The post Know Your Comic: Gaurav Kapoor appeared first on Humour Sapiens.
]]>Gaurav Kapoor weaves stories out of things that he sees and experiences and has a funny take on almost all of them – his school, college, office, Royal Enfield, Mumbai flats, Nano – everything under the sun that catches his eyes.
Kapoor credits Zakir Khan for the sudden interest in Hindi stand-up, and admits that he is a fan of Vipul Goyal’s comedy. However he just wants to be like himself, and we are glad!
Here are some quick facts about Gaurav Kapoor:
- Has a journalism degree from Delhi University
- Post Graduate in Fashion Management from National Institute of Fashion Technology
- Worked in the retail sector post qualification
- Won every open mic competition on the Mumbai circuit including Big Mic, Canvas Laugh Club, Chalta Hai and Buzz Off in his early years as a comic
- Opened for Russel Brand on his India Tour
- Recently changed his name from Kapur to Kapoor – neurologically at play here
- Does Saturday ki Rasoi with wife Shreya Sharma
View this post on Instagram
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]]>The post 5 Up and Coming Indian Stand-up Comics appeared first on Humour Sapiens.
]]>Here you go. Check out the up and coming Indian stand-up comics:
Samay Raina:
Winner of Comicstaan 2, Samay is known for sudden quirks and punchlines which he delivers with unwavering confidence. He takes his comedy very seriously and plans on creating an impact with his fresh take on things.
Sriraam Padmanabhan:
The first ever joke that got him a laugh was, “I am Sriraam. I am a South Indian. I’d tell you my last name but we don’t have all night.” This curly-haired comic uses humour as a coping mechanism to deal with harsh realities of life. Sriraam Padmanabhan started doing stand-up comedy for fun, took a break for a while and got back with a bang. And we are glad!
Pavitra Shetty:
Always full of energy and extremely friendly, Pavitra aka Pavi is brimming with enthusiasm. She decided to give stand-up comedy a chance when her friends tagged her in a random open mic event post. And we are glad she chanced upon it.
Sumaira Shaikh:
A dream that never saw the light of the day; Sumaira Shaikh wanted to study psychology but thanks to her frequent visits to CLC (Canvas Laugh Club) that she zeroed upon comedy gigs. Shaikh has worked behind the scenes with AIB, as a writer on Abish Mathew’s Son of Abish and Sumukhi Suresh’s Behti Naak and web series Pushpavalli. She now be seen regularly performing in Mumbai comedy events.
Sumit Sourav:
Discovered on the television comedy hunt – The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, Sumit Sourav started doing live stand-up comedy in Bangalore before moving to make a mark in the Mumbai comedy scene. He also showcased his skills in the second season of Comicstaan 2.
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]]>The post Tête-à-Tête with Harsh Gujral appeared first on Humour Sapiens.
]]>Humour Sapiens got into a Tête-à-Tête with Harsh Gujral. Read more about the boy next door here!
1. How did you develop interest in stand-up comedy? What was your first stage experience like?
Comedy always interested me. During school too, I was one of the mischievous kids and made my friends laugh. When I first visited London; yes, I got a chance to stay there for a year *insert ahem ahem*. It was there that I saw stand-up comedy live for the first time. That made me sit up and look for comedy videos, and it was the videos of Jeeveshu bhai that I saw first. Instantly, I marked him an email and I told him that I was keen on performing with him. To which he responded saying, “write your comedy material and start performing at open mics to start with.” When I searched for places that host open mics, Canvas Laugh Club came up and I looked more about it. After calling them up, I got to know what open mic really was. But I didn’t start immediately. I went to watch an open mic and checked out how was it done. It was an entirely different ambiance, I realised. Completely baffling. I waited for a week, wrote content and then performed at an open mic. Now you know how talented I am. I had to Win and I Won. *insert another ahem ahem* As I won that open mic, my first open mic, it gave me some confidence that yes, I can do this and maybe this was something I always wanted to do. So, yea, I was always interested in comedy, but Canvas gave me a platform to kickstart this as a career.
My first stage experience was mind-blowing. Any and every dirty joke I could think of, I did them all in under 4 mins, and Delhi audience was having a great time, undoubtedly! They thoroughly enjoyed the non-veg kind of jokes and were applauding endlessly. It left me wondering…what’s the matter with these guys. But I was enjoying too.
I still have that snippet video of my first performence that I got filmed secretly. It wasn’t that great in comparison to how I perform now. But that’s how a stage works. The more you perform, the better to become. But all in all, it was a great experience.
2. How has the journey been so far? Were there any challenges that you had to face?
Up till now, my journey has been quite satisfactory. And I am very thankful to God almighty for it. I used to watch other artists’ videos on YouTube and wondered how those people could be so talented and creative to carry out such a difficult art form in front of so many people. Now that I share stage with them, I feel happy about how far I have come. It has been great till now and if god willing, it will be such in future too!
If I talk about challenges, in my opinion stand-up is an individual challenge that you face every time you get on to that stage to perform. You have to create jokes and keep the audience entertained. Though there are phases when you can’t think of anything and you begin to feel that it is over, but it is not! No one helps you in that moment and says, “okay buddy, I can perform on your behalf.” You have to pull yourself together and keep the show going. It’s a continuous challenge for you; an everyday challenge. You fall back, you lose, you get up and try again. Just keep doing your bit, things will automatically fall into place.
3. What was the reaction of your family when they got to know about your encounter with stand-up comedy?
My parents were not able to understand initially as to what I was actually doing. Whenever I told them I am going to perform at an open mic, they seemed clueless about it. Eventually, they understood that I perform on stage and do comedy. But weren’t quite sure as to what do I do. They felt, I go and perform everyday but never come back with any money. This was an alien concept to them.
It was quite funny that they didn’t understand that why did they have to send me money while I was in college and even when I was working.
My mom used to ask me every day after shows if I got some money, and when I responded saying that I had to spend a few hundred, she used to laugh at me saying, “you are the first comic who pays to perform.” Things were different back then; she had a hard time understanding the concept of open mics. The situation is different now, she feels better. Earlier when I used to say, I will quit my job, they discouraged saying, “you shouldn’t let go off a fixed monthly salary amount.” But now parents are happy and supportive of what I am doing. Now they say, “do whatever you love. Don’t do job if you don’t like.” Things have changed with time.
4. Any take on regional comedy?
Regional comedy is definitely good for India, because most of us do comedy in Hindi and can cater to a wide set of audience pan India. But regional comedy allows people to have references from their colloquial language in the jokes, and that immediately becomes a connecting factor. Regional comedy has a bright future. Slowly you will see people performing more and more in their local dialects. But I will still be doing Hindi comedy. Whenever anyone asks me to even say a punch in English, I say no! But I don’t deny, regional comedy is good for the scene, good for the art form. When people will do regional comedy, more people will get attracted to this art form, more audience will be seen appreciating it.
5. Any experience with annoying audience member?
The audience cannot really annoy you if you are annoying enough, right? When it comes to my shows, I am more annoying than the people who come to see my shows. I try my best that none of them leaves the premises alive. 
See, the logic is simple, if they cannot breathe, they cannot annoy! Up till now, I have been pretty successful in sucking up the last straw of life in them.
But it happens. Like, in one of the shows I did for doctors, really aged doctors – the kind who would need doctors to accompany them to ensure their well-being. It was hard to make them understand any kind of jokes.
One of the aged doctors, started walking, real slow, and kept walking until he reached me. I was oblivious to the fact that the tortoise had me as the target. He came towards me, snatched my mic and said, “this pretention of jokes and mimicry must end right now. Now I will tell the jokes.” (Ye chutkule sunaane ka jo dhong kiya jaa raha hai, usey abhi samapt kiya jaye. Ab hum chutkule sunayenge.) I was stunned. The next thing he did left me speechless…
He took his phone out from his pocket and started reading whatsapp forwards. It wasn’t that he memorised those jokes. If he’d done that, I would have let him tell jokes. But you cannot really mess with oldies. They are the kings in their own sweet world. They can do whatever they wish.
So, yes, apart from this, there has hardly been a case where anyone other than me has been so annoying, be it at school, college or office. I take pride in it.
6. Any bombing moment you’d like to share?
Bombing is inevitable. Everyone bombs.
By the blessing of the god, there have been extremely insignificant bombing moments in my life. There hasn’t been any such moment where I destroyed my act beyond repair. So, when the jokes aren’t working, I switch to talking to the audience. Because I know, once I talk, I will find something to joke about from it and then return to my original pace and carry on with jokes from there on. There are times when jokes fall flat, but I manage then! Isn’t that what we call experience?
The day you try everything and attempts to make them laugh by hook or crook are not working…understand that day…It’s the audience that’s bad.
7. Who is your favourite comic?
My favourite comic from India has to be Kapil Sharma. When I used to see him perform on TV and say certain lines, I realised, some of the lines were what I had already used in my life, and now I saw him saying those on TV which people seemed to like. I was able to relate and found that my style is similar to his. I feel he is the legend in the TV comedy scene.
When it comes to YouTube and other stand-up comics in the scene, I really like Anubhav Bassi. We have performed together, and I have seen him become a star from the start of his journey. When you see someone rise up, their journey, you appreciate their efforts even more. I like other comics too…I like Zakir Khan. Recently, I shared the stage with him and realised that this man was meant to be a success.
I like myself too, I like my comedy as well. “Mai apna favourite hun” This is the lesson I have learnt from girls. You should better be your favourite, don’t care if anyone else likes you or not.
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]]>The post Pratyush Chaubey’s new video Inferiority Complex appeared first on Humour Sapiens.
]]>Here are the highlights of Pratyush Chaubey’s Inferiority Complex:
When you don’t have stage fright, but lack of confidence.
When even talking to a waiter gives you jitters.
First flight experience be like.
Problems people face after buying an iPhone for the sake of showing off.
There’s more to it, check out the complete video here:
Also Read: Pratyush Chaubey’s Job Nahi Chhodni Chahiye Thi
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]]>The post Tête-à-Tête with Pratik Jain appeared first on Humour Sapiens.
]]>He has performed at Canvas Laugh Club and Comics yeh bindaas hai, and can be often seen in open mics and corporate events. He also loves to pen down his thoughts in his blog: www.mytwonhalfcents.com. Humour Sapiens got into a tête-à-tête with Pratik Jain. Know more about this Delhi comic here.
1. How did you develop interest in stand-up comedy?
Few years ago, I started writing my blog (www.mytwonhalfcents.com). It is largely my (humorous) take on life, which received a good response. Also, I used to be master of ceremony (MC) in my official events and few people used to laugh at my jokes (now at times I think they did it on purpose to create a delusion). Then someone suggested that I should try auditioning at Canvas Laugh Club for Open Mics and gradually my interest developed further.
2. What was your first stage experience like?
I was quite nervous on my first open mic, though I had been on stage earlier (in official gatherings). There were a couple of my office colleagues in the audience and I couldn’t complete my set in allotted 4 minutes and the buzzer went off! I was hugely embarrassed and avoided eye contact with my colleagues for next few days. 
3. How has the journey been so far? Were there any challenges that you had to face? And key achievements?
Well, it’s been almost a year now and the journey has seen its own highs and lows. Initially open mics were tough. Sometimes I would need to stop for using a cuss word on a ‘clean comedy’ event and sometimes I would forget the punches. Gradually, things started improving though and I started preparing more. Other challenge was that my genre of comedy is more observational and corporate style, whereas many times audiences were college going kids or youngsters. I had to therefore learn a bit of ‘elephant & ant’ jokes and also things people of that age could relate to.
Over last few months, I have started getting some recognition. The first show in September 2019 (with couple of others) was a ‘sold out’ and that gave me a lot of confidence and I also got a ‘certificate of awesomeness’ in an Open Mic. Now, I am getting called for some corporate gigs and that’s the space I really like.
I feel that bringing smiles to people’s faces is Godly and should qualify as a ‘religion’. Everytime I am able to do this, it feels like an achievement.
4. Any experience with annoying audience member?
Every time when the audience doesn’t laugh, I find them super annoying. I tell them that my jokes are good but it needs ‘intelligence’ to understand
I remember one time while doing a joke on ‘Commander Abhinandan’ (who was held captive in Pakistan) about him being a ‘Jain’ where an audience member shouted ‘he is from south India’. At first, I ignored him but he again repeated himself after a minute. It was difficult telling him to shut up…you see there is great power in alcohol.
5. Any bombing moment you’d like to share?
Lots of them actually. I have had cases where there has not been a single laugh in my 5 minutes on stage and people staring at me as if I am an alien. I have had instances where I have forgotten the set on stage and also where I got off in 2 minutes. Each time when I bomb, I say to myself…’apna time aayega’!
For sure, Pratik! Humour Sapiens wishes you good luck on this funny journey!
Follow him on Facebook.
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]]>The post Parvez Hassan’s Delhi Metro & Love Jihaad appeared first on Humour Sapiens.
]]>He mostly talks of things that are related to love, religion and politics, in a way only he can. His narration style is as funny as his content. Parvez uses satire and a politically accurate way to take a dig at the societal norms in practice for ages. His stories are inspired from his personal experiences and pretty much relatable. Parvez Hassan’s new video Delhi Metro & Love Jihaad is not in support of people who blatantly force others to change themselves or their religion for the sake of love. He says, “Love is a beautiful thing, it goes beyond religion/caste/gender, please don’t let it die.”
Here are the highlights of his video:
Things to do when you are stuck with creepy #Sanskaari uncles in a metro
What to do when you get involved in the eternal love affair
Challenges faced at Rajiv Chowk metro station in Delhi
It’s time you take a stand
There’s more to it than just this!
Watch Parvez Hassan’s Delhi Metro & Love Jihaad here:
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]]>The post Alle Baby Shona: Standup Comedy by Anshu Mor appeared first on Humour Sapiens.
]]>He recently came up with his new video – Alle Baby Shona. It’s a Standup Comedy by Anshu Mor wherein he states that every teenager thinks that ‘Baap ko bewakoof bana sakte hain!‘. The video begins with a tweet wherein he calls his son, his content. As we proceed, we know why. This set is dedicated to his son and Anshu surely wasn’t very kind to him. He talks about everything from his locked room, to girlfriend and everything else that his son thinks that his father is unaware of.
Here are the highlights for us:
His action of entering his 17 year old’s room = His 17 year old’s reaction
Measures you take when you have a grown-up son
No room for you in my room scenario
On progressive parenting
Entering a teenager’s room without knocking can lead to mishaps
Watch his Alle Baby Shona, laugh out loud and pray his son doesn’t disown him:
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]]>The post Sriraam Padmanabhan & his quirky tales appeared first on Humour Sapiens.
]]>He stepped back on stage, some four years ago, seriously funnily. Having performed at Canvas Laugh Club and open mics, the whole process became enjoyable for him and worth investing time on.
Sriraam went on to share his video on PornHub
Hi! Due to atrocious view count, I have now uploaded my half-hour stand up video on PornHub.
Watch '1 Man Struggles to Impress 50 Paid Onlookers':https://t.co/lMPs5lK9yj
Please RT?
— Sriraam Padmanabhan (@sriraamp) May 14, 2019
Here we share a few video gems from Sriraam Padmanabhan:
Bollywood & Biopics
He talks about how Bollywood is churning one biopic after another – From Azhar to Sanju. And Akshay Kumar who by now might be suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder.
The Times of Comedy
He talks about his experience of performing for the Times of India employees and his horrid tale of out-of-order printers at a printing press.
News & Nuisance – The Full Half Hour
His new video, News & Nuisance is a full 30-minute set which he shared with this tweet.
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]]>The post Chinmay Mhatre on School & Fat-shaming appeared first on Humour Sapiens.
]]>He has performed along with some of the greatest Indian comedians like Tanmay Bhat, Daniel Fernandes, Anuvab Pal, Aditi Mittal, Vipul Goyal, Biswa, Abish, Sorabh Pant, Vasu Primlani, Nitin Mirani, Sapan Verma, Angad Singh Ranyal, Abhishek Upmanyu, to list a few. He has performed at major venues like Comedy Store (Mumbai, Pune), Canvas Laugh Club (Mumbai), Euriska (Mumbai), Indian Comedy Club, and many more gigs.
Here’s his video School & Fat-Shaming, where he talks about Rejections, State Board School and Growing up fat. He talks about how one of his school-mates used poetry as a medium of fat-shaming, how he got accepted and rejected in a week, how he is still a fatso at heart.
Check out, relate, laugh!
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]]>The post Srijan Kaushik: The comical version of Sheldon Cooper appeared first on Humour Sapiens.
]]>Generous life offered so many different scenarios and options to pursue but somehow Srijan succeeded at being mundane (he says, we don’t believe) and went on to do his engineering and MBA.
When he is not writing or performing, Srijan Kaushik can be found procrastinating, daydreaming, and making excuses to ditch upcoming visits to his dentist.
Check out Srijan Kaushik’s funny videos
On Family secrets being revealed, friends unfriended, suggestions on what to write on tombstone & annoying family whatsapp groups
On having generic staff face, brutal Delhi auto-wallahs, bald men
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