How did you get into standup comedy?

I have always played the fool in school and college (I still do!). About 6 years back, I had participated in a standup competition which I won. However, I never took it seriously. About 3 years back, my friend asked me to perform at his 5th year company anniversary celebration. People loved the performance but I thought everyone was laughing because they were high! A year back, I had another friend who asked me to do standup on ‘digital marketing’ at a digital marketing meetup. This was challenging because no one ‘jokes’ about digital marketing. However, I took it up and people were like ‘this was dope’. After that I didn’t look back!

What inspired you to start ‘Business News You Can Misuse’?

‘Business News You Can Misuse’ is my comedy show where I mix weekly business news with

standup comedy! It’s currently being streamed on Hotstar (You can watch it on Youtube also).

While there are many comedians in India doing great work, the genre of ‘business comedy’ still

remains largely untapped. And I am very passionate about entrepreneurship! So I combined my

love for comedy & entrepreneurship into ‘Business News You Can Misuse’. It falls into the

edutainment section – it’s both entertaining and educating! I believe that soon this kind of news

will become mainstream because news elsewhere has become very depressing.

It’s always great when people appreciate your work. Before I did my first episode, I asked many

friends ‘hey, do you think this will work?’. Everyone said that you never know unless you try! So

I did! The first episode itself was an overwhelming success! Currently, I do 2 episodes per week

and I love doing this!

How do you come up with content for standup comedy?

Creating content is not easy! There are times when you sit for 3 hours and you don’t even get 1 line! There are times when you are not even thinking about content and a killer line hits you! I believe writing content for standup comedy is a game of patience & perseverance. Creativity is not a tap where you just open it and it will start flowing! You need to commit your time, think about topics from a different lens & keep writing. The more you write, the better you become. Jokes go through a lot of improvisation. Most importantly, you need to enjoy the process of writing. Every great standup comedian is a great writer first!

When it comes to choosing topics, I always ask myself ‘ok, what do I feel strongly about right now?’ For instance, my kitchen was infested with cockroaches and I hate them. I am actually scared of cockroaches (now, don’t judge me). So that night, I wrote a set on cockroaches and it has come out well! When it comes to choosing topics – don’t go outside, go inside and you’ll see there’s lots to talk about.

Are you nervous when you perform standup?

Whoever says ‘I am not nervous’ while doing standup is lying or he/she isn’t good at it! Nerves are good. They make you human and show your vulnerable side. The audience likes that because they are also like that. The idea is to channelize that nervous energy into something positive. If you are putting pressure on yourself ‘I need to make them laugh at every joke’, then the situation might get the better of you but if you go in there telling yourself ‘Hey, let’s have a good time and laugh along with my lovely audience’, you’ll end up rocking the show. End of the day, it’s all about the mindset. Content can take you from A to C, but the right mindset will take you from C to Z!

What’s your advice to upcoming standup comedians?

1) Don’t think too much – if you keep thinking ‘will this work?’, guess what, it won’t work. Stop thinking and start doing. If you have a nice topic in hand, go ahead and perform at your local open mic. Don’t worry if people don’t laugh. That’s part of the game. You need to be objective about the whole process. Even A+ comedians test their content at small clubs and not everyone laughs at those jokes. But then, that’s the process. You get crucial feedback which you can incorporate before you try it out again. But if you don’t try, you’ll never know. Lot of people want to give a shot at standup comedy, but they are always ‘thinking’ about it. Won’t work!

2) Don’t look for ‘short term success’ – Every comedian wants his/her video to go viral. Well, it doesn’t work that way. It takes time. It takes effort. So if you are in it for the short term, don’t get into standup! This is a form of art which requires many many years to master.

3) Stage time – perform as much as possible! The more stage time you get, the better it is! If you are serious about standup, then you need to perform at least 10 times a week at open mics. The audience is your best judge. You’ll realize what is working and what isn’t. It takes months to put together 5 minutes of A+ content. It takes 9 months for a baby to be delivered. Everything good takes time!

Above all, you have to enjoy the process! If you are not laughing along the way, the audience won’t!

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