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Journalism of Courage
When Rohan Desai stepped on stage on Sunday evening for the Finals of RAW Comedy 2014, he was not hoping to get many laughs. But the quick-witted graphic designer from Gurgaon, was the surprise package of the evening, stealing the winner’s trophy at the Indian edition of the popular Australian comedy festival, defeating well-established comedians such as Abish Mathew in the process. “The judges were probably being nice to me for making an honest effort.
But I don’t want to analyse the reasons for their decision,” says Desai, 25, who took “sick-leave” from work for the day. He has been doing stand-up comedy as a hobby for the past seven months, performing 12-15 open mic-sessions at venues across the city. As part of the prize, he will be performing a routine at the Grand Finale of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICS) this April.
His five-minute routine, where he stands before the audience and reads out instructions to himself just before a performance, drew the most applause. “I was told that I was conceptually different,” says Desai, who has been mentored by professional Indian stand-up comics such as Raghav Mandava and Jeeveshu Ahluwalia. A drop out from the Image College of Arts and Animation and Technology, Chennai, where he was pursuing graphic design, Desai was initiated into stand-up comedy by friends who sent him YouTube videos of Seinfeld and Friends. After moving to Mumbai in 2012, he started doing stand-up comedy at the Comedy Store, Mumbai. “I have no plans of quitting my day job. Stand-up will always remain on the side,” says Desai.
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