For a couple of years since 2012, Abijit Ganguly felt like Batman. He had started working in Deloitte as a consultant and would spend his mornings dressed in formals, making presentations, and talking about ‘analytics’ and ‘synergy’. His evenings were spent making jokes about corporate life, his love life, the society, its politics and much more, for an audience that was in splits. The only reason he was not being funny all day was because, “I didn’t want to tell my then prospective Gujarati father-in-law that I crack jokes for a living,” chuckles 30-year-old Ganguly.
In 2014, he finally took the plunge. Since then, he’s hosted over 1,500 private, public and corporate shows. “With stand-up comedy, there’s instant validation — it’s an honest art form and I really like what I do. In other parts of the world, people need to work on their act for years before they get a 30-minute performance spot at a club. In India, we’ve been lucky in getting opportunities and recognition comparatively quicker because it is a nascent art form.”
Just like in a relationship, in comedy, Ganguly says that it is not about what you say, but rather how you say it. And since his brand of comedy is centred around his own experiences, he’s always finding the funny side in situations and taking notes. “As an artiste, you need to try out different things, expand boundaries, experiment and evolve. So, I try to write comedy about off-beat topics — like funerals, religion and disasters — and also work on web series and short films. When you compare yourself to other comedians, it just becomes similar to the corporate rat race,” he says.
But Ganguly has come far from that life. He has about 18 show days a month, which are spent flying around the country. On non-show days, his life is rather laid-back. “My wife is a lecturer, so she says I can’t sleep late and wake up when I want anymore. I am up around eight, see my wife off to work and wait for the maid (who is happy to do no work since I don’t pay any attention). I then drink green tea and coffee, and couple it with a few hours of writing. After that I meet friends, and depending on the company, it might involve some mid-day drinking. I’m back home by five, because my wife comes home at 5.30; we have tea and exchange stories. My parents tell me I have a retired colonel’s life,” he chuckles.
Evam presents Abijit Ganguly Live at Bay 146 tomorrow at 7.30 pm. Tickets are priced at ₹500 and available on bookmyshow.com
