New Web Series Better Life Foundation Is All About Deadpan Humour

Fans of the popular TV show, The Office? Then, you might just love Better Life Foundation, a new web series by the Bangalore-based comedy collective and Youtube channel, Them Boxer Shorts.

I love spending time online checking out fun videos. In fact, I could really make a job out of it. But for every funny-not-funny video I come across on the world wide web, there are a few that do manage to keep me going. Enter the all-new web series, Better Life Foundation. Revolving around a fictional Mumbai-based NGO {of the same name}, the mockumentary was created by Them Boxer Shorts, a YouTube channel by four city-based artistes – Naveen Richard, Mani Prasad, Aravind Anil Kumar and Rahul Hota. With two episodes of the series already out, the cast includes comedy artistes, Naveen, Sumukhi Suresh, Kanan Gill and Utsav Chakraborty, among others. Going by the great response the series seems to be getting {over 1 lakh views on their first episode within two weeks apparently}, I decided to check out what the fuss was all about.

With a format similar to the popular sitcom, The Office {think single camera setup and dry humour}, I see why it is so appealing. With a bunch of fresh characters and situations apparently inspired from real life scenarios, this one stands out among the recent spate of web series. Three minutes into the first episode, I was introduced to the sincere, do-gooder, Neil Menon {Naveen Richard}, the ever-businesslike programme head, Sumukhi {Sumukhi Suresh} and {my favourite of the lot} the crazy but earnest operations head, Jerry {Utsav Chakraborty}, among others. By the time comedian, Kanan Gill made an entrance {as a volunteer who joins the group as part of his community service}, curiosity had me loading the second video on another tab already.

While the first episode is a tad long, the second one got it quite right and was funnier, too. Don’t expect situations that will make you laugh out loud. Sticking to a more deadpan approach, this one’s all about portraying normalcy that we can all relate to {even with an NGO backdrop}. Be it Neil’s endless attempts at getting his signature right on cheques and documents {I feel his pain!} to the team’s laments about the slow internet connectivity, it all seems familiar in some ways. And, that’s where the humour lies, too. Plus, decent production values and acting chops on display. I can’t wait for episode 3 to arrive soon.

Watch the first episode of the series here, and the second episode here.

Check out their Youtube channel here.

Find Them Boxer Shorts on Facebook here.