Noby Marcose has become a popular figure among Keralites thanks to his comedy acts in various shows and movies. He stands apart from other comic actors with his unique smile and style of dialogue delivery. In fact, any conversation involving Noby elicits a chuckle among viewers.
With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing people to stay indoors and avoid travelling, one would naturally ask Noby for his opinion on the situation. Sporting his trademark smile, Noby replies, “No, I don’t miss the journeys.”
One would wonder why Noby is not in despair as he cannot travel. However, the actor has a ready explanation. “I have visited several countries for programmes and shows. While everyone else would go out and visit the nearby attractions whenever there is a break, I remain in my hotel room. In fact, that’s what I love. However, if my friends compel me, I accompany them to some places,” says the comedian.
Noby also shares an interesting incident involving noted actor Biju Menon in California.
The California trip
Once, Noby was part of a team of artistes who travelled to California and Miami in the US for some shows. Other celebrities in the team included Biju Menon, Shafi, Adimaly Biju and Rajesh Paravoor. “One day, we had some free time and everyone decided to visit Beverly Hills, the famous film city in California. However, Biju Menon said that he was not in the mood to spend time outdoors and preferred to stay in his room. I was so happy to hear that and said that I too would give company to Biju Menon in the hotel room,” recalls Noby.
When Noby said that he would stay in the room with Biju Menon, Binu and Rajesh too decided to cancel their trip to Beverly Hills. “So we all four remained in Biju Menon’s room. Then Shafi came there fully dressed but when he learnt that we four were not going out, he also decided to join us,” adds Noby.
The remaining members of the team went to Beverly Hills and returned by evening. When they described the exciting sights at film city, Noby felt that he had really missed the visit. He took up the matter with Biju Menon, but the reply stunned Noby. “I didn’t go there because long walks are involved,” said Biju Menon.
Noby asked the actor how he knew that and Biju Menon said, “I’ve visited the place earlier.”
Only then did Noby, Binu and Rajesh, who thought they were doing Biju Menon a favour by sitting in the hotel room, realize that they were duped.
“We were the butt of jokes during the rest of the trip,” adds Noby.
Vanishing Swiss apples
Another amusing incident involving Noby took place in Switzerland, which is often termed the ‘Heaven on Earth.’ “I visited Switzerland for a programme and the place is indeed a paradise. The amazing scenery such as the snow-capped peaks is breathtaking,” he says.
In the hotels of Switzerland, some apples were kept at the reception, near the lifts and in the corners of corridors. “It was similar to the toffees placed at these spots in Kerala hotels and so I and others in our team picked up a few apples whenever we walked past the reception and lifts. Moreover, we approached the reception with the ruse of recharging our room key and took some more apples. The apples were of such good quality,” says Noby.
On one occasion, Noby’s team took the entire apples placed near the lift. However, they later saw that the hotel staff had not kept any more apples in that tray. Noby and others went to the reception but again there were no apples.
The Kerala artistes stayed at the hotel for four to five days more but the apples never appeared in common areas again. “We suspected that the hotel staff was not happy with our great preference for apples. Our suspicions were later confirmed on seeing the apples again at the reception during our check-out,” says Noby.
“Now I often recall that incident in Switzerland whenever I see an apple,” winds up the comic celebrity.