seats. He came in with two short chains with a ball at the end, which was ignited. He performed stunts that made it look like as if the balls were unattached to his hands and he had some magical control over them. He threw them up in the air, almost caught them back before throwing them in another direction, all in sync with the psychedelic electronic music that he chose for the performance.

... contd.

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