Stand up comedians are the voice of young India, says Aravind SA

Aravind SA takes a selfie with Madurai audience during his show I Was Not Ready Da

While waiting in the queue to enter Aravind SA’s début and sold out show in Madurai, I spot less than 10 people who appear middle-aged. The average age of the rest, who soon make up a boisterous audience inside the 400-seater auditorium at World Tamizh Sangam building, is 27. It makes me feel a tad out of place; Am I ready for Aravind’s wit in his latest show I Was Not Ready Da, that strings profanities and 18+ jokes?

But the man-of-the-moment resonates with the young crowd right from the build up — a video clip of his now viral Madrasi Da — to the time he takes centre stage for 90 minutes of rapid fire relatable punchlines and jokes. He shares his life’s cold truths in a funny manner and the young audience loves him. They cheer along, whistle and clap thunderously. He rewards them with the famous ‘Chappathi’song on request at the end of the programme.

That tickets for the Madurai show were sold out within two hours of announcement and the organisers worked under pressure with requests coming even from the offices of top officials, Aravind says, was humbling. “I never expected the city to turn up in such huge numbers.”

But surprises have always been the quintessence of his life.

“My mother brought me into this world through a caesarean operation when I was perhaps not ready,” he tells an already giggling audience. Dedicated to his mother (from whom he inherits his sense of humour), I Was Not Ready Da is conceived as an interplay of his several firsts and milestone achievements. But he requests his mother not to watch the show as he makes no bones about what all he did while growing up.

Stand up comedian Aravind SA during his first show in Madurai

Busy touring the country with the show that will also go to USA in August and September, SA — as he is fondly called — hopes to record it and clinch a deal with one of the digital platforms, like his earlier one.

Confident that he has found his voice and also democratised his second show, the 32-year-old reveals he still gets butterflies in his stomach before each performance. “I have written a verbose script and always rehearse for a perfect delivery,” he says during a hurried chat post-performance. “I put in a lot of hard work to be in control of things,” he says. At the same time, the informal format of the show allows him to improvise spontaneously and engage the audience depending on their response.

Between bouts of explosive laughter and a few sharp gasps — from seniors like me perhaps — SA jokes about several cultural confusions. They are about the dating app Tinder, his visit to a strip club in Vegas, him turning 30 and how every Chennaiite claims to be Sundar Pichai’s distant relative, and a hilarious peek into his participation in a prime time debate on a TV news channel.

Audience was in splits during Aravind SA’s I Was Not Ready Da show in Madurai

SA says laughter is the release of tension. But stand-up comedians may not necessarily be happy or funny people, he adds. They are more likely to be hopelessly angry or hurt because there are so many things they can’t do or talk about in general. “Comedy allows them to tell controversial things and people do not mind the jokes,” he says, what with an increasing interest in stand up comedy now.

His popularity is fuelled by the YouTube video of his first solo show Madrasi Da that was picked up by Amazon prime. But, says SA, social media in these times is both agonising and validating and it helps to remain detached, while using humour as a tool to address social issues. He says stand up comedy appeals to the youth because it breaks free from societal norms and boldly reckons ground realities. While elders can find it offensive, the youngsters find it liberating.

SA’s gags are all about his (mis)adventures in life. He delivers them with full energy and in dramatic speed. “Drama is the essence of expression. I am an attention seeker and I exaggerate my story telling skills. It is helping me make a living,” says Aravind who dabbled in films as an assistant director in the industry. In his opinion, good comedy is here to stay as a serious business because it comes from a place of truth. “It is important to sound authentic because at the end of the day,” he says, “you are as funny as the audience you have.”

At the end of the show, I realise it is best to take his truth and laugh because there is obviously something to be heard.

( The event was organised by Eight-O-Eight entertainment founded and run by three friends – Harsh Garg, Rishwant Jayaraj and Rohan Sangoye who want to change the face of entertainment in Madurai. The intro-act was given by Madurai boy C S P Chockalingam, who works as a software developer in Chennai.)