With the internet and the rise of the social media, comedy and stand up comics especially in India got a fresh lease of life. Making fun of bollywood and political personalities, spoofing them, providing humorous insights into every day incidents was the staple of comics on the Internet. A discussion at Social media week dealt with humour on social media. The panellists were blogger Aditya Magal, who runs a popular spoof account on investor Rakesh Jhunjunwala and stand up comedians Utsav Chakraborty and Praveen Kumar.
Social media gave Aditya space to express his ideas freely. “Once my blog became popular and I started an account on twitter, I found that it was a great way to have funny irreverent conversations. In a way, the blog ensured that I met the real Jhunjunwala and also got an opportunity to write a book. It would not have been possible, if it was not for twitter.”
Utsav started with an obscure twitter handle and claims that he gained a lot of followers once he created a new twitter handle @SatanBhagat. He says, “I feel that the medium has changed now. It has become very commercial and is full of brands and political parties and so on. When I started on twitter, it used to be a very democratic platform where you could make random jokes and poke fun on celebrities.” Praveen agrees, “I used to test jokes online. I used to use the good jokes that receive many RT’s on my stage shows. However, things have changed now. There is a lot of negativity. The early days were much better.”
India has seen a rash of complaints regarding content of comedy shows recently, with the comedy collective All India Bakchod facing a backlash after one of their shows went viral. People claiming to take offence at the content of the show filed cases against it. Utsav says, “The entire controversy reeks of our hypocrisy as a country. We are not offended by the lack of civic sense and the issues women face on our streets, but are ready to be offended by some comedians using ‘bad’ language in a show meant for adults. It is really unfortunate.”
Praveen says, “It is sad that even without watching the show, celebrities like Amair Khan have claimed to have been offended by the show. I do not think he can say that after producing Delhi Belly. It is time he got off Satyamave Jayate mode.”
On getting more people interested in comedy, Utsav quips, “We want more people to make the scene better and more vibrant. I hope there are more open mic events that will ensure that people who are good will end up in the comedy business.”
