Comedian Praveen Kumar is delighted to be back on the stage again. Like the rest of his stand-up peers, Praveen, too, had to perform to an audience watching from a screen. It was better than nothing, he admits. It helped him pay the bills and satiate his urge to perform. But the virtual set-up, he says, has just “40 to 50%” of a live event.
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In the new normal, he is unable to see the smiles on masked faces. But he is glad to be in the midst of people, performing his latest special, Kancheepuram Maapla, in which he narrates the funny incidents on his wedding day.
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He excitedly shares his offline tour: He has already performed in Chennai and Bengaluru. On Saturday, he will be in Coimbatore. The next day, he flies to Hyderabad and the following week, to Dubai…
“Is the new COVID variant a cause of concern?” we interject.
“Yes! Oh my god!” he exclaims, before correcting himself, “Yes! Omicron!”
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“Even if there is no lockdown, if people are scared to come out, it will be a problem. We don't know how things will be in January. So, as of now, I just want to perform in Dubai and see how it goes from there.”
So, what is Kancheepuram Maapla about? “I will be narrating incidents spanning over 24 hours during my wedding. The night of the reception, the kind of dress I wore, the people ... all that. So, I wanted to do a one-story show. I tried different ideas like the ‘day I quit my job’. But I thought the wedding day was more relatable. Initially I thought of narrating incidents from my friend’s wedding. But someone asked me, ‘why don't you talk about your own wedding?’”
So, Praveen dusted off his wedding album and DVD. There was, however, a problem: he did not have a DVD player. So, he borrowed an old laptop from a friend that could play DVDs. “So, it’s basically the current ‘me’ making fun of the past ‘me’ — wait, I think I am starting to sound like Nithyananda here.”
Apart from himself, a few other family members will be a part of his jokes. “My brother-in-law, for instance, will be kind of an antagonist.” But will this not create fissures within the family? “Well, they know I am hopeless,” he laughs, adding, “I mean, they understand what I do and know it’s all fun.”
Meanwhile, apart from stand-up, Praveen, during the lockdown, had a few interesting collaborations. One of which was discussing the Indian Premier League with Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube channel. “To collaborate with a legend like him was a dream come true. He had seen and liked my work. So, he just pinged asking, ‘Are you interested to talk about cricket?’. I told him, ‘Of course, I am an Indian.’ So, we got on a video call… That’s how it happened. It was fun. He is a natural at holding conversations.”
Ashwin has promised to watch one of his shows live after the pandemic abates. Praveen is keeping his fingers crossed.
For now, however, he is looking forward to performing in Coimbatore, which, he says, is one of his favourite venues. “I have never had a bad show so far. Touchwood, I hope that continues.”
Tickets for Kancheepuram Maapla at Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery & Textile Museum (Culture Centre) on December 11, 6.45 pm, is available on insider.in