It’s time for lights, camera and… comedy! This weekend, prepare to chuckle till you buckle as Phoenix market city presents ‘Laugh Ok Please’, a three-day comedy festival featuring 12 comedians from around the country. Meet Anuvab Pal, Aditi Mittal, Sorabh Pant, Sahil Shah, Kunal Rao and Sapan Verma from Mumbai, Kartik Iyer from Bangalore and home-grown comics Karthik Kumar, Bala Kumaran, Bhargav Ramakrishnan, S. Aravind and Aswin Rao as they churn our some rib-tickling humour this weekend. Excerpts from email interviews with some of the performing comedians.
Karthik Kumar
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I’m a sensitive soul caged in the body of a macho superhuman who is trying to understand the balance between whey protein and sun tan lotion. I’m prone to often asking myself — was that Van Gogh who just went past in the traffic or did I just see a van go? I’m deep like that but have to live up to the ideals of being merely a poster boy for women who are finding their own identities in a society ill-prepared to accommodate them.
What’s so funny about you?
Some people say it's my left ear lobe — I’d say they were right if they’d said right. So I have to say they are wrong. But living with unbalanced ear lobes of different shapes is a challenge in a world that expects symmetry to be the norm.
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Karthik Kumar is a comedian and an actor in the Tamil film industry.
Sorabh Pant
What do you think makes your 'funny' work?
People laughing.
Also, I put in a lot of effort into my comedy. So, usually people just applaud even if it’s not funny because, “Look, poor guy — he’s trying so hard.” I’m the Suresh Raina of comedy. If that doesn’t work, I abuse. A lot.
What do you do when you aren’t being funny?
I write novels, have fights with my wife, drink a lot, pretend to exercise and generally work on something or the other.
Sorabh Pant is a comedian, author and founder of comedy collective ‘East India Comedy’.
Aditi Mittal
What do you not like about your job?
Is this a trick question? How is it even possible to complain about doing what you love and having people appreciate you for it?
Aditi Mittal is one of the first women to do stand-up in India. She is also an actress and writer.
Anuvab Pal
Do you choose your jokes or do your jokes choose you?
They choose me. They walk around, stop me on the street, put their hand on my shoulder and say, “You. You will tell us”.
Anuvab Pal is a comedian, screenwriter, playwright and novelist.
Bala Kumaran
What made you decide to be a stand-up comedian?
I used to be an IT professional, so becoming a stand up comedian was a logical choice. Since people were already laughing at my job, I just had to make them laugh at my jokes.
What need to be funnier – the joke or the comedian?
I think dissecting “what needs to be funnier” for an answer is difficult. It’s like asking, “What needs to be better in a sambar vadai – the sambar or the vadai?”
Bala Kumaran is a traditionally brought up, fun-loving stand-up comedian, interested in clean, absurdist humour
Sapan Verma
What made you decide to be a stand-up comedian?
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been inclined towards humiliating myself in front of people and not getting paid for it. That, combined with my parents’ shocked expression about my career moves, inspired me.
Do you choose your jokes or do your jokes choose you?
That’s like asking what came first, the chicken or the egg. We all know the answer — masala papad comes first because it takes little preparation time.
Sapan Verma is a comedian, writer and director. All of which, he says, is slang for “will do anything for money”.
The show will be held at Phoenix Market City Amphitheatre at 7.30 p.m. from January 30 to February 1. Tickets, priced at Rs. 300, Rs. 600 and a three-day pass for Rs. 1500, will be available at websites Bookmyshow, Eventjini and Indianstage. For details, call 9840612333