If You Want to Tell the Truth, Make Them Laugh

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1. How and when did you choose comedy as a career?

I would like to say how I used to be funny as an infant, making the nurses laugh as I was being born but the reality is much more boring. It actually started with a breakup in 2012. Even that sounds more interesting than it actually is. It's not like I used my pain to become an artist or whatnot, it's just that I had a lot of free time which I would've otherwise spent trying to figure out where to eat along with my ex.

During this free time, I joined a theatre workshop and met a few people which eventually lead me to do my first open mic in June 2012. It was a disaster and not even the friends I brought along laughed. But the producer of the show said that I have a good stage presence and maybe if I wrote actual jokes, I would get a laugh.

After going back to open mics and empty audiences for around a month or two, I got a laugh. As in singular. Being an only child, I would naturally enjoy whatever attention was thrown at me, and so I kept going back. And through sheer persistence, I went from becoming a completely fresh unknown comic to a veteran unknown comic.

And I would still keep going back to the stage.

2. What type of content do you enjoy producing the most and is the most challenging?

Successful jokes is a weird balance between jokes that you want to do, jokes that you are good at doing, and jokes which the audience wants to hear. I might want to do a joke about the Palestine conflict but I wouldn't know how to frame it as a joke or maybe the audience members came to the show to stay away from the depressing world of politics.

Also, politics is really hard to cover while joking about it, which is why you have very few comics who do those kinds of jokes(also the backlash you would face from some random group of fanatics) even though there's a huge market for it from what you can see with the late-night shows in the US.

I personally would prefer Observational Humour which is a good point to start from and is relatable for the audience. Then you can add in your own brand of humor to the mix so that you can make that observation truly yours.

Since I was raised on a diet of shows like The Simpsons and wacky slapstick humor from Tom and Jerry to every Indian movie in the 90s, I would say the kind of jokes I'd like to do is both cynical yet goofy, so that they can laugh first and then feel sad later on thinking about it.

There's only one type of joke I wouldn't do and that's making fun of the downtrodden AKA 'punching down'. This would range from century-old husband-wife jokes or mocking the Gay Community. They already have enough going on for them.

3. Do you prefer digital as a medium or do you enjoy doing live gigs more and why?

I would go for the diplomatic route and say both. As I said, there might be jokes that I don't know or can't perform on stage. But I can still make memes about them or even videos. I used to absolutely hate Instagram Live but of late I have found it fun, like a true sell out.

But there is nothing that will beat the rush and heart palpitations one feels while getting on stage in front of a live crowd. I have literally gone on stage with a cold and sore throat and did a good 7 minutes and came off the show completely cured. True story. I have no idea what the phenomenon was but it sure hasn't happened during my 6-year career as a software tester.

4. People, who are interested in taking up stand-up comedy as a profession, do they need a funny bone, or they can develop one?

There are comedians who have made a successful career despite being a completely unremarkable person. If you want to be a comic, all you need is a lot of perseverance and a lot more self-awareness. Perseverance would make you go back on stage despite how many times you bomb.

Self-awareness would keep you slightly ahead of your own ego. Imagine your teacher whom you used to make fun of because of their pronunciation or weird mannerisms.

Now imagine that teacher making fun of themselves in front of the class and the jokes are funnier than whatever you have said. I am that teacher. Or at least I would like to think so.

5. How stable is being a stand-up comedian as a profession in India? And what is the future of this profession?

In my life, I have been a software tester, an English lecturer, and a stand up comic. Of these, the only job that I would call stable is being a teacher because it's one of those industries that automation can't take away anytime soon. I joined the IT industry in 2008 during the Recession and it was pretty unstable at the time.

I'm not sure where people get his misconception that an engineering job will land you in a stable position, economically or mentally. Comedy being low art, it isn't respected as much as a painter but it's not taken seriously as a desk job. So most of the instability comes from your need to keep proving that what you're doing makes sense, partially to others, and mostly to yourself.

There have been almost 3 times when I wanted to quit the industry but I'm glad I didn't. Comedy is slowly starting to become mainstream now with Indian comics turning up on Netflix. Comedy is even starting to become a counter-culture revolution to political thoughts.

So whether you want to do simple jokes about your childhood or subversive content about the government, there is definitely an audience and platform for you in India. You just need to know how to market yourself and maybe a bit of luck. Also, hope that no one will randomly take offense at your content because they're having a bad day and try to cancel or kill you.

6. What impact do you want to make in this world?

There are two types of comedians I don't want to be. One is the cartoonish physical comic like whatever Jim Carrey became. Despite his talent, he became pigeonholed into those roles for a while. The other is the philosopher type big brain comic that everyone might agree with but no one will laugh too.

Somewhere in between is where the quote "if you want to tell the truth, make them laugh, else they will kill you" exists. People should listen to me and feel entertained enough to relax and laugh about it but later think about what I said.

7. Which is your favorite book and why?

Catch 22, with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in a close second. The acerbic tone of Joseph Heller is something I would always work towards while keeping it creative and light enough as Douglas Adams. If you have not read either of these books, stop reading my boring interview right now and go start with Hitchhikers.

- Vinay Menon, Comedian

- Interviewed by Shilpy Sharan