The season of gifts and monetary reaps for the sister, and burnt pockets for the brother – all of them seemingly happy with this arrangement.

Even if the sister is double the size of her brother, in both height and girth, quite unlikely to ever need his raksha, she still circles three times her thali and joyfully tuck into all the gifts she gets in return.

But do you know when did this all begin?

We realise Humour Sapiens’ posts are supposed to be humorous, a little peek into the history is just fine – trust us!

So, since we are talking about Rakhi festival, there is an old, famous legend circling the Mughal emperor, Humayun. Legend has it that the widowed Rani Karnavati sent a rakhi to Humayun seeking his protection against Sultan Bahadur Shah. But by the time the emperor made a grand entry at Chittor, his rakhi sister had already set herself on fire. *Oops!*

According to another legend, the ritual of Raksha Bandhan was followed by Yama – the Lord of Death and Yamuna – the river that flows in India. Yamuna tied a rakhi to Yama, and the lord of death granted her immortality declaring that any brother who has tied a Rakhi and promised to protect his sister would also become immortal. *What about the sister’s immortality?*

We think, to compensate for immortality, the sisters are given gifts. Fair! Who needs immortality anyway?

Since we are a modern generation that believes in equality, the gifting norm on Raksha Bandhan has become a two way street.

Thinking of what could be a best gift for your brother or sister – every year – can be exhausting. After all, there is only so much that your sibling could need. And the situation gets unwieldy if your sibling is a comic. Right?

Fret not! Here we share the list to make your gift gifting easier this Raksha Bandhan.

Rakhi gifts for your stand-up comic sibling:

1. Box of Insults:

Given the fact that your comedian sibling is already used to heckling and people taking offence at their jokes, a small reminder of their stage time, BC – before coronavirus era, would be nice, and wicked. Buy on Oye Happy here.

2. Tumse Na Ho Payega Mug:

A little reminder never hurts might hurt them a little, and they might hurt you a little. But it’s like butterscotch cool, sweet and clever. Buy on Amazon here. 

3. Owl Kettle:

For the times, your sibling stays up scripting, working hard on their craft. Caffeine shall keep them up and running. Buy on Amazon here.

4. Vipassana Meditation Chair:

Performers go through a lot of stress. With this cushy chair, not only can they medicate, but also comfort their butt when performing live on calls (Thanks to COVID). This chair can help them reduce stress while sitting for longer durations. Buy on Seniority here.

5. Bubble Wrap:

For the moments when they bomb, or aren’t so happy about their performance, this a gift they can use. We all must agree on this one thing, bubble wrap makes everyone happy. Buy on Amazon here.

For more such ideas, check this out!

The post Rakhi gifts for your stand-up comic sibling appeared first on Humour Sapiens.

How did you get into comedy?

I have always been that guy in the group who loves to make people laugh but never had enough confidence to perform in front of strangers. I used to watch videos of funny stand-up comics on facebook and YouTube. All was okay, except the frustrating work life, which made me want to vent out. And what better way than laughing it off! I looked up for a venue for open mic and bang! my first open mic in Enerjuvate Jayanagar happened on 8th October 2017. That’s how the journey into the world of comedy began.

What have been your key achievements?

There are not many, but all are special. I have a long way to go!

However, appreciation from Manish Tyagi for whom I opened when he was in Bangalore was precious.

Apart from that, I once performed at a common ground event organised by Art Khoj and people loved my performance to an extent that they followed me on social media and started attending my shows. Art Khoj gave me an opportunity to perform at Jindal Steel Plant at Bellary.

Any bombing moments you could think of?

There are quite a few. But the one that I remember clearly is of a performance at one of the finest comedy clubs of the country. It was 2017 Comedy Festival open mic at ‘That Comedy Club’ and I bombed so bad that I could hear people yawning during my set.

What have been the challenges faced by you?

Before starting stand-up, the last time I was on stage was in my school days to sing National Anthem. So, overcoming stage fear was difficult. However, I sometimes feel it coming back before I have to make an appearance on the stage. But one gets better each day! Also, another challenge which wasn’t much of a challenge for me until I was told of my habit of speaking really fast and audience failing to follow what I said. Slowly and gradually, I am getting better in that too.

Any experience with any annoying audience member?

Not directly, but the beer mug incident that happened with Akshay Laxman (where an enraged patron flanged beer mug at him), I was in that lineup. It made me feel, people really should learn to take jokes. It would be quite interesting to see a course being added in Indian Education System  but I loved the attitude with which Akshay, Abhinav and Hippo Laugh Club dealt with the whole issue.

Connect with Rahul Robin on Instagram: @rahulrobin2611

The post Tête-à-Tête with Rahul Robin appeared first on Humour Sapiens.

How did you get into comedy?

I always wanted to do comedy and was keen on writing for faking news. However, I was very hesitant to be on stage and perform in front of people staring right back at me. I was introduced to Toastmasters by my colleague and friend Kaushal. I tried a few humorous speeches and landed to the open mics, which of course I bombed. But I took liking to this process and kept hitting open mics. And I believe, I am doing fairly well. Nevertheless, there is a long way to go.

What challenges did you face?

Initially, it was very hard to get spots. But luckily, at that time there were few open mics which I used to register for by taking leave from office. Being a comedian with a day job, getting to the shows was one of the biggest challenges I faced. But once the jokes work, everything is fine, the world is back to normal.

Your key achievements?

I recently did my 30 mins of jokes, I consider it as one of my achievements.

Any bombing moments you remember?

Hahaha. I remember I had a bet with Sparsh who kills harder than anyone I know that I will rock it. It was a show in the Big Pitcher, Indiranagar and under the pressure of performing well I bombed. Everyone was doing so well, and I had everyone looking at me with a poker face. It was embarrassing. But the next spot I got in the Big Pitcher I didn’t disappoint. I had people giving me laughs. My bombing heart understood what peace meant.

Any experiences with annoying audience members?

I recently had an open mic where one dude began hackling. Apparently, he was drunk and accompanying a female friend. I tackled him a bit and luckily, he received a call and stepped out. Later, after the open mic, he came to me and he sportingly said that he was just checking my capabilities of responding to a hackler. He mentioned how he was attempting to make me a better comic. However, he did get a wee bit nice later and complimented me on handling it well, at the same time suggested a few things I could possibly do to better myself.

Connect with Manish Chaubey on Instagram: @chaubey9001

The post Tête-à-Tête with stand-up comic Manish Chaubey appeared first on Humour Sapiens.

His humour connects with all segments of audience, and he has a strong comedy appeal not only in India but across the globe. He has done international shows across 12 countries US, UK, London, Melbourne, Thailand, Singapore, to list a few.

Popularly known as the married guy of the stand-up comedy circuit, here are Amit Tandon’s famous three videos.

When he talked about the reason for traffic in Delhi – Curious?

One where he unveil the secret of married men. With such insight, No wonder he is referred to as the married guy of the stand-up comedy circuit.

When he shared his experience with Five Star hotels and why he never feels at home there.

The post Hilarious 3 videos from Amit Tandon appeared first on Humour Sapiens.

How did you develop interest in comedy? When did you decide to pursue it as a stand-up comic?

I have been an introvert trapped in the body of an extrovert. Back in school, I used to be that naughty kid of the class, who had an expert yet funny opinion on every thing happening in the classroom. Often tagged as the funny kid amid friends, I always had that funniness inside wanting to come out wherever it saw the opportunity. To top that funny side of mine, I was a state-level basketball player.

However, things changed after 10^th standard, seriousness came into life, subduing the funniness. After entering the engineering college, and having some time at hand, a friend and I created two videos. One out of those was on girls reacting to friend requests on social media. It happened to be quite raw and was apparently liked by all in my college. This motivated us to create a second one, which was well thought than the previous video and shot in a better manner as well. This video too was loved by most.

Back then, stand-up comedy wasn’t a career, this art form was visible only in hasya kavi sammelans (poetry meets).

But when I came to Bangalore, seeds were sowed when a friend showed me Russel Peters videos. And looking at him made me feel, I could do that too. When I look back, I laugh at my audacity to think that I could pull of acts like Russel Peters. Soon enough, I got engrossed into this art.

It was in 2017 that I started giving it a serious thought, and started watching comedy properly in order to understand the nitty-gritties of the art. I realized, being fun and funny are two different things. Being a fun person sitting at the back bench in a classroom is absolutely different than being funny while standing in front of a room full of spectators.  I decided to stop being a procrastinator and write something funny, but I needed an audience to test my content. Having written two jokes, which still work well for me, I decided to perform at my first open mic at the Jagriti Theatre.

With shaky legs and sweaty palms, I approached the mic, but by the time my turn came, only a handful people were left. It goes with saying, I bombed. The very next day, I joined the comedy workshop, and after a few weeks, the improvement was pretty much visible.

In this process, what started as an interest, became something I loved doing. Thereafter, I did several shows at events hosted by The Orange Octopus. And performed for a larger audience of close to 40.

Since then, I am a regular at stand-up open mics and associated with Suno Bey, a comedy group.

How did you meet your team from Suno Bey?

I met my team at the workshop I attended. The workshop was led by Ram, and that was where I got a chance to meet like-minded people, people who didn’t just think it was cool but were passionate about this art form as well. These people were genuinely interested in comedy. And we hit instantly! Resultant, Suno Bey!

Suno Bey does free shows. Don’t you think that makes things difficult for those who earn a living through stand-up?

We started off at the Cubbon park, crowd sourcing the audience. We narrate our jokes in front of them in order to get an idea about the joke we have written. There is one thing that I have learnt, ‘Never test your content with friends, but with strangers’, for your friends know who you are and where the joke is coming from. While a complete stranger who doesn’t have a background of that story will be able to give you a reality check.

So, what we perform at Cubbon is free because it is for testing waters, while the rest of our comedy events are Open Mics, and thus Free! We realize that it was a mistake at our end to have called our open mics as shows. Now, we are wary about not mentioning our events as shows and have started giving spots to other stand-up comics as well.

The intent is not to spoil the scene for those pursuing it full time, but to encourage more people to attend our events.

It has been cool, full of learnings about the length of the spot, maintaining the sequence of the jokes and the way stories are to be narrated. These things affect the laughter. However, one year is a too small a period to restrict the learnings in the journey. There’s a long road to travel and a lot to be learnt.

Worst Bombing moment?

Bombing is fine, you’ll bomb more than you kill. One of the worst bombing moments has been at FoxTrot. Event was in a weekday and no one seemed interested. I was confident that I will go on the stage and kill it, but unfortunately, no one was interested even then. Though I don’t think my set was bad at all, because there was one group who was aware of someone talking with a mic in hand. Regrettably, in the middle of my act, they too left. I watched them leaving and in an impulse decided to get off the stage.

Another learning here was; you have to be so good that the audience listens. You cannot really blame the audience for being disinterested.

Any encounters with annoying audience members?

I encourage audience interaction; I do get replies from spectators. But as far as annoying people are concerned who keep on interfering and have an expert opinion on whatever is being said on the stage. These people think they are funnier than the person holding the mic. So, I invite such people on stage to share their funniness or politely tell them that they are in a wrong show. It’s not really a debate show. This mostly has been working for me till now.

Connect with Rishabh Kanishka on Instagram: rishabhkanishka

The post Tête-à-Tête with Rishabh Kanishka appeared first on Humour Sapiens.

The last weekend of 2018 was spent at the wonderful Zee5 Loft, Bengaluru amid the promising stand-up comics, at a show organized by The BlackBuck Comedy. Watching the house packed with heads enjoying and appreciating the power-packed performers was indeed a delight.

Good food, Great show, what else would you want on a Sunday night?

Maninder Singh aka Funny Manney was our host for the evening, and oh boy, what a host he was! Full of energy, crazy thoughts and the charm to keep you hooked whenever he stepped on stage. Being a North Indian living in the South, he sure had an insight. For the starters, he screwed up the famous Bollywood song “Kundi Matt Khadkao Raja…”, for ‘Kundi’ in Kannada means ‘Ass’ and in the North means ‘Latch’. We’d leave the rest to your imagination.

The lineup included Anand Rathnam, Manish Chaubey, Joteen Patro, Gautham Govindan, Arun Kiran, Lakshaya Malhotra and Sumit Sourav.

The first performer for the night, well technically, the second was Gautham, who broke the ice with the audience by making fun, of himself of course. He talked about his teeth being so crooked that it appeared to be the inside of a zip file. You got to see him to believe him, and that’s not it, he has other quirky tales to share too.

Then came Arun Kiran who could make you giggle just by the way he delivers his sets. This 26-year-old has a passion for poverty, or so he says, which is why he decided to pursue engineering and comedy. Big fan of Shaktiman, Arun is a kickass performer.

Manish Chaubey came next and left us all rolling with laughter. He shared about the atrocities that hit him, the struggles of his parents to recover from identity crisis by getting him kidnapped, and his tough work life where he is his own manager. But there’s a good thing that happened for him in the shitty traffic of Bengaluru, he found a girlfriend. Well, nope. We aren’t going to tell you how. You have to hear him out and go ‘awww’.

It was then time for Lakshaya Malhotra to keep the laugh riot going. And he didn’t disappoint us. The row of atrocities continued when he shared about his experience of watching Marvel & DC English movies dubbed in Hindi. He is certain that Thanos is somewhere here in Bengaluru enjoying Dosas. He signed off with an amazing piece of ‘Relationshit’ advice. Want to know, babu? Head over to his next show.

Joteen Patro came on stage with a mental note of taking autographs of whoever finds him funny. We could have given him ours. He told us that he quit his job, and his girlfriend didn’t, which is why she needs him more than ever, or so he thinks. Sounds strange? Well, not! Watch him to know his secret!

Anand Rathnam came complaining on the stage about how tinder happens to be the most horrible place. More so because, you can be a tea lover, a book lover but not really a kid-lover there. The complaints didn’t end there. He further talked about women and their deceptive leggings. Catch him live to know what’s so deceptive about the leggings.

Last, because late, was Sumit Sourav of the Star Plus’ Great Indian Laughter Challenge fame who talked about how his fans want to see him perform live only if he pays for their train tickets. He also mentioned how you have to parent the parents when they decide to explore the world of social media, because “humne duniya dekhi hai.”

There were a lot more fun jokes and anecdotes in their store, which you can indulge into in The BlackBuck Comedy’s next show.

Book The Tix

Jan 1: The New Year Comedy Show at the Enerjuvate (Jayanagar)

Jan 5: Saturday Comedy Dose 1.0 at Bearfoot Cafe

Humour Sapiens wishes you a year packed with jokes and laughter. Happy New Year!

The post Laughs Over Latte at Zee5 Loft appeared first on Humour Sapiens.

Back in 2011-12, a few comedians came forward on YouTube to make their mark in comedy and they succeeded in doing so. Inspired by them, many others came forward to pursue their passion. Bangalore and Mumbai offered so many opportunities to them and these places soon became a hub for comedians. 

No sooner, comedy became a full-time profession. And we see people pursuing Stand Up comedy full time now. While some of the comics were able to make their mark, many are still struggling to make one. 

Harman Preet Singh, 24 year-old budding comedian, well known in Bangalore Comedy circuit, is trying to make his mark. Harman, who loves being on stage ever since he was a child, is a regular face in the Bangalore comedy circuit.

Here’s what he has to say about becoming a humour sapien.

How did you get into comedy?

Just like many Indians, I too grew up watching Russel Peters. I used to host and manage shows when I was in 11th grade. Since then, I started doing the crowd work and began enjoying being on stage. People started thinking I was a stand-up comedian. Then I realized that maybe I should stick to it.

How has the journey been so far?

September 2015 was when I started hitting the open mics.  After bombing on stage during the open mic, I became low on confidence. And that’s when I took a break from comedy for 6-7 months in the Bangalore circuit. But I didn’t give up on it, and continued my run as a comedian by doing corporate and college gigs on a regular basis, making full use of my stage skills.

April 2016, I hit the Bangalore comedy circuit again and since then I am a regular to the world of comedy.

What are the challenges faced by you?

I did face quite a few challenges which mostly every comic faces when they step on stage – the acceptance from comics and audiences. I am of this opinion that, in order to be a good comic one has to be themselves and the audience should accept you the way you are. Though it took me a few years to reach a level of confidence that I have, however, I believe in giving my best shot on stage in every show I perform in. Your audience can make you or break you, you got to keep them happy.

All the best!

Harman Preet Singh is confident that he will make it big into the scene soon. He follows a practical approach, and says, “Jis din mai funny ho gaya uss din mai kisi ka wait nahi karunga,” without waiting for anyone’s opinion, he would take the world by storm.

Well, we think, had he not chosen to be a comedian, he would have been a great motivational speaker.

The post Tête-à-Tête with Harman Preet Singh appeared first on Humour Sapiens.

How did you develop interest in stand-up comedy?

I enjoyed watching comedy shows since childhood, and seeing those, I too wanted to make people laugh. Even during my school and college days, I used to be the go-to guy for laughs. A bunch of friends used to gather around me and I kept them entertained with jokes, and also roasting them at the same time. I had a certain level of comfort with them, so cracking jokes around them was easy. However, in reality, I suffered stage fright.

My sisters played a major role in me taking the humour route, as interacting with them brought out the funny inside me. Any conversation we had was bound to take a funny twist.

While growing up, I always pictured myself on stage and people listening to me attentively, whenever I said, “Mitronn”. And then one day, I went on stage, thinking that it would be the first and the last time I am being here on stage. I proved myself wrong the day I stepped on it for the second time.

Your first step into the comedy world?

It was during the school time, 8th standard to be precise, when I was asked to read the news during the morning assembly. Something took over me, and all I said was, “India defeated New Zealand by 28 runs. Now prayer by the person behind me.” Naturally, I ended up making fun of myself. The whole batch laughed and I became famous for such creative news reading. I sure was a little embarrassed later, but now, I can still pull such stunts with ease. Perks of being a budding stand-up comic, I guess.

How did you get into stand-up comedy?

The moment anyone asks me this question, I instantly go, “mera breakup ho gaya tha.”

But in reality, I wanted people to listen to me and my perspective of things. Yes, stage fear was always there, I did go on the stage with shaky legs for the first time, but prepared to tell people my perspective of things, whether they judge me or not.

I began attending live comedy shows to gain an idea on how to and what to do on stage. Then came the part where I got to perform at open mics and had amazing audiences to perform to. Which was mostly in single digit. Reality hit me hard!

What pulled me into comedy quite literally was that one open mic where the audience showed up in double digits, some 30 odd people, for a change. This first open gig of mine went pretty good. And gave me a confidence boost. Since then, I have been performing regularly at open mics, hosting shows and loving it!

What are the challenges that you have faced in the journey so far?

There have been quite a number of challenges that I have faced, like ‘single-digit audience members’ or No audience during open mics at all. People not supporting live shows or budding artists feel pretty demoralising. But we comics are on it to change it.

As an aspiring comic, I have faced the lack of opportunities, and this is the reason I decided to do something to attract the audience towards live comedy shows. So, I started a small production house named ‘THE BLACKBUCK COMEDY’. Under this name, I organize various comedy shows and comedy open mics at different venues across Bangalore. Everyone should get a fair chance to showcase the talent they possess. TBC is still growing as a production house, and I hope, it becomes well-recognised one day.

Your key achievements?

I performed for an NGO and contributed to raising funds for the cancer patients.

Opened the show for some big names like Jeeveshu Ahluwalia, who was an idol for me during my initial days of comedy, and still is.

Any bombing moment?

First of all, many people think that bombing is when you do good, just to clarify, bombing in terms of comedy means exactly the opposite of that.

Coming back to the question of bombing ‘moment’, I would say there were ‘moments’ with an ‘S’. And there always will be.

Any comedian who says that they haven’t bombed. Don’t trust, it’s a lie! Bombing is an inseparable part of a comedian’s journey.

I have bombed in front of audience ranging from 300 people to 1 odd person. There have been many instances and there will be in future. It’s just that, the best part of performing at open mics is, your ego goes down to zero or rather, negative. So, you eventually become all cool about bombing. It’s a part and parcel of the comedy world.

There’s a thing, I won’t stop because there are good shows too, where I don’t bomb but crack people up. Not every day is the same.

Any experiences with annoying members?

Not yet! And I hope this doesn’t happen in future. If at all it does, I will have another interesting story to tell at yet another show.

Connect with Lakshaya Malhotra on Instagram: pirated__punjabi

The post Tête-à-Tête with Lakshaya Malhotra appeared first on Humour Sapiens.

HahaKaar has Gaurav’s personal narratives woven finely in the threads of relatability. This keen observation and delivery left us cracking.

Here are the bits that we enjoyed:

To start off, Gaurav talks about the venue, the full house, admiring himself. Stating that a small setting allows him to write ‘Sold Out’ anytime on Facebook.

He smoothly moves on to a bit about housing in Mumbai, mentioning about the two misused words in English Language – ‘Just’ & ‘Only’.

He further went on to educate us on the correct usage of the word ‘ONLY’.

Transitioning to office setups, he raises a valid point that ‘HRs are obsessed with Fridays, aka, Fun Fridays’.

What we loved was his bit about his job at a call center. Packed with jokes about his conversation with a caller in English, and how he explained him the concept of spending and over-spending with a special mention of bedsheets. Also, he told us that language barriers can be ended with wee bit altercations with managers.

Talking about travelling, it’s impossible not to mention Goa. He describes the wannabe tourists of Goa very well.

The way he decided to payback whatever his family did for him, by feeding Crocin to his father and getting cataract surgery done for his mother, both were uncalled for.

To sum up, a comparatively shorter run-time of the show loaded with some funny anecdotes and jokes made it an interesting watch. The high density of punchlines, and the impeccable delivery did delight the audience.

The post Review: Gaurav Kapoor’s Hahakaar appeared first on Humour Sapiens.

How did you develop interest in comedy?

Raised in a family that enjoyed watching comedy serials and sitcoms, inclination towards comedy had to happen. Also, TV was not really an idiot box before K serials appeared and took over. We used to watch every comedy serial broadcasted back then; like, Flop Show, Shrimaan Shrimati, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Hum Paanch, Tu Tu Main Main, Hadd Kar Di, Family No. 1, Hum Sab Ek Hai, Zabaan Sambhal Ke, and the likes.  I still believe Gudgudee on Zee, Aflatoon on SabTV, and The Great Indian *Comedy* Show were the most underrated shows of our times. Enough nostalgia.

To top that all, my family is pretty much into liking live comedy in different forms. My father got me interested in comedy, and he was my companion in discovering comedy shows on TV. He used to take me to Kavi Sammelan (Poetry Recitals). I feel Kavi Sammelans laid the foundation of stand-up comedy culture in India, as it used to be a place where 12-15 poets gathered on stage to recite poems and anecdotes that were either funny or nationalistic. In fact, Kavi Sammelan is the proof that India was always interested in comedy, stand-up comedy just gave it a proper tag and made it a viable career option.

What do you consider was your first step into the comedy world?

I remember my first tryst with comedy. It was in the 4th standard when I became a news reporter for a fancy dress competition. My Mom had my dress sorted but had no idea what I will say on stage to complement my outfit. The only thing I knew was, it had to be something funny. It was the day of the competition, and I still had no material to present. But something clicked, and just half-an-hour before leaving for school I wrote random lines on things that I was aware of; a few jokes from Current Affairs section, Sports, Weather, and the likes. I recited those jokes to my mom and she laughed. I went on stage and won hearts. And luckily, the prize too. Looking back, I can say that, that was a really tight set.

Apparently, I pulled of a ‘Last Week Tonight’ before John Oliver made it a famous thing. Here’s the proof that I was way ahead in time.

How did you get into stand-up comedy?

As I grew up, I kept up with comedy through Shekhar Suman’s satire, pre-memes twitter era, and AIB podcasts. But I still never knew that I will do stand-up at some point in time.

It took two ‘Biswa’s (Biswapati Sarkar & Biswa Kalyan Rath) and regrets-to-taste to get me into stand-up comedy. In 2015, I was a big TVF fan and a bigger Biswapati Sarkar fan, I met him at the Permanent Roommates success party. We talked for a good 15-20 minutes about the craft of writing and many things profound.

This conversation inspired me to start a podcast channel in IIT Madras along with two other friends.  I was a writer-editor of the podcast and wanted the podcast to reach the masses. So in order to advertise the podcast, we started a facebook page where I used to put funny observations related to the institute, which people related-to, to a great extent and the page started to get good traction. I liked the validation and started observing things keenly, to look for pattern that would be relatable to everyone. Eventually, I started sharing content about not just the institute by also about life in general.

Meanwhile, my girlfriend and I attended a stand-up show in Canvas Laugh Club, which had then not-so-popular Biswa Kalyan Rath in the lineup. We were left impressed! I became so much interested in comedy that I started following everything that had comedy associated with it. I attempted mimicking Arnub and got a chance to roast the Director of IIT Madras. My impression of Arnub wasn’t really impressive, but the jokes worked! This gave me confidence that I can translate the written jokes into a performance as well.

After passing from the IITM, I went to an open mic with 10 odd jokes that were written while collecting material for the facebook page, and to my surprise, people laughed and enjoyed. That was it! I haven’t looked back ever since. Now, this human being needs more and more validation from people every week by saying things that mostly make no sense at all.

What are the challenges you’ve faced in your journey?

I was not getting enough open mics to perform initially but everything changed as I started a room for open mic. Now, I make sure there are enough spots for new open mic-ers at my venue as I can relate to their pain.

Your key achievements?

A few achievements which deserve a mention are: (a) Successfully Roasting the Director of IIT Madras, (b) Got laughs in my very first open mic, boosted my confidence, (c) My joke made it to Reddit front page.

Any bombing moment?

Bars and naïve comedy audience are what I sometimes find difficult to perform to. Once in a bar, the crowd was so dead in my set that I got off the stage in 2.5 minutes from a 7-minute slot. My words before getting off stage were, “Okay then”, which apparently was the biggest laugh of the evening.

That night I considered leaving comedy, but I went to another open mic the next day and the jokes worked Confidence regained!

Any experiences with annoying audience members?

None, yet! Thankfully.

Connect with Manish on Instagram & facebook

The post Tête-à-Tête with Manish Jain appeared first on Humour Sapiens.