In ‘Karma’, comedian Rayen Panday wonders how he became an adulterer, and whether he is a good person.

Karma is a word that is often used loosely, says Rayen Panday (40). Karma. For a Hindu like Panday, however, the concept has a clear meaning: it is not up to humanity itself to judge our actions. That belongs to a higher power, the universe, or if you believe in it: to god. At the end of the journey it will be known whether you have done well and have been reborn into a better or worse life.

In his seventh solo show, the Comedytrain member wonders about his own karma. Would he be on the right path and be judged well at the end of his life? Panday sees that one must act righteously as a clear instruction from his religion, but he sees how words and thoughts will be measured in a more obscure area, which he finds in himself. Karma it investigates. It results in a performance that is exciting and funny at times, but not entirely convincing.

A stuck relationship

Panday’s reason for introspection is a recent failed relationship. Panday exchanged lewd messages with another person, he says, without being physical. He and his ex agree that it is completely unacceptable. But Panday thinks that it is a difficult question especially how bad it was. It’s about privacy, but Panday deftly frames it in a broader moral dilemma that excites and intrigues everyone: what weight do words carry?

Panday achieves this by looking honestly in the mirror. “There is so much violence these days that there is no room for criminals anymore,” says Panday. “I have to take responsibility.” He puts his words into action and that makes the viewer go along and feel his story. In Panday you see a man who struggles in life and sometimes stumbles. He occasionally provides comic relief, for example when he says self-deprecatingly about his mistake: “We both agreed that the evidence was obtained illegally…”

The parts where Panday transitions into stories with supposedly high-quality joke density. He is a stand-up guy, but topics like the monkey Bokito, who escaped a long time ago, Roy Donders’ home suits and the TV show. Driving judge they are so worn that little respect can be gained from them. His attempt to tackle the ‘bad joke’ theme also remains tiresome.

Through a reflection of his own age (am I not at the halfway mark already?) he ends up with his director Wimie Wilhelm, who recently died too young. Fear is pointless because ultimately the universe decides our destiny, Panday concludes. He congratulates Wilhelm and ends with a song for him. He sings lyrics that are often sung, but honestly they are spot on.

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