Stand Up Comedy In India

What is Stand-Up Comedy

People can relate to stand - up comedy more clearly now a days. They are more familiar with this term as they encounter things like this in their daily usage of social media. But first, we must know what does stand up comedy means.

It will not be wrong to say that the comedy which is done in a standing postion is a stand-up comedy. To give a clear picture, in stand-up comedy, the comedians perform in front of live people usually speaking directly to them. They monologue the humorous jokes and one-liners in order to entertain people. Some comedians use props in their acts while some prefer to keep it simple. It is the art of narrating yourself which is very important here. Although your script is a short one, then also you can take control of your audience. Its just that you must know how to improvise yourself.

Stand-Up in India

India has also seen the rise of this level of comedy for the past few years. We must be aware of all the best comedians that we have who have acted in Bollywood movies or theatre. Johnny Lever, Kadar Khan, Rajpal Yadav, Paresh Rawal are some of the names that will never be missed. These people have given their whole career in comedy and have gained themselves stardom. It will not be wrong to say that these people were the iconic comedians of their generation.

It was in the year 2005 when we saw a TV show The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, which was the reason behind the recognition of stand-up comedy in India. We got some of the best stand-up artists from there for example, Raju Srivastav , Kapil Sharma , Sunil Pal. After this, most of the people started coming out as comedians and performed various live shows.

The stand-up comedy is getting substantial appreciation since 2011. After the successful run of Papa CJ and Vir Das, many comedians came up with different styles of comedy. They took to social media specially Youtube to share their content. Some of them have made their presence like Kanan Gill, Biswa Kalyan Rath, Abhishek Upmanyu, Aditi Mittal.

From the point of view of this generation, I think of these 5 comedians as the best :

1. VIR DAS

He is a familiar face among the youth. He has starred in films like DELHI BELLY, BADMAASH COMPANY and GO GOA GONE. He mostly does English Comedy as he has been brought up in abroad. He made a debut with his stand-up A Broad Understanding on Netflix which was well received by the audience. Then he came up with another one Losing It in 2018 which was also a hit. He has even performed in Canvas Laugh Factory.

2. ABHISHEK UPMANYU

Famous for his crazy attitude, Abhishek is considered as one of the best in his field. He is a young comedian who certainly knows his way to fit into this genre. He has performed on Canvas Laugh Club and also uploads his comedy videos on his Youtube channel which has around 1.7 million subscribers.

Recently, he did a tour named Thoda Saaf Bol across various cities of India which gained him huge popularity. He has some extraordinary ways to deliever his jokes to the people. He even worked with Tanmay Bhatt & Harsimran Khamba on the show On Air With AIB.

3. ADITI MITTAL

One of the first women to take up stand-up as a profession in India, Aditi is rated among the top 10 comedians of India. She is an Indian English stand-up comedian who has a witty humour.

Her Youtube series Bad Girls showcases women activists.

Her sense of humour is quite funny! She describes it as observational. Sometimes she gives a tight slap to this society with her humour. For example, she said in one of her shows, "Saying the words sanitary napkins in public is like standing in Hogwarts common room and saying Voldemort".

4. BISWA KALYAN RATH

This man is just awesome. He became popular with the Youtube series Pretentious Movie Reviews along with Kanan Gill. Then he came with his solo national tour Biswa In Your Face in 2015. Then in 2017, he did a tour named Biswa Mast Aadmi.

With his unique sense of humour, he has an edge over other comdeians. He has established himself as one of the most loved comedians in India.

Most of the people ask him that when will he share his content on Youtube. People are waiting Biswa!

5. ZAKIR KHAN

This man doesn't need an introduction. People know him as sakht launda. He became popular when he won the title of 'India's Best Stand-Up' , a competition organised by Comedy Central.

He bacame a sensation with his stand-up comic Haq Se Single on Amazon Prime. With this, he completed 4 million subscribers on Youtube.

He was a mentor on the show The Great Indian Laughter Challenge whose judge was Akshay Kumar. Then in 2018, he came up with his another stand-up on Amazon Prime Kaksha Gyarvi which was another huge hit.

These people are doing a great job by making people laugh. India is witnessing a growth in stand-up comedy. People are taking it as a career and that is a very positve thing for it. It is not necessary that you have to leave your career or quit your job to do this. (pun intended)