The Funny Lady

Comedian Radhika Vaz reveals the deeply personal but creates a community of laughter.

She stands on stage,dressed in a polka-dotted 70s summer dress,a flimsy red scarf around her neck,forefinger hooked into a teacup. She looks so ladylike,you think. Then she starts speaking. About pretending to be bisexual to attract men,about the popular demands to be hairless,the perils of de-hairing,the indiscretions of flatulence and shifting globs of cellulite. Comedian Radhika Vaz does not subscribe to ladylike speech or sentiments,instead she voices Everywomans secrets. By revealing the deeply personal,she creates a community of shared foibles. The audience partakes of a sudden epiphany we are all equally flawed,and flawed in a universal way.

Unladylike: The Pitfalls of Propriety,which debuted in New York in September 2010,returns to India,after sold-out performances six months ago. Created and performed by Vaz,the show,which combines sketch comedy with stand-up,has been directed and developed by Brock Savage. Playing the part of a genteel woman,Vaz creates detailed plots,imitates characters,mimes Lady Gaga,takes dramatic pauses,but keeps the punch line on a tight leash. She describes her uncle Natwar Singh,who has grasslands of hair on his back: He has hair everywhere…(she pauses) except his scalp. Prolific with cuss words in daily conversation,Vaz uses the F-word only once in the performance,believing that swearing on stage can get old fast.

Daughter of an Indian Air Force pilot,born in Mumbai,she has travelled across India,living in the cities of Pathankot,Secunderabad,Ghaziabad,Bareilly,Udhampur,Wellington,and Hasimara. She went to boarding school in the Nilgiris,but couldnt return for class XI and XII as she was deemed a bad influence. In school,Vaz would intentionally get into trouble,believing it would be funny for her and everyone else.

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She grew up on the LPs of Bill Cosby and was influenced by funny movies,especially Nine to Five (1980),a comedy in which Jane Fonda,Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton take revenge on their bullying boss. It was hilarious and I wanted to do that, she says.

Following her heart and a man,she moved to the US in 2002,when she was 28. Looking for something to do,she took improv lessons in New York,and inspired by the talented and comic women at her class,she decided to take comedy seriously.

She went for every audition that came her way but found that she wasnt enjoying it. A few exciting projects like a supporting role in a Hollywood movie,The Triumph of William Henry Harrison,and an off-Broadway play,A First Class Man,hobbled her way occasionally. Because I love comedy so much,I thought what if I write my own material and perform it? On the downside,I will fail miserably,and on the upside,I dont have to audition for the part. Unladylike sort of started from there from a place of anger and frustration with my career, recounts Vaz.

Born and brought up in India but having nurtured her craft in the US,Vaz carries her identity lightly on the stage. She doesnt belabour her Indianness. She isnt fraught with issues of identity like many of her Indian-American stand-up compatriots; instead she is a woman comfortable in her skin. She says,I dont play down my Indian-ness its so much a part of who I am,what I look like and how I sound. I moved (to the US) as an adult I didnt have that cultural divide (between India and the US) to cross. I was set in my ways the ways of a full-blown Indian. For better or worse.

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