Humour Sapiens got into a Tête-à-Tête with Subhashish Bharuka. Read more about the man right here!

1. How did you develop interest in stand-up comedy?

I was 8 years old when I got on stage in a fancy dress competition in my school, dressed as a scarecrow. I thought, everyone would make fun of me. Instead, all the kids found it hilarious and I won the first prize. That’s when I developed the love for stage and to perform in front of an audience. Post that, I did theater in school and later on went on to do it professionally. I wrote scripts for the plays in which I would play the protagonist. (Self obsession you see. Lol.)

Cut to 2008, I went to see a show of Papa CJ in Delhi and instantly realised that’s what I’d like to do. I tried a few open mics in Delhi but dropped and went on to pursue my masters in Leeds University. At the summer ball for my batch, I performed a 20-minute set which everyone loved except the Chinese students, because I had made fun of them.

After returning to India, I moved to Bangalore in 2015. That’s when I found out about the open mics happening in the city. My first open mic was at Urban Solace. Since then, it’s been a continual journey to keep writing and working to improve my art.

2. What was your first stage experience like?

Most first timers have a stage fear, I was sort of used to being in the spot. I went to watch an open mic at Urban Solace and back then there were open mic spots available easily. I registered to perform for the same gig. It was an instant high, though my thoughts were raw and totally unstructured as a first time open micer.

3. How has the journey been so far? Were there any challenges that you had to face?

To say the least, it’s been extremely fulfilling. I’ve produced 22 shows in Bangalore with WEDx being the show that would be house-full every time. I have been doing open mics as regularly I can. There are challenges in every field. Stand-up being one of the most challenging performing art forms. It takes a hell lot of patience and practice to perfect the art, and can even take a decade or more. It’s an ongoing process and I hope to continue it for as long as it takes to get somewhere in the circuit.

4. Your key achievements?

I had the opportunity to open for Jeeveshu, Atul Sir, Kunal Kamra and the latest sensation Anubhav Singh Bassi. In addition to the these, Comedy Barrel is a small stand-up comedy production company, under which I’ve produced WEDx and Let’s Do the 90s show across packed rooms and the audiences simply loved the line up and the show concept.

5. Any experience with annoying audience member?

Not particularly. Thankfully, I’ve had no hecklers to deal with yet. Hopefully, when I do record a couple videos and release it online, there’s going to be online heckling for sure.

6. Any bombing moment you’d like to share?

Oh. Bombing is very close to my heart and mind. Haha. I have bombed so much, it’s not even funny. And it’s a good thing because I had a full time corporate job and my writing time would not be more than half an hour a day. To hash out content was the toughest part of it. I feel comics who are younger and have no responsibilities are the luckiest. They can pursue this full time and can attend all mics happening.

Thankfully, I’ve been able to put together a 30 minutes set now which has been tested with multiple audiences. But without bombing a comedian cannot grow on comedy.

With so much done & dusted, and a lot yet to be tasted, Subhashish rocks everything he does. We wish him luck! Connect with him on facebook.

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