The stage is open. The mic is tested. And the audience is in high spirits, ready to be entertained. The guy who’s blinded by the spotlight, however, is nervous. He’s nervous because he’s been harbouring his talent in secret for a long time and this, probably, is his first appearance on stage. He’s also nervous because he’ll finally get to know if his skill set will elicit applause and that feels like a gruelling prospect.
“Open mics are the simplest and easiest way for an artiste to find a platform to perform,” says Bhargav Ramakrishnan, head of Evam Stand-up Tamasha; a comedy movement which organises two open-mic nights every month. The trend of open mics has been growing slowly, yet steadily, over the last year. What was started by the comedy troupe, Burma Bazaar Conspiracy, to create a space for aspiring comedians, has now grown into a big movement. “Over the past four months, we’ve had 10 new performers try their hand at stand-up comedy,” says Deepu Dileepan, who has been organising open-mic evenings under the Chennai Open Mic Comedy banner.
There have been many glitches along the way though, including venues which haven’t been very responsive and audiences, who haven’t been encouraging. But now, says Deepu, the scene is changing for the better in Chennai with increasing number of platforms, surpassing even other metros. Cafes and pubs are playing host to such performances that offer novelty and diversity leading to more foot-falls.
Vikram Balaji, a stand-up comedian, who has performed in three countries, including over 30 shows in the city started out at open-mic nights. “I started fine tuning the content based on audience response, improved my hosting skills and learnt to work the crowd as well,” says Vikram, who also now organises these events.
S. Aravind, who has been part of the stand-up comedy scene for the past three years, performs in at least one open-mic every week. “It’s a community-driven activity,” says Bhargav. “Now there are 20-odd stand-up artistes in the city who are on first name basis with each other, irrespective of whether they are seniors or newcomers. It creates a democratic space where we learn from each other.”
Troupes like Stray Factory that organises ‘Vangada Rascala’, are entering the field to promote budding talent, that sometimes create avenues for professional acts. These evenings though are not restricted to humour. Nishant B.K., a musician, who along with Shwetha Prasad, organises open music nights, says, “I used to keep complaining about how bad the music scene in Chennai is. So we decided to do something about it and came up with such shows, featuring diverse genres.” Nishant adds, “Fortunately open mics seem to have found a good audience. There have been times when amateurs have faltered on stage yet the audience have been supportive.”
Another group that wants its voice heard is Mocking Birds, a spoken-word poetry project. This group of young poets get together twice a month to perform. The expressions are personal and intense, but the set up is informal and welcoming. Devendran V., founder, has grand plans for the group and hopes that the city will accept a new art form.
At these performances, the quality of content may not always be top-notch. However, that’s not the point of these events, says Aravind. “There are performers taking a leap of faith and trying something new. That’s the purpose of these nights,” says Aravind.
And this culture, that’s conducive for creativity, seems to be growing and how!
All open night nights are free. Check some out!
Comedy Dojo at Lloyd’s Tea House, Alwarpet - Fridays, 8.30 p.m.
Call: 9840392764
Joke Brew at Brew room, Besant Nagar - Saturdays, 6 p.m.
Call: 9941150885
Mic Testing at Social, MRC Nagar - Alternate Sundays, 7 p.m.
Call: 9840612333
Music
One mic stand at Social, MRC Nagar - Alternate Thursdays, 7.30 p.m.
Call: 9176500060
Spoken word poetry
Mocking Birds - Alternate Sundays, 4 p.m.
Call: 8124428186
