Funny business: Briton seeks Indians for Comedy Store

MUMBAI: In 1979, Don Ward opened a small club in London to provide a stage for the best of Britain's undiscovered comic talent. After 30 successful years, he now wants to do the same in India.

Ward is taking The Comedy Store out of Britain for the first time, opening a branch in India's cosmopolitan entertainment capital Mumbai to give audiences a taste of the best of international stand-up and to foster home-grown talent.

"There's a tremendous comedy scene in the United Kingdom, which has just 60 million people," Ward told AFP by telephone from his London home. "India has 1.2 billion people. It's easy to do the math."