The future of stand up comedy is whatever you want it to be. It’s you, the mic, your audience and a whole lot of unimaginable possibilities that are waiting to be explored.
1. How and when did you choose comedy as a career?
Sometimes I feel I didn’t choose comedy, comedy chose me. Since childhood, I have enjoyed cracking jokes in my friends’ circles and loved being the centre of conversations. During my college stint at IIT Bombay, I was involved in dramatics, where I realized humour was my forte and I was involved in writing several humorous plays that won in the intra college festivals and competitions.
Around 2015, stand up comedy had planted its roots firmly in the country and I decided to take a shot at it with all my energy. I quit my job at JP Morgan for the same. I attended a lot of open mics to hone my performance as well as writing skills. Since then, it has been a blissful roller-coaster ride for me.
2. What type of content do you enjoy producing the most and is the most challenging?
The content I enjoy producing the most is the one that allows me to vent out my frustrations in the most relatable manner. Almost all of my jokes revolve around topics/problems that I have personally faced and that irritated me to the core. I love venting out my innate frustrations through this beautiful channel called stand up comedy.
Personally, creating long-form content in the form of a story or a movie screenplay is the most challenging, as it requires a lot of dedicated and continuous work. But the ones that are the most challenging are also the ones that give you the most joy on completion.
3. Do you prefer digital as a medium or do you enjoy doing live gigs more and why?
Each medium has its own merits. The digital medium allows you to reach out to lots of people across the country, while live gigs give you a whole different joy and validation.
Personally, I love live shows, as they allow me to travel to beautiful cities and interact with new people.
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?
I think you can definitely work hard to create humorous and brilliant content, but if you are naturally funny, you’ll always be at an advantage.
5. How stable is being a stand-up comedian as a profession in India? And what is the future of this profession?
Thinking about this if you want to be a stand-up comedian would be wrong. Do stand up comedy for yourself and for the joy of making people laugh, money and fame will eventually follow.
The future of stand up comedy is whatever you want it to be. It’s you, the mic, your audience and a whole lot of unimaginable possibilities that are waiting to be explored.
6. What impact do you want to make in this world?
I’ve always loved making people laugh. If people could enjoy their time while watching my content and forget their boredom for those moments, I think my content would have done its job well.
7. Which is your favourite book and why?
I’ve read and loved all the “Sherlock Holmes” novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. They’re intelligently written, completely immersive and take you into their own world.
Instagram - Piyush Sharma
Interviewed by - Sanjana Jain
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