Vir Das â€¦ Unbelievable. Unstoppable.

18 Jun 2016
FWD Admin
Features

"It begins as a story about me but ends up being a story about you." The star will be at JTPAC on 25th June to make Kochiites roll with laughter

Vir Das is a stand-up comedian who had challenged the status quo when he burst into the comedy scene in India 13 years ago. Since then he has sold out arenas all over the globe, starred in movies, hosted TV shows, and has launched his own comedy rock band, Alien Chutney. One year after his ‘Unbelievablish Tour’, he comes back to Kochi on June 25 for an encore performance at JTPAC. We caught up with him to find out more about the art of stand-up comedy and how it's evolving in India.

You’ve come to Kochi last year as part of the ‘Unbelievablish Tour’. How do you find the audiences in Kochi responding to stand-up comedy as compared to other metro cities?

We had kicked off the Unbelievablish Tour last time from Kochi. We had such a good time here. This is round 2 of the ‘Unbelievable Tour’ and we’re performing in all the big cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata and we wanted to do it in the smaller cities too. So we’re coming back this year. One of the reasons we’re coming back is because a lot of people didn’t get a chance to see it. So it’s on popular demand.

As far as the audience goes, I don’t think cities are different. I think the rooms are different. I think in Kochi it’s always a younger room. They’re fun loving, light hearted and it's a young crowd that comes to watch the show.

You’re someone who has performed stand-up successfully at the international level. How does the comedy scene there differ from that of India?

International audiences tend to be more aware of stand-up comedy as an art form, whereas in India it’s a new market and we are still wrapping our heads around different types of stand-up comedy. But internationally, the audiences have seen quite a lot of comedy already. To be honest, in the US or UK, the standard of comedy is a lot higher. For the same ticket, you can get a much better comedian. If I’m playing a club in the US, it could have been that Louis CK performed there or Chris Rock was there before. So once you sell out in those clubs, your equity also rises.

You’ve paved the way for the new generation of comics who are changing the stand-up comedy scene in India through Weirdass Comedy. Tell us more about that.

Weirdass comedy is one of those companies, when you want to become a standup comedian you’re given an opportunity. It’s just a cool place for you to collaborate and work on your ideas. Most comedians are kind to me by saying that I’ve promoted or brought out comedic talent, but it’s not something I’ve actively done. I’ve been busy writing jokes.

Talking about writing jokes, how do you come up with your material? Do you like to be the voice of the common man?

I like to mix it up. The perfect comedy show is when we walk the middle path between what the audience wants to hear about and what we want to talk about. You shouldn’t be too self-indulgent or pandering to the audience a lot. So a little bit of politics, a little personal stuff, some light stories and talk about the audience’s life as well. So it becomes a really good story that goes in and out of that single theme. That’s what Unbelievable tries to do. It begins as a story about me but ends up being a story about you.

Putting content online seems to be way for a comedian to expand his reach and appeal. What are your thoughts on that?

In a way, it gives you a platform but eventually people have to pay to see you perform if you want to turn professional. Ideally, you do want to give content for free so that people get to know who you are. But when people do know who you are, you’d want them to pay some money to see you. That’s how we can earn a living. So I don’t put out a lot of content on YouTube. I do upload the podcasts and Your Voice videos, but not what I do live.