Stand up Stars

This is not some crude,misbehaved crowd leering as sex jokes fly around: this is a sophisticated audience of a 150-odd people who prefer an evening of laughter to movies or nightclubs. The comic scene in India is changing over night and we are lucky to witness to it. Humour has become an escapist form of entertainment, says Cyrus Broacha,TV host and one of countrys favourite comedians.

Stand by folks,for what can seriously be dubbed the Comedy Movement. It is not just slapstick,toilet humour or what is called non-veg comedy; this is a new cocktail of mirth and a form of social rebellion. Theres slick New York humour spiced with Bihari brashness; it is acerbic and relevant,attacks feminism as well as chauvinism. The new comedy gigs and shows make obesity look gracious,unemployment glow with the sheen of optimism,failure look funny and success a tad overrated. Laughing at the way we are has become a barometer of change. In a country where tolerance is really low,the resurgence of comedy is a reminder that we are a democratic nation. It redeems the stupidity all around us. Satire is about being politically incorrect,which is how we need to be, says TV producer and filmmaker Sailesh Dave.

He should know. Twelve years ago,Dave created Movers and Shakers,now remembered as the countrys first late night comedy show modelled on Jay Lenos The Tonight Show. The desi version,with Shekhar Suman as the host,made fun of commoners and celebrities alike. Daves Runway Productions which made news spoofs like Khabrein Khabardar and Aisi ki Taisi for Doordarshan and Aaj Tak respectively. He went on to make satires of movies: Dhoom,Chak De! India and Taare Zameen Par for MTV and is now making Indias first ever documentary on comedy.

Humour is now professionally managed. RJs routinely do radio spoofs while stand-up comedy nights and Open Mics in cities are trendy. Comedy Store in Mumbai completed a year of success,Vir Das Hamateur nights for first-time comedians have more participants and there are the growing TRPs of comedy shows on TV. Not to mention that no genuinely funny movie ever loses money.

The industry of laughter has many new buyers. Don Ward,CEO of Comedy Store,which recently completed a year in India,says that when he first floated the idea of opening a stand-up comedy club here,he was told he would have to fold up the business in a couple of months. Instead,the Comedy Store has become the hub of high-quality stand-up comedy in the city,with both Indian and international comedians performing to a full club. India is definitely a place with a lot of comic talent. Through auditions,we got some great stand-up comedians like Ashish Shakya,Anuvab Pal,Chika Kapadia,Rohan Joshi and Tanmay Bhat, says Ward.

As India warms up to comedy the audience at live shows is visibly growing. We run to 98 per cent capacity on most days, adds Ward. People may still swear by Jay Leno,Chris Rock,Russell Peters or Jerry Seinfeld but comedians of Indian origin who are also internationally popular like Papa CJ,Sanjay Rajoura,Vir Das and others are obliterating those comparisons.

Laughter is an easy and tolerant religion; it doesnt require persistent preaching. It rakes in every truism and half-truth,can be as dramatic as fiction,as insightful as philosophy.

Though Vir Das brand of English humour brought in a new talented breed of smart,sassy,urbane comedians,what really changed the way India laughs is Hindi stand-up comedy and comedy television shows like The Great Indian Laughter Challenge series,Comedy Circus,Comedy Circus Ke Tansen and others. Humour is one of the most important pillars of programming, says Danish Khan,EVP and Marketing Head,Sony Entertainment Television. Comedy Ke Tansen is currently slotted at 9 pm on Sundays premium time when all channels air films. This is because we know that comedy does extremely well, adds Khan. TV humour scripted by experts is inclusive: it catches: fear,poverty,politics,terrorism,sexual licentiousness,generational conflicts,disagreements,family,marriage,divorce,adultery,abortion,disease,even death. All of this,retold with a local flavour has helped India loosen its retentiveness about speaking up against power.

Raju Shrivastav,symbolic of Hindi comedy,served Bharat to India making the two familiar with each other. His topics cover cows,dowry deaths,Lalu Prasad Yadav,to modelling and beauty contests,and Bigg Boss. Now he is not only loved by rural audiences who smother him with their hugs and embraces but is equally sought after by corporate houses,and industrialists for private shows in cities. His brand of rustic,deadpan humour that includes a pinch of Johnny Lever and Bollywoods beloved funny man Mahmood takes Hindustani Hasya to another level compared to Jaspal Bhattis clean,fun in TV shows like Ulta Pulta,Mahaul Theek Hai or Flop Show on Doordarshan.

It is not just the content of scripts (humour writers have mushroomed in Mumbai) that has changed; the monies have too. I used to get Rs 40 for a cartoon and Rs 800 per show for Ulta Pulta on Doordarshan,now one show for good comedians starts at a lakh plus, says Bhatti. He is right. If you have made it,like Vir Das has,you can charge Rs one lakh for an hour or less. Rajoura,viewed as a cross between Vir Das and Raju Shrivastava in his brand of humour,agrees that there is good money in private shows. It is also true that new stand-ups have to struggle before they can earn comfortably. For a comedian,stage time is currency, says Kapoor. But hear Papa CJ on this. My charges are directly proportional to the amount of money that Mayawati makes on the side in one millisecond, he jokes.

Like any other growing industry,humour is attracting new stakeholders who bring new realisations. Women comedians,both young and not-so-young,now do gigs in cities and joke about small breasts and adulterous husbands,masturbation and Osama bin Laden in the same breath.

Whats interesting is the emphasis someone like Rajoura and Shrivastava lay on a comedian not being a joker. I am not a comedian,I am a storyteller, says Rajoura. The fulcrum of my humour is anger,cynicism, he adds. Shrivastava cant agree more. I have never been able to forget a cow we had who died of cold,or a fight between two families over dowry,or the fact that we were asked to bribe for my brother to get a job. All these strains have found a way into my comedy, he adds.

Papa CJ explains why stand-up comedians are now a hit. Most of us comedians are people who don’t fit into conventional society. People come hear us,laugh and feel good about their own lives when they think,’Oh my God! That loser has so many issues,gets very little appreciation and earns so little money. My life is so much better than that. It surely takes a comedian to prescribe the right dose of self-deprecation and triumph. Taken together and regularly,it is proving the ideal escape for stand up comedy’s growing audience while the comedians can laugh all the way to the bank.

RJ Simran

Anchor of Dhinchak mornings.

Age: Should we settle at 35?

Provenance: Luck Now. Now lives in Delhi.

Brand of humour: Hindi-medium-aunty-type who does sit-down comedy.

Back story: Half-Muslim,half-Christian Fiza Khan was a compulsive mimic in school. She studied mass communications at Jamia Milia Islamia in Delhi. Married to a Sikh,Khan became Simran to please her in-laws. Dilwale Dulhaniya le Jayenge had just released when we married and the family wanted to name me after the heroine. I would have been happy even if they had named me Raj after the hero.

Turning Point: An AIR FM audition a decade ago. Then,from one radio channel to another,I became a small town girl trying to act high class,a nincompoop trying to project the maa of all highty-flighty ladiss and zantlemans of the Dalli city.

Why Comedy: I was born laughing. Growing up,I would crack jokes to take attention away from my broken family: my mother was my fathers second wife. Later,it was to prevent prodding questions about my personal life. Through humour I could steer attention from the real me to the projected me.

Seriously speaking: Senior manager at Radio City,she is also Director and CEO of Academy of Radio management. My mission is to make everybody feel uncomfortable,to make them think. I also want to do a solo TV comedy show.

Raju Shrivastav

Popular Hindi stand-up comedian.

Age and provenance: 47 years,was born Satyaprakash Shrivastav in Kanpur. Now lives in Mumbai.

Brand of Humour: Rustic,from the Hindi heartland.

Back story: An Amitabh Bachchan mimic during his younger years,he was hired as a filler during live music shows of Kalyanji-Anandji,Bappi Lahiri,Nitin Mukesh and others,Shrivastava I was treated as a joker and my embarrassed family would refuse to take me to social functions.

Turning Point: Was first noticed with Hasna Mana Hai,his audio cassette of jokes and spoofs in 1985. His big break came with The Great Indian Laughter Challenge on Sony in 2007 and then he won The Great Indian Laughter Challenge- Champions. His acts Beti Ki Vidaai,Gabar Ke Bache,Bhoot Ka Interview became household conversations.

Why Comedy: It is the only way I know to convey the angst,the life,the riddles,the joys and tragedies of small town India

Seriously speaking: Rajubhai now charges a couple of lakhs for a live stand-up show. He also performs for free at orphanages and for the armed forces. In 2010,the CBSE board added a chapter on his life in the 8th standard NCERT Hindi textbook.

Vir Das

Indias most successful English stand-up comic.

Age: 32

Provenance: Born in Dehradun Now lives in Mumbai.

Brand of Humour: Sharp,edgy,insightful English humour.

Back story: He got really angry in 2004,when he had hit rock bottom after being repeatedly booed off stage at the stand-up comedy circuit of Chicago. He had to work as a doorman at a restaurant to make ends meet. So one day,I went up on stage and started ranting about my life. I spoke about how I had talent,yet for lack of money and opportunity,wasnt going anywhere. I was angry and was just stating facts but suddenly started getting laughs.

Turning Point: His Walking on Broken Das tour broke records as the largest selling English language comedy show in India in 2009 and went to 16 countries. History of India VIRitten (2010) was a super hit too.

Seriously speaking: Das owns comedy company Weirdass,which consults for movies,writes for television and radio,performs stand-up acts. It also hosted Indias first amateur comedy night,Hamateur Nights,and Weirdass Outbox,an experimental comedy concept. In 2009,Das launched Alien Chutney a comedy rock band,with songs like I’m your tadka,a love song to a vegetable vendor and My girlfriend is a havaldar. He will also be seen as an actor in Aamir Khans Delhi Belly.

Sanjay Rajoura

Comic artist,actor.

Age and provenance: 38,Bulandshahar,UP,now lives in Delhi.

Brand of Humour: A mix of Hindi passions and English ennui. As he puts it,The travails of a Jat female chauvinist.

Back story: Born in a family of Jats,he was deeply influenced as an adolescent by the 1983 film Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron. After a Masters in Technology,worked with a software company in San Francisco for a decade only to come back fed up with corporate life.

Why Comedy: The only escape from lifes gruesome realities was to joke around. My humour comes from anger. I have also been shaped by the women I have in my life . None of these girls stayed with me,but they left me a changed man.

Turning Point: An attempt at an Open Mic event in Delhi in 2009 that created a riot,followed by solo events Jat in Mood and End of Occupation. The latter is being made into a film.

Seriously speaking: Rajoura played the lead role in The Fiction,that was screened at the Osians film festival in India and the US. He is the writer for the Ranbir Kapoor Docomo advertisements. Will be seen as an anchor on an upcoming TV show, The Discovery of Humour in India

Bharti Singh

Stand-up comedian

Age: 26

Provenance: Born and brought up in

Amritsar. Now lives in Mumbai

Brand of humour: She makes fun of her weight. Popular for her fat schoolgirl character Lalli and as a fat Sardar boy,Golu. I dont like to make fun of politicians or actors. Why hurt others?

Back story: Bharti lost her father when she was two. From a family of four,Bharti was expected to marry after college but fought her way to get a Masters in History. I used to be a rifle shooter,so I got to study in a posh college,they reduced my fee,and later waived it off. To let me study,my brother and sister sacrificed theirs and began working at a very young age”.

Turning Point: Shortlisted after an audition of Laughter Challenge. In March 2008,I took my first ever flight to Mumbai and now in 2011,I have lost count of the flights I have taken and the countries I have visited.

Why comedy: Where I come from,girls were told to talk less,as asking too many questions was considered ill-mannered. Now as Lalli,I am just taking out my bachpan ki frustration. Also,when I was young and if I wanted to ride an elephant,people would say haathi ke upar haathi nahi baithta hai. I used to cry a lot and now it is this aspect that has made me famous.

Seriously speaking: She is a regular on Comedy Circus ke Tansen and performs live shows. I am booked six months in advance.” Last year,she won the Kalpana Chawla Award for Excellence for her stand-up comedy.

(With inputs by Pooja Pillai,Somya Lakhani and Jaskiran Kapoor )