Indian Stand-Up Comics Are Fighting Amongst Themselves And No One's Having The Last Laugh

“Comedy is the last bastion of free speech.” – Bill Hicks The greatest achievement of stand-up in India is that it exists. That's a major upgrade from obscurity! Zakir Khan, Abhishek Upamanyu and Aditi Mittal have become household names. These people are earning a living by talking on a stage for an hour and from an outsider's perspective, that is incredible. “He came up with that on the spot!” or “Her way of talking is just naturally funny!” are common phrases that stunned audience members say after witnessing a good performance. It's easy to forget but the stand-up artist is selling an illusion or an act, one where he/she always comes out on top. But, behind the curtain, their lives and their beliefs are not as hilarious as they seem to be on stage. © Youtube Zakir Khan Indian stand-up is plagued with issues that are unique to an emergent comedy scene trying to survive in a predominantly conservative society. There are multiple cases of upcoming stand-up comedians having to use the back doors of bars to make hasty exits because one person 'mentioned Ganpati' in their joke. At another gig, another person was simply talking about the freedom struggle, making fun of the British royalty in fact, and one drunk audience member's reaction was to force the organiser to shut the show down immediately. Because of one drunk uncle who wouldn't understand irony if it slapped him in the face, that show and all future comedy shows at that venue were scrapped. The most unfortunate example is that of a hardworking and ruthlessly funny new comic having to flee Mumbai for making a joke on Mumbai airports. Since the AIB roast, this last instance has had a major impact on comics all over the country – they now know where the line is and it's pretty close. Several other incidents like the dog-filter on PM Modi's face, the death threats that Kunal Kamra receives on a daily basis, or the arrest of Kiku Sharda for mimicking Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, have cemented the idea that the laws of our apparently democratic country are not conducive for free speech. Not so funny now, eh? © YouTube Kunal Kamra For an art-form that relies on political incorrectness, this is an alarming and discouraging sign for both, the performer and the audience. For those wondering why Indian comics are not as funny as Western comics, not only are we lagging behind in terms of age (stand-up in the US is over 40 years old, we're barely 7) but our freedom to experiment is diminishing. If Lenny Bruce didn't dare to experiment, there would be no George Carlin nor Richard Pryor. If we can't make fun of airports, how will we ever reach the comedic maturity to make fun of the human condition? Although the scene is mostly united against such intolerance, other factors such as plagiarism and blacklisting of comics due to difference of opinion have led to infighting, often on Twitter. For example, a comedian who had performed twice alleged that another relatively unknown comic stole one of his jokes. When they met the next time at a bar gig, he was called out on-stage, which led to a post-show scuffle which was, unfortunately, more entertaining than their individual performances. They used the mic stand a lot more creatively off-stage. Oh and fun fact: they both haven't performed since. © Youtube Abhishek Upmanyu Stand-up is an art-form that celebrates individuality, but almost everybody belongs to a clique even if it's not officially branded with three random letters. The green room is where members of different cliques are forced to communicate with each other and it's becoming increasingly tough to distinguish between healthy jibes and mean-spirited bullying. It's almost as if some comics take it upon themselves to make sure that everyone has a thick skin, as if the audience's response wasn't enough. For example, it has become normalized to make fun of a particular Mumbai comic who's been doing comedy for a long time without much success. Newcomers start roasting him casually, commenting on his jokes, his persona, his belief system, completely disregarding the challenging nature of the comedy circuit. It's a shame that such jokes about a fellow comic have become icebreakers, it's objectively cruel and insensitive. Clearly, the green room is not a positive working environment for anyone except comics and even barely for comics. It's as if the green room owes its colour to its toxicity. © Twitter Abhinav singh To understand why, you need to understand the kind of people who do comedy for a living. These are frank, opinionated people who practise the art of making others believe in their point of view. Being a contrarian is a prerequisite. Comics are used to having no filter and won't hesitate from employing the most absurd reasoning to get their thoughts across. This kind of brutal honesty brings out the worst in people, although to be fair, we can't expect edgy stand-up if no one is experimenting with dark, forbidden thoughts. But, when taken out of context, these ideas often lead to miscommunication, bullying and on rare occasions, hand-to-hand combat. And now you know why Indian comedians are trying to be fit and muscular. Ironically, some comics find it hard to take jokes on themselves. A new comic from Gujarat, Ramesh Jain, was banned by two producers (often, the producers are comics themselves) for commenting on the secluded location of the venue and how the tickets were overpriced. Since then, these producers have spread the word and made it tough for Ramesh to get on stage, whereas Ramesh is asking other comics to boycott their venues. Regardless of who wins this petty fight, comedy will lose. © Youtube The Viral Fever Furthermore, the *** ratio of the circuit is far from impressive. Almost all producers in Mumbai reserve spots for comediennes and all-female line-ups are advertised to encourage more women to be part of the scene. Even these little attempts at improving the gender balance in the scene don't receive unanimous support. Implying some sort of reverse-sexism, certain male open micers feel that their stage time is being unfairly taken by female comics. The scene is struggling with questions like, “Is everything fine on stage since everything is more or less fiction anyway? Is it ok to say a sexist joke if it's hilarious? Can a comic play a funny racist character on stage without being branded as racist in real life?” The underlying question is that is comedy the be-all and end-all? Or should it take the back seat when placed against an important cause like women empowerment? These are questions that no one really has an answer to, but questions that need significant thought. Furthermore, comics expressing their opinion on Twitter is often interpreted as virtue signalling and there's a reason for that. Some senior comics did call an open house meeting to form an Internal Complaints Committee to make the scene a safe, harassment-free zone for everyone. This was heralded as a revolutionary idea since the comedy circuit has always been a fragmented, unorganised space. The result was the creation of an eponymous Facebook group. Although a step in the right direction, not much else has happened since. We comedians may be just as inefficient as the government we criticise so often. Conclusion If the idea of becoming a comedian excites you, think again. For every famous comic you know, there are hundreds of funny people who haven't made it yet, and part of the reason is the way the circuit works. The business of comedy mimics the nature of the art-form – one person armed with nothing but their opinions against hundreds, even thousands of people as they advance in their career. Those who make it must really love the process of writing jokes because the Indian stand-up circuit is a tough place to be in regardless of the number of views on a YouTube channel. This is the real Great Indian Laughter Challenge and it's only going to get better. Disclaimer: Images for representational use only!