He made a few jokes about someone drinking from a Rs.110 water bottle and the audience couldn't stop laughing. The 28-year-old comedian and recent Youtube sensation Anubhav Singh Bassi was in full form during one of his current shows, which he is doing as part of his ongoing ‘Bas Kar Bassi’ tour. The constant themes in this set have centred around his career — he went from being a lawyer, to a UPSC aspirant, opening a food business with friends, ending up now, as a stand-up comedian.
“It was a coincidence,” recalls Bassi. In 2017, he’d tried his luck at an open mic at the Canvas Laugh Club, of which he was always a fan. The audience and organisers loved his set and contacted him to do another at a following open mic event.Since then, there has been no looking back. On the sidelines of a show, Bassi spoke about his journey in comedy, how he’s been a performer since childhood, and why he prefers live shows to internet videos.
What was your reaction when your first Youtube video went viral?
Actually that wasn’t my first video. The first was a recording of a set on lawyers, which I uploaded to Facebook. It didn’t get a really good response. I’ve worked really hard on the “Cheating” set [the first video on Youtube, which went viral]. Before posting it, I thought, ‘If this video hits 5 million views, I would feel like I’ve achieved something for my hard work’. The video started gaining views by a million a day. I stopped looking when it reached 4 million.
Who do you look up to in stand-up comedy?
I would be really satisfied if I could write a joke like Sumit Anand. As far as content is concerned, my biggest inspiration is Zakir Khan. But I look up to everyone, even those people who aren’t doing well, but are really funny.
What was your family’s reaction, when you told them you were going to be a stand-up comedian?
They were a little sceptical in the beginning, but as I started progressing in the field and making some money, they started to [accept it].
Were you always this funny?
I don’t think that all the stand-up comedians are funny in real life; some of them are really serious. Even I am not funny all the time. I am funniest when I am with my friends, but I also believe that all my friends are funnier than I am. It is all about who has the power to perform while being audacious.
At The Piano Man, Gurugram; 3rd August, 3:00 p.m. For tickets, Bookmyshow.com
