Stand-up comedy has youth in splits

Move over slapstick humour or mimicry of public figures, comedy today has taken on a new form through a more polished variety of humour and stand-up comedy acts are becoming the new form of entertainment. The city youth are also discovering their funny bone and forming local groups to popularise stand-up comedy. This was evident at the open mic and stand-up comedy performances at The Park on Friday night. The event saw five youngsters, two from the neighbouring state of Odisha, taking part in the open mic and entertaining the packed audience at Tribe. The show was hosted by Kolkata-based stand-up comedian Raouf Gangjee, who is instrumental in forming the local group ‘Vizag Komedians’.

After a series of entertaining performances by the open mic contestants, the show was taken to a new level of entertainment with Atul Khatri turning up the humour quotient with his hour-long performance that left the audience in splits.

Talking to The Hindu , the 46-year-old stand-up comedy artiste described his journey in this field that began two years ago. “It was like a midlife crisis!” laughed Khatri. “I used to find my computer business very boring. Sometimes you need to try a different route in life just to make it more exciting. The time when I started, stand-up comedy was just setting up in India,” he said.

Prior to his stint as a stand-up comedian, Khatri used to write funny blogs that became quite popular. “I believe you have to be a writer before you become a comedian. It is important to pen down your thoughts. The jokes have to be well written and tested for them to be effective. Open mics help to get started,” he added.

While cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore host open mics regularly, it is only in the past one year that stand-up comedy performances have begun trickling into tier-2 cities like Vizag and groups are being formed to tap local talent like the one named ‘Vizag Komedians’. If you are an aspiring stand-up comedian and missed the open mic night this time then don’t worry, you could experience the same in the coming months. The local group ‘Vizag Komedians’ plans to conduct more such events in the near future. Its Facebook page has already garnered over 3,200 likes.