Among yesteryear musicians, Chembai was undoubtedly the master of on-stage humour.

When the great violinist Papa Venkataramiah was accompanying him in a concert once, Chembai was singing swaras. Pointing to the violinist, he sang "Pa Pa Nee Dha(an) Pa Pa"

In another concert, when Chembai was old, he was being accompanied by a middle aged violinist and a mridangist who was just a kid. Chembai was singing swaras. He sang:
(pointing to the violinist) "mama mama";
(pointing to the mridangist) "papa papa";
(pointing to himself) "thatha thatha"

Once when M.S.Gopalakrishnan and T.V.Gopalakrishnan were accompanying him on the violin and mridangam respectively, Chembai was singing Thaye Yashoda. While singing the line "Intha maayan Gopalakrishnan seyyum jaalathai keladi", he pointed to the violinst. He repeated the line again, this time pointing at the mridangist. The 2000 strong audience laughed like anything.

In another concert Chembai was being accompanied by Lalgudi Jayaraman (violin) and Umayalapuram Sivaraman (mridangam). Chembai was singing Rama Ninne Nammi Nanu (Huseni), which goes like "Rama Ninne Nammi Nanu Nijamukha Sita... Rama....". Chembai substituted the word Sita with Jaya (pointing at the violinist) and sang the line again by substituting the same word with Siva (pointing at the mridangist). The predominantly keralite audience were very amused when they considered the meaning ("Jayarama and Sivarama, I really depend on you")

Once, while demonstrating the raga Puraneer in a concert, Chembai mentioned that it was a malayala ragam, and it was not to be found even in the Sangeeta Ratnakara or in the sangeeta shastras. One of his disciples mentions that it is a 'Pann Ragam'. Chembai says "Panno manno, adhellam enakku theriyadu" [Pann or mann (mud), all that I dont know].

In another concert, Chembai wanted the organisers to keep the microphone nearer. Finding that the microphone cable (wire) was too short, he said "Namma Vayaru than perisa irukku" [Only my vayaru (belly) is big].

Once, when he sang a Tamil viruttam "Orumaiyodu Ninadu Thiruvadi" in Hamsanandi, he pointed to Chowdiah, who was accompanying him, as he sang "Unnai maravaadirukka Vendum".

His rendering of Tamil songs had traces of a Malayalam accent. There was a Tamil number in Mohanam he used to sing often. It went "Idhiname Shuba dinam" and Chembai sang it as "Ee diname Shuba dinam". Once, one of his disciples, keen on the right pronunciation, sang "Idhiname..." almost chewing and spitting out the first few letters, hoping his guru would notice and render the song with the right pronunciation. Chembai must have noticed, for he decided to have some fun. The more the sishya emphasised the first few letters, the more Chembai drew out his "Eee diname". The Malayalam versus Tamil match continued for almost three minutes much to the delight of the audience.

At a concert at Shanmugananda Hall in Bombay, a member of the audience asked Chembai if he could sing a song on Bombay. Chembai, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, said he could. He went on to sing "Aadu paambae, vilayadu paambae".

Parveen Sultana's first concert in Madras was another occasion for a quip. Chembai, who was asked to preside on the occasion and "speak a few words", made just this observation: "I don't know much about Hindustani music. But this I know: I have a good saareeram and the lady here has both good saareeram and sareeram." The second was a reference to Parveen's attractive appearance.

The above are just illustrative examples, and there are indeed a lot more. In fact Chembai was always in a jovial mood in his concerts, making jokes every now and then as a contrast from the seriousness and orthodoxy of his music.