Jokes up his sleeve

Standup comic Amogh Ranadive, who recently performed at That Comedy Club in the city, wears many hats.

He has been writing for television shows for the past 3 years and also works with Vir Das, India’s most popular comedian, as the head writer in his company ‘Weirdass Comedy’.

One of India’s most popular comedians, he has been performing all over the country and loves the crowd in Bengaluru; for he describes them as “intelligent, politically oriented and tech-savvy.”

 He chats with Anushka Sivakumar on his tryst with comedy and how he works with his material.

How did comedy begin for you?

I started by writing scripts for Television. Around the same time, open-mics had just begun at various venues in Mumbai and I decided to try out at one of them, as a lot of what I was writing for Television was comedy anyway. I put together a script of 2 minutes and it worked. Eventually, things just took off when I started doing more shows.

How is writing for TV and stage different?

They are both very different. I am catering to a different audience in the former. There are also a lot of censorship laws one has to deal with when they write for Television. A lot of what I wrote was filtered down. However, there is always something cool about seeing your material on air. On stage, there is some liberty I can take with my script.

Your inspiration to write?

Just the life around me. I write a lot about my experiences and observations. My day involves just waking up, walking in Mumbai and observing how the average Indian life unfolds. Most of my references are also around Maharashtra, as the setting and environment of the state is most closest to me.

Do you have to tailor your material if you’re performing at different cities?

Not a lot. I do a little bit of research and try to understand local references of that city. For example, every city will always have an ice cream parlour where old people walk in or some famous, shady bar.

So I try to understand the equivalent of that place and make a joke around it. Before my show, I also see if the city has been on the news lately or is famous for something and then weave a joke around it so that my material stays relevant.

Are you scared about the competition in standup comedy?

I am not scared. The good part about this kind of the competition is that its healthy. We don’t look at each other as rivals. We are all friends who help each other and we all share a nice relationship. The experienced comics help the younger lot. So there is nothing to worry about.

The funniest incident that happened on stage?

I was performing in Mumbai when the power went off suddenly, in the middle of my show. Once then emergency lights were switched on, I could see everyone looking at me in an awkward, weird way. They all wondered what I was going to do. I also had no idea but spent the next 5 minutes just standing there and
shouting jokes so that my voice could be heard that the back.

What scares you the most?

The philosophical answer to that is losing my loved one. The funny answer is a wardrobe malfunction on stage

How do you think the world will end?

Jokes will be so censored that people will get bored and kill themselves eventually. We are actually the saviours of the world.

How do you want your obituary to read?

He existed. He did good things. He left.