Stand-up comics turn virtual spotlight on Covid-19

Kamini.Mathai@timesgroup.com

Chennai:09.04.2020

When stand-up comedians in Chennai recently put out an online poll on what kind of jokes people would like to hear on the virtual shows they were planning, #Corona and #21DaysinLockdown came out tops trumping even the topic ‘Rajinikanth in politics’. So Corona it shall be, but in good taste, promise the comedians.

“Hey Corona,” says standup Vikash Paul. “Are you a fake accent? Because people seem to go abroad and come back with you.”

Thirty-one-year-old Paul from Chennai is one of several comics getting set to perform on Comedy Sabha, which streams every Friday at 7.30 pm on Instagram’s InstaLive. “Stand-up is as much about context as it is about comedy and right now the only thing people want to talk about is coronavirus. There is no point trying to force other topics,” says Paul.

“As stand-ups we are keeping in mind the gravity of the situation,” says Paul, “but the quarantine and the lockdown has generated so much one can create comedy around like WFH or work from home, the absurd WhatsApp forwards and rumours. Or how about the fact that because of less air pollution people can now finally see ‘ache din’?”

Stand-up Annamalai L, who started Comedy Sabha through his outfit Tanglish Comedy, says that for the last year, the comedians were performing at different ‘physical’ venues every week, and they didn’t want to stop the Friday shows because of the lockdown, so they took the performances online. “So far, coronavirus has led every poll we conducted online on what topics the audience would like,” he says.

Other stand-up groups too are trying virtual shows. On Thursday, Theatre Evam for instance, plans to host an open mic session on Zoom, where upcoming comedians can perform their bits.

Last week, actor TM Karthik did an online stand-up show as a fundraiser. He says that though he steered clear of corona jokes, he did speak of how the virus has changed the way people view life. “Performing online was a surreal experience because you don’t have an audience in front of you. At one point the organisers had to turn off the video option because we could see some of our virtual audience lounging about in shorts,” says Karthik.

Annamalai, who has performed twice online, says it is a challenge. “When you have the audience in front of you, their laughs and claps are instant responses. The only response you get are in the form of smileys, hearts and comments. You have to imagine they are laughing.”

Vikash Paul (above) will perform online on Friday. Annamalai L (right) during a live show