Varun Agarwal is quite a celebrity in Bangalore, the young entrepreneurial startup world (e.g. guys who watch TVF Pitchers and Silicon Valley) and also in the digital and film space.
Although he’s doing a lot, we do make time to hang out and recently he stopped by the Birdy Num Num podcast to discuss:
creativity,
mistakes young Indian entrepreneurs continue to make
and the whole follow your passion debate.
I also thought I’d jot down my five favorite videos of his, including many we’ve done together.
Mainly because I see a lot of motivational and entrepreneurial fluff by people who don’t understand creativity and communication. But also we can chart both his and my progress over the years by the content we produce. And just like in life, sometimes you go backwards.
But that’s ok, even though the fake motivators don’t tell you that.
Yes you can start an app, yes you can follow your dreams…but most of those people are only successful at books on the exact same topic…e.g. Listen to me tell you how to be successful because I’m only successful at telling people how to be successful…not that I’ve built a successful restaurant or clothing business.
Lessons to Learn from Entrepreneur Varun Agarwal
We met in 2014 when he approached me to help write one of India’s first truly viral videos, the Anu Aunty Engineering Anthem. We’ve had the pleasure of being buddies ever since.
Varun Agarwal on Engineering and Anu Aunty
In 2014 sometime around September Varun approached me to work on writing a song for the jaded engineers of our beloved India. Since I had done plenty of similar work on the IT Guy series, and we both lived in Koramangala, the startup center of Bangalore, I figured why not.
Most videos get stuck on the planning shelf for a while, we jumped right in and of course cast a then little known Sumukhi Suresh.
It was also my first time shooting on a fancy camera with director Sam Mohan (who know has helped make Emiway famous by shooting much of his work).
The video quickly picked up 1M views (a lot back in those days) and made us mini-celebrities in India for a while.
It also taught me very quickly that in this game, short term success means nothing (which we discuss in my podcast below).
This was shot in one and a half days. Imagine.
Having a Startup
Despite that, Varun continued to parlay his experience into speaking and see how that could help grow his brand.
Most talks on the Indian TedX circuit can be a bit fluffy, but as you can see by his casual jeans and straightforward attitude, this is anything but.
Real advice for real results. And almost 4M views as of July 2019.
WOW. Another lesson for creators, update your thumbnails.
Ted Talks and INK Talks have become a sort of motivational porn these days also, where in India we see one format in the west and then beat it to death.
So after viewing a bunch of clips, I was inspired to take the stand-up comedy sketch angle and make the following which Varun was a good sport about…
Varun Agarwal on Millennials
Hey bro, I have a startup that writes about other startups that are starting up.
Confucius
Eaves drop on any conversation in a StarBucks in Koramangala in Bangalore (because Cafe Coffee Day is whack bro) and you’ll hear people with million dollar ideas but 10 rupee execution.
So we took a dig at that whole world of what motivates the motivator.
This was an idea I had after watching a documentary about hipsters, and I shot/edited/released it in a matter of a few days. And sometimes, for the future creators..that’s all it takes rather that months of planning and writing on one single thing.
Which brings me to our journey together in 2019, after 5 years of being friends and colleagues.
The funny thing about our world is even if things look super successful on the outside, they’re anything but.
I can’t speak for Varun but I know if I was still working at Accenture now, I’d probably be making more than doing this whole creative thing on my own.
Whether it be youTube sketch writing, stand up comedy, film making or blogging, things come and they go.
But as I discuss with Varun finally on my podcast over water bottles (and not beers for once)….you need to really be into something for the long haul, so when you hate it, you still secretly need it.
Check out the full audio podcast and the youTube snippet below.
5. Varun Agarwal | the one Mistake an Entrepreneur Makes
Please do have a listen to the 3-minute snippet and let me know your thoughts below.
Do you think most startup people talk the talk or walk the walk?
Are they addicted to the result or the actual journey? And for the video creators, what can you learn from your work?
Conclusion
Varun Agarwal has become the poster boy for Indians who want to do something else other than what society programs us to do. It’s fine to do engineering and medicine if you really want to, but many people don’t follow their dreams and then wake up at 40 to unhappiness and fancy cars.
What’s your ideal mix of a successful, fulfilling and happy life for the ambitious Indian man or woman?
I started much of the stand-up comedy wave in India and Bangalore with Praveen Kumar and Sundeep Rao back in 2010, and although I don’t attend the open mic’s as much anymore, I’m happy to see what has become of the scene.
Well, mostly.
Indian comedy clubs are opening up everywhere, audiences are hungry for fresh, unique content and with so much diversity that is India there is honestly a joke for ANYTHING.
Indian Stand Up Comedy and Bangalore’s Role
Bengaluru has the most stand up comedy nights in the country and has set the tone for how the rest of the nation operates.
In fact it has the most diverse crowds in the country, as comedy crowds in Bangalore speak English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and more.
Bangalore has the most comedy shows in the country.
Amazon Prime and YouTube are also giving more exposure to Indian stand up comedians from all walks of Indian life, whether Punjabi, Tamil, Bengali, Kannadiga and of course English.
Canvas Laugh Club is also a household name despite some legal troubles and its unique backdrop has quickly been cemented as the signs of a video to watch, much like the Hollywood Laugh Factory did in California.
South India is the Best Place for English Comedy in India
It’s nice to see the comedy scene growing, and comedians from Mumbai and Delhi and Chennai are constantly coming down here (even though our travel from the airport to the city longer than their flight from Mumbai).
I personally enjoy the market in Bangalore as it’s predominantly English which is great for in-person shows, corporate events, and diverse crowds… yet tough online in the Hindi dominating Indian digital space.
So I thought I’d start keeping a list of the best comedy videos for Indian stand up that I see month to month.
But first, for the Indian comedy newbie…
What is Stand Up Comedy?
For this post, Stand up comedy in India is defined as:
live crowds who aren’t part of a TV-set,
a mix of English and whatever language,
hecklers,
avoiding hack jokes, yet obviously exploring topics like MBA, engineering, porn (if you have a clever take), clean family-friendly jokes and pretty much anything that gets Indians to giggle and probably share funny videos on Whatsapp.
bars and comedy clubs,
YouTube and podcaster style comics.
And lastly, the comics in this list are folks who know legendary names like Carlin, Chris Rock, Chappelle and so on.
I’m defining Stand up Comedy in this country not as what you see Raju Srivasta or Kapil Sharma do nightly, but more along the lines of Vir Das, Netflix, and the Western-Indian style of stand-up comedy. Those guys are also great but generally operate in a different space and market. (And it’s probably more lucrative too) than what I know personally.
Regardless, although YouTube has yet to be kind to comics who remain in Namma Bengaluru, here are my favorites desi comedians from the city that I also think have some of the best videos in India.
I will continue to update this list so if you have any suggestions do let me know in the comments.
The beauty of stand up comedy as we saw from that Bassi cheating clip recently, is anybody, and I mean anybody who puts in the effort can leverage the democracy that is the internet.
Those who have been doing it for 1 year can quickly perform at a level of someone doing it for 10, and if you can hit a chord with your audience you will be rewarded.
Sundeep Rao is probably the funniest comedian in India you’ve never heard of. He’s partially blind yet fully dirty, although this clip not very adult, hence I’m putting it on this list.
As an NRI I also find this comedy hilarious and accurate AF. After the whole #howdyModi event this clip is even more relevant.
Although Aditi is not from Bangalore, she calls every time she wants to do some workshop here and has an affinity for our crowds so I’m putting her on the list.
She’s one of the top comics in the country who actually puts her money where her mouth is and doesn’t let high view count misguide her into thinking she’s done learning, which I just LOVE LOVE LOVE.
Keep going, dude. This bit about shopping as a woman for bras is just packed with punches and nuances and of course, her signature act outs so enjoy!
And the fact that some of the comments are negative from guys who don’t get it is just proof that Aditi is a pioneer and hustler who has a thick skin, as we all need to.
In India, if you follow your dreams, you parents will use your dreams to kill your dreams
Rupen on sports quota for medical students.
I used to confuse Rupen with Shridhar because they’re both such clean-cut kids if that makes sense. But my favorite line of the year comes from this set, which you should watch but is basically:
This video with some super clever insights any kid who is interested in stand up comedy about engineering or IIT or an MBA would easily relate to, and the writing is very well done.
There is arguably no better physical comedian in India that I personally know.
Actor turned funnyman Vamsidhar Bhogaraju’s most hilarious video moments happen when he says nothing.
Not many comics (myself included) can be the loudest with silence, and Vamsi does just that with his facial expressions and physical gestures.
This stands up comedy act out about Swiggy and landlines is hilarious from a live stand up comedy show in Indiranagar, Bangalore.
You probably recognize Vamsi from this video in your WhatsApp over the years.
An ex marketing manager who knows acts in films and can do both funny and serious roles, in this clip Vamsi tells jokes about heartbreak and experience in wrong numbers everybody in Bangalore can relate to.
Aside from having to google his last name to figure the spelling right, Shridhar works hard, still has a day job and is so PUNNY with his tweets I can’t help but admire his hustle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0kGuTVXvb8
He’s also grinding in a way I like to see comedians grind, with a series called Prime Time jokes where he smartly talks about current events that can quickly be written about, delivered and released.
Mark my words, he’ll be a big name on Indian twitter and amongst the “intelligent political” comedy crowds because of his take on humor you’ll likely find based on Times NOW or CNBC.
Just yesterday he got to open up for friend Kunal Kamra, who ironically probably looks the most opposite on stage to well dressed Shridhar.
Well done buddy.
6. Atul Khatri – On the UK (Netflix)
Atul Khatri is the 50-year-old who has two kids and started comedy at 42.
He’s proof (and I know first hand) that older guys with limited time (in the day I mean) are way more productive than younger guys who just complain about comedy or art or whatever.
You can see Atul Khatri doing stand up comedy Netflix and also all over YouTube, and check him out on Twitter at his handle One_by_two.
He cracks some funny jokes about growing up in defense family also, but more so gives insights into the unique comedy culture of the south and train journeys between Bangalore and Chennai. Very relatable and highly hilarious.
I’ve known him forever, but nobody invents himself more and more than Praveen Kumar.
Early on Praveen had a hard time getting accepted into the cliques in Mumbai, even though he was one of the first to perform at Canvas, which was then owned by the London Comedy Store.
This a Tamil clip but check out his channel for all the other English.
From English stand up comedy to clean comedy to Tamil clean comedy to now Tamil clean comedy and movie reviews and Comicstaan, the number of haters and idiots who gave Praveen stuff in the early day’s of comedy would have made me quit years ago.
In fact, most comedians who struggle still do.
Now he’s doing better than ever as a judge on Comicstaan Tamil (and has mentored the judges on the main Comicstaan) and well-done bro.
So happy for you.
But aside from the bromance, the main reason I dropped CPK on this list is that….he holds the record in Indian comedy for most viral video over an hour.
AN HOUR!
Who would have thought doing a full one-hour special comedy video in Tamil would get nearly 3M views!!!!! Big ups to Evam stand up Tamasha for producing this great video for him.
Kritarth has a wonderful stand-up segment on balding as a young Indian dude and any fan of Indian stand up comedy who struggles with hair loss, shampoos, parents and more will love this comedy bit from Bangalore.
Any young middle class guy who is worried about male pattern baldness or losing hair can probably related to this, whether they want to take finpecia or not.
10. Aravind SA | Why Tamilians Don’t Speak Hindi
7M views not too shabby.
Aravind SA was on my podcast here but also a funny dude who captured the South Indian comedy market well.
He’s one of the top South Indian stand up comedians also and is the leader against the Hindi being the national language voice. Good for you bro!
SA Also had various shows on Amazon Prime and tours the world performing for South Indians all over.
11. Saikiran | Dark Skin and Marriage
I’ve never met Saikiran but this is probably the most viewed video for Indian English stand up comedy and good for him.
Glad the material resonated well and considering he hasn’t uploaded much else it stands to show this is a truly viral clip.
Well done dude!
Conclusion
They’re many English stand up comics in Bangalore and India but these are just some of my favorites.
If you’re a fan of the North Indian style of comedy, you’ll likely not prefer these folks as someone like Vipul Goyal or Zakir Khan, but the beauty of comedy, just like ice cream, is there is a flavor for literally everyone.
As I mature into my thirties, they’re two things that I’ll always regret.
1. Not starting stand up comedy earlier
Mainly because I was embarrassed of eating shit in front of my friends.
I thought I would bomb and they would tell me to quit, even though we know now that NOBODY does well at the start and you have to keep pushing at it.
Eventually I did try it about 10 times without telling a soul and failed nine out of those ten times.
By then, I was a bit older with fewer college friends around and a smaller support system of jobless buddies you have when you’re younger.
I was 26, nervous, voice shaking and in envy of a 21-year-old that commanded the stage who started when he was 18. He had the balls to take risks earlier and get a three-year head start whereas I was still trying to figure out how I would hide my open mic attendance on Facebook so my friends wouldn’t come.
Don’t get me wrong – I had a job and financial responsibilities so I didn’t have the luxury to jump into art or a startup type field right away – but looking back I know I could have done both.
You’ll always have time to do the important things.
I was honestly just scared of being judged, embarrassed and failing at something.
The thought of awkwardly making conversation with my friends after I tanked on stage was actually scarier than going on stage itself.
2. Being nervous to ask girls out by simply saying “Hey, do you want to go out?”
I always knew something was off here, I mean…this is 51% of the population. Why does literally “every other person on planet earth” feel more intimidating than an interview with Elon Musk?
Why do we have to grab their attention through social media likes and glances at parties instead of just saying “Hi.”
It was surprising, even after joining the comedy world, where I was doing shows for 20, 200 or 2000 people – I was still nervous to ask a girl out for coffee, often times my insecurities about rejection being my own worst enemy.
So when I finally decided to risk putting myself out there I was shocked that girls actually said yes. And then I kept trying that – and realized wow, this was all in my head.
ASK ASK ASK
Damn you Hollywood and Bollywood and pop culture for confusing the fu*k out of me.
Everybody is scared to admit that they’re looking for something that everybody is looking for.
Online dating was something you’d get made fun of for when you were younger (as opposed to seeking the approval of a stranger whom you met at a noisy bar by chance) and now it’s the norm. I’m happy where I am and not saying I wished a had a girlfriend earlier, but I could have saved a lot of time and mindless braincells trying to ask a girl out directly instead of trying to approach her while drunk at some bar. (Shut up, you know you’ve done it once).
This was a fun TedX Talk
Do you see the similarities here?
So much of life is dictated by what others will think of us.
In fact, we spend more time wondering what people will think rather than trying to accomplish things that will get them thinking about us in the first place.
And that’s a massive problem.
It’s analysis paralysis. Pandoras box.
Why do you HONESTLY care what other people think?
Moore’s law in engineering says (roughly) that the cost of computing will go down as performance goes up (e.g. your iPhone will get smaller/cheaper while speed increases). Well similarly in life, your number of friends will get smaller and your regrets/failures will increase as you think about that circle of people you were so worried about pleasing, many of whom are now just random blips on your newsfeed.
You don’t want to try that startup, ask that person out, switch that career, attempt that certification, pursue that hobby or ask for that raise…because you don’t want people to react by your bold new moves. And if you don’t try and take risks and make attempts to accomplish whatever it is you’re looking for – well…they’ll probably never react at all.
There is a quote I tried googling for (please comment if you know the real one and I’ll update it) that went along the lines of:
When I was in my twenties, I cared about what the world thought of me.
When I was in my thirties, I didn’t care about what the world thought of me.
When I was in my forties, I realized the world never thought about me at all.
Unknown even to Google.
I often get teased by my friends about the stuff I do online, especially the missteps.
“Dude, what the hell was that last YouTube video about?? It was so lame.” OR “Dude, your snapchats are all of your dogs or donuts. I don’t care.”
And you know what, sure, I’m happy to take criticism and I appreciate those comments. It’s a bit sneaky but in entrepreneurship, that’s what friends are for sometimes…A free focus group so you can improve on things. Thanks guys for letting me use you 🙂
Feedback is important, and if you launch a product or service and everybody hates it, sure…you should probably care what people are thinking and saying.
That sort of thinking, I’m on board with.
Trust me – this was embarrassing.
However, on the flip side (you knew I was going to try to prove my own point) they’re a bunch of people who will make comments like these because they’re projecting their own insecurities.
They crop/filter/hide every single Facebook or Instagram photo.
They monitor every status, every comment, every perception of themselves both online and offline.
When you’re in the moment and take a good snap, all they care about is how they looked and then you end up being an Executive Director having to take 5 different takes of the same group photo, until their shot is right.
You’ve seen the uncle at the beach with his paunch hanging out that’s the life of the party, and you’ve seen the self conscious guy/gals hiding in the corner acting like they’re enjoying reading their books while checking their 100 likes on Instagram, while not enjoying the moment.
Which one, at the end of the day, would you really enjoy being?
Ideally – maybe try and be both?
It’s ok to care what people think.
But don’t get scared at what people might think.
See the difference? Real life is #noFilter.
To be clear, I’m not saying live your life with an “I don’t give a shit” attitude. You should take advice and criticism openly – because it only makes you better.
But hindsight is 20/20, and the same people who might tell you that’s a bad idea or you’re not good enough are the same ones who will pat you on the back when you do succeed.
Welcome to life, this is how it actually works.
Your friends are not evil, but them not wanting you to risk failure is a failure in itself.
Note: If you’re not Indian, most of this stuff still applies across comedy scenes in the US, Canada, Australia the UK, Singapore and beyond.
Want to know How To Start Stand Up Comedy In India or Anywhere?
I moved to India almost six years ago, when I was just a year into stand up comedy. My main experience at the time was from the small pubs and coffee shops in Southern California, whereas the song goes we all “Started from the Bottom.”
After having done thousands of open mics, pub shows, theaters and corporate events in the country as well as having worked with, mentored and shadowed hundreds of other comics, familiar patterns start to emerge.
Since comedy is booming in a place that can benefit greatly from laughing at ourselves, I thought I’d take a second to jot down a few conversations that repeat themselves almost daily with fellow comedians pan India.
If you’re new to comedy (or even a few years in), I hope some of this advice can resonate with a few of you. Because while comedy is funny, there is nothing funny about the funny business.
It’s pretty damn serious.
1.) Not Recording Your Set. And then WATCHING IT.
We’re very lucky that we live in a time that allows us to have a computer, camera and tape recorder in our pocket.
As comics this is invaluable since you need to be listening to your sets to know what worked and what didn’t. It also gives you a word for word record of how you did a joke in case it destroyed, so that helps you figure out how to recreate the magic later rather than trying to play it from memory.
So many comics don’t do this, but there is honestly no reason not to.
It’s painful, but while you’re stuck in traffic on MG Road on the way home it only takes 4-5 minutes to listen to yourself and make your adjustments to get better.
What else are you really doing with that time anyway?
Chances are you’re gonna smoke up and do the exact same set the next day, so you may as well hear what the audience did to give you a few ideas on what to change next.
I did this joke for 2 years, and then once I listened to it in the uber on the way home the second part (server issue) came to me.
Comics in New York/LA often record their sets from a 7PM open mic, listen to it on the way to an 8PM showcase, and then repeat that as they go to a 10PM show and have already made 2-3 adjustments to the joke.
Since stage time is less plentiful in India, it’s important you at least try doing the same here to maximize your progress.
People will say “But Bro it’s so hard to watch myself.” or they’ll ask the host (who is running around doing 20 things) “Dude can you stand still and record my stuff for 5 minutes.”
If you can’t bear to watch yourself, how do you expect others too?
Shaking my Head Bruv.
And aside from the host, asking other comics to record you and vice versa is also a great way to network amongst yourselves, help each other out and build comradery amongst your ranks.
Dwayne has crushed a few times in India.
2.) Insulting the audience for no reason/Doing Crowd Work Before You’re Ready
Did you bring the audience to the pub or cafe you’re at?
Did you promote it on Facebook, invite people, and organize the event with the manager, DJ, etc..?
If you didn’t you’re probably being given a chance to try your interest by the person who did and you have no place being a dick to someone who is supporting the comedy (whether audience or comic who organized).
If you get heckled, learn from the experience rather than acting like you’re doing anyone a favor by being up there.
It’s a great way to look unprofessional since early on you won’t have adequate comebacks and will burn bridges with the other comics who are now going to have to deal with an uneasy audience.
Russell Peters can do it because the audience knows him for that, he’s famous and he’s spent 20+ years getting to deserve that. You haven’t. And honestly, as Indians we are generally very polite and well-mannered in these upmarket bars and cafes where most comedy is currently taking place, and 90% of the time I see an open micer or newcomer go after an audience member it was an overreaction stemming from the comics insecurity of being up there rather than a malicious audience member.
Learn when to do it, but more importantly, learn when not to.
Biswa insulting
3) Using Celebrities (e.g. “Name Dropping”)
“Man, the new Hyundai i20 is terrible. It’s like the Tusshar Kapoor of hatchbacks. Am I right people?”
Was that a joke about Hyundai’s or driving or was it just the equivalent of “George Bush is stupid.” as a punchline?
It’s ok to talk about celebrities and use common references, but when trying to explore a topic, look for obvious problems and funny/ironic things about the situation. These jokes might get you easy laughs but they’re not going to stretch your comedic mind to think about things from a different perspective.
Nobody is going to be waking up in the middle of the night thinking "hehe, man, when that comic said the situation in the middle east was more complicated than Anil Kapoor's chest hair, wow, what an insightful comedy yaar."
If you have a joke about celebrities or notable figures, keep it about that.
What did they do, why is it weird, what really bugs you about the situation.
But if you have no opinion on the person and are just using their name to get a laugh from the audience, is there any honesty or originality in what you’re trying to say?
4) Only Sticking to Stereotypes
Gujus are cheap, Punjabi’s are drunk, South Indians are dark (although, not really), Guys named Sanjay are so handsome…yada yada.
I understand you’re nervous just looking for approval, as I’ve been there and done the same.
You should talk about what you want to talk about, but don’t make community jokes basis for your whole performance. It’s getting laughs because everybody already knows it, and since it was so easy for you to write and talk about these stereotypes it’s going to be just as easy for the next person.
How are you going to perform your set in Mangalore about drunk Surdy PJ uncles to a crowd of all South Indians? Do they care about Punjabi culture or would they instead like to hear humor about marriages, corporate life, filter coffee or who knows?
And what are you going to do when the last 5 guys before you did similar bits about Air India is all fat aunty air hostesses and now you have nothing new to add for the crowd?
Stereotypes are fine if you have a fresh/original twist on the idea, but don’t ONLY do them.
They’re a good tool to have when you have a certain audience that just wants to hear that stuff, but try to write jokes about life in general also. India is such a unique place with a bunch of cultures mashed together, so it’s fine to talk about these things if nobody has pointed them out before, but try to just keep this in mind as you push forward and want to stand out.
5) Putting out your first whole clip online
When you start doing comedy, you probably start posting about comedy.
You change your profile picture immediately to that DSLR shot your friend took holding the mic, you post senti status updates about being an artist and your friends start saying things like “Machaa YouTube clip pls.”
While this can be exciting, you forget the fact that you probably still suck.
Your friends will naturally be supportive and probably laughing in the audience, but that’s probably where it will stop. Chances are your jokes aren’t finished, the false ego-boost will make you think this is easier than you think (How many shitty cell phone clips of a first time performer on stage do you see go viral?) and the whole thing probably belongs on SnapChat rather than youTube.
Where it will delete on its own.
Enjoy the attention and support but if you care more about comments than comedy (and we’ve all been guilty at some point), you will be setting yourself up for failure.
If you want to get feedback from others share a private link amongst your friends, but you will need support/shares/fans to come to your shows once you really decide to do this long-term, so don’t stretch yourself thin too early.
Only start inviting your friends on Facebook after a year, so they actually have something worthwhile to see.
You’ve spent all day at work, and then braced hours of traffic, parked your car and are now waiting an hour at the venue before you perform your five minutes of jokes.
Why the hell are you reading off a piece of paper in front of audience members who did the same? What were you doing in the cab the whole time that you couldn’t remember 5 bullet points?
If you’re willing to do all the previous things, not taking five minutes at home, in your car or in the bathroom to practice/memorize your set is inexcusable.
So many comics who are not doing well then looking at their paper just makes the audience thing: “Oh God he has a list and is not gonna finish.” It’s like when your CEO has 20 pages of notes and you know for sure he ain’t cutting that speech short.
I still do this and I know it’s completely wrong, but in your first few years you need to ensure you do not do this. You will weaken your memory skills and set yourself up for failure.
The sooner you memorize, the sooner you give more lift/performance to your jokes and the sooner you’ll get better.
If you can’t memorize 5 minutes as the first step into this business, just stop now.
7) I don’t want to Give away my material (e.g. Not put it out online for free)
A lot of comics I know don’t like releasing their material (as if they’re signed to Sony Music) because they either don’t want people who come live to see the same jokes, or they want to get paid in some form.
But when you’re first starting out, this is one of the best assets at your disposal.
Putting out short clips (1-4 minutes) on a certain topic is a great way to reach people who otherwise will likely not know who you are (if the clip is good and shot well, of course, see the previous point).
Even if a video “fails” at only 1,000 views, that’s probably 10-20 times more people than who saw you perform the joke live.
You think your crappy cell phone clip about Modi travelling is “giving away” your material. Best joke ever!
It also gives you accountability and ownership for a joke, allows feedback so you can hear the harsh truth from people who aren’t your friends, and forces you to write new material for the fans who you do make online.
Above I had mentioned not to put out your first clip, but once you get into the hustle and grind of comedy, putting out material that is tested and ready to be retired is arguably a game-changer in a country where 99% of the population still hasn’t seen a comedy show live.
So make sure you get your stuff out there and don’t hold on to the past.
8) Dressing Like a Slob
One thing I’ve noticed as I get older is how I see myself in younger people.
And then I cringe at how stupid I was.
And then I laugh cause now they’re stupid and I’m probably only stupid to 40-year-olds.
But I get it bro.
You’re jaded in your middle-class lifestyle.
You’ve seen YouTube clips of Bill Hicks, Mitch Hedberg, and Bill Burr and you think you got it all figured out.
Absorbing 30 years of their careers while smoking a joint with friends, you understand this comedy thing right?
And so a good chunk of you come to the shows or open mics, wearing slippers and looking like you just woke up. And if that was part of your routine (e.g. if dressing sloppy or looking stoned made your jokes better ) I would be all for it.
But in reality, let us call a spade a spade. You’re performing stand up comedy to a group of strangers because you obviously want to be there and you care about their opinion.
Hell, you need their opinion. Their validation (laughter) is your only metric of progress.
And since you’re a human being like the rest of us, you obviously want to do well. And since you admire the comedy greats who also looked like they didn’t care (even though that whole act is filmed in front of thousands of people with mega-million dollar budgets), you try to emulate it forgetting that everybody in the history of comedy calls their set “their act.”
Be yourself, be who you are, but unless your jokes are just so good and you have the fan following, don’t try to look worse than your audience. And on the flip side (I’m guilty here), don’t spend all your time doing your hair and wearing those designer jeans instead of practicing your jokes.
9) Only Doing New Stuff
So many comics in India (and I don’t blame them) watch a Bill Burr or Louis CK or whoever and reverse engineer the process and churn out joke after joke at the same rate these guys do.
These folks spent twenty years building the ability to write a new hour each year, and while I’m sure it can be done easier this year with technology and the nature of entertainment, the mentality of quantity over quality can creep in.
I’ve seen newer comics who were so nervous to perform in Bombay because they had performed at the same venue six months ago, and they assumed it would be a 100 percent repeat audience and then proceeded to try out new jokes and tank horribly.
While you should always be writing new bits, you should recognize the lucky platforms you sometimes receive and not overthink the situation.
Even if there was 1 person out of 100 that saw you before, disappointing 1/00 with an old joke is better than bombing for 99/100 with new bits.
As more venues appear in the country, with more diversification in performers and audience alike, remember when to bring out your tried and tested material and when not to. In 2019 as I update this article, Canvas has shut in Mumbai and Habitat is the main comedy club there. If you have a viral clip performing there, then don’t perform those jokes again. But if you don’t, feel free.
A joke is also never finished, and repeating it for fresh faces over time gives you additional tags, ideas, and ways to make it better.
The modern stand up comedy scene in India (which started almost entirely in English) is moving towards a more mixed/Hinglish model, and after years of seeing the evolution, it’s sort of time to accept it.
I didn’t grow up here so that obviously it doesn’t help me with my terrible NRI Hindi, but this is India and I have no right to crib about it. Part of comedy is learning to accept things you can’t change, and in India, this is one for me. But it may be a strength for you so lean into it! (And also don’t get angry when your full Hindi set tanks in Chennai).
The point I’m trying to make is regional comedy is just getting started. Even the Comicstaan trailer’s I’m seeing online are almost all Hindi, even though a few of my friends judging it barely speak it.
I don’t know Hindi but I can write scripts/sketches in English that get translated, and well…sometimes that clicks more. (In this video Sumukhi did the translations after I typed it out in English). This was my first attempt doing Hindi and well, it blew up.
Earlier on most English stand up comedy venues in the country would ask the comics to focus on English, but after a while you realize, they’re just some things way funnier in Hindi. Or Tamil, or Kannada, or some mixture of it all.
If you get cut off in traffic you’re probably gonna think “Fu*king Chutiya” versus “Oh that jerk!” and as someone who has tried telling both versions on stage, I think you can see how an Indian audience would relate.
Every country has its own style of stand up comedy that branches off in its own unique way from the art, so India is no different.
In Delhi, Hindi is king, followed by a more mixed model in Bombay and I’d say in the South it’s still focused on English.
If you’re comfortable speaking in Hindi, then do that.
If you mainly speak in English, then do that.
But don’t be fake to yourself.
A common theme over the last few years is to have a setup in English and then deliver the punchline in Hindi.
And boy oh boy, does it kill like anything when the joke is actually funny.
So as you progress through and watch hundreds of comics, take stock how each person uses language to their benefit. If you think in English and express yourself in Hindi slang, then, by all means, do it.
But if you try to pander or lecture in one language or the other, the audience can often times see through your inauthenticity if that is not how you really speak.
The beautiful part about India is since there is so much culture and people from all walks of life, people will enjoy your comedy in one style or another. Just keep at it and play to your strengths.
Another side note is on swearing. If you have a joke that is about watchmen or elevators, and the only time you get a laugh is on using the MC or BC’s, ask yourself if the joke was actually funny or the audience just laughed on the adult stuff.
CONCLUSION
Stand up Comedy is not easy.
You left a high paying IT job to deal with stoners and slackers for this!
If you read the full article, I’m sure you know that by now.
I wrote an entire post as well about how to have a stand-up comedy career in India or anywhere that will probably get you even more sad.
But if you want it for the right reasons, and trust me, fame shouldn’t be one of them…you’ll be more famous than you can imagine. But with India, there is a boom so feel free to get in front of it.
It just might take 10 years or more!
Good luck!
Also, starting a podcast is a great way to move faster up the comedy ladder.
It’s an exciting time to be a comedian in this country, and it’s only going to get massively bigger and bigger as comedy penetrates the tier two cities and people start voicing more opinions using humor to affect social change. But the industry is still in its baby stages and has some amazing things ahead.
I hope the above was helpful, and I’d like you to know I’ve made (and will probably repeat) all of the mistakes above. So please let me know if I missed anything and/or you have any other feedback and happy open mic’ing.
Sanjay Manaktala is a stand-up comedian who was instrumental in starting the comedy scene in India when the UK Comedy store also entered the country in 2010. Since then he’s helped hundreds of comedians figure it out, and is also the host of the iTunes and Spotify charted Birdy Num Num podcast, because life begins after Engineering. In this post, he talks about the weekly struggle of comics who have to deal with doing badly on stage.
Updated: Jan 2019
As I write this post it’s 11PM on a Wednesday night.
I’ve just returned home still wearing the suit I put on a few hours earlier when I was filled with hope and optimism. Only now I’m about to toss it in the laundry bin and dub it my “bad luck suit.”
This was probably my 200th corporate show, for a group of software managers, and man oh man….did I eat shit.
Bombing as a comedian is one of the worst parts of the job.
Corporate Shows can make or break you.
Stand Up Comedy Is Hard
Comedians are an interesting bunch in that we don’t really have any discernible talent.
A musician can strum the guitar with immense precision, a singer or athlete have even more obvious gifts but with comedy (and part of the reason I got into it myself) the talent is less tangible. After all, you’re just a guy on stage talking into a microphone.
What could be so difficult?
So you give it a shot.
You visit a local open mic, listen to the schmucks ahead of you and slowly start to feel those nerves tingle as your name gets closer to going up.
Flash forward a few hours and eventually….
You bomb.
And you bomb some more.
And then you realize, as someone who has done this for close to six years now….you’re going to bomb a lot.
Comedy is by all accounts (based on the lexicon it uses) a very passionate profession. Although it’s been said many times before, the proof is in the terms themselves. When you do well you either “kill” or “destroy.” Or as my friend Comedian Praveen Kumar once said when I asked him how his show was, “Machaaa, I killed but didn’t destroy.”
Inversely when you do badly you “died” or “bombed.”
For the purposes of this post let’s just stick to “bombing” so this site gets flagged for all the wrong reasons. And since I’m in a depressing place re-evaluating my career after my almost routine once-every-three-months shit-eating show tonight, let’s talk about it.
I’ve probably bombed on stage more than I’ve not bombed.
I remember hearing a friends story about how he did so well his first few times on stage. He hadn’t realized the reason was that a big chunk of his friends was supporting him from the audience, and the first night he performed without them he died hard.
The promoter walked up to him, placed a hand on his shoulder and said “Congrats bro. Now you’re a comedian.”
Bombing is as much a part of being a comedian as going to the gym is for an athlete.
It’s completely normal, expected and happens to everyone, from the first time performer to Chris Rock testing out new bits. The problem with comedy is that you need an audience to practice. In fact, the game itself is the practice.
A musician can practice a song a 1000 times before making it flawless, and the same is true for various other art forms.
But with comedy, your mistakes happen live and in real-time.
What might be funny amongst a group of friends or as a really popular tweet, will not be verified or shut down until you do it live for a group of strangers.
No matter what shortcuts you try the sooner you accept bombing as a routine hazard of the job the sooner you take steps to minimize the pain and maximize the benefits of not doing well.
STORY: In Bangalore, we’ve had a room Praveen and I started four years ago at Urban Solace (a small friendly coffee shop) in which we’d perform for two people.
YES, TWO PEOPLE.
Now the room is run weekly with a steady audience and you know what?
A majority of comics who have graduated through that room went on to do wonderful things and continue to do so.
Early in our planning we could have thought, “Nobody comes here, this is a waste of time.” But instead, night after night, week over week, we figured out it wasn’t the audience not wanting to support us, but it was the comedians not knowing how to hold the audience’s attention.
And eventually, week after week, year after year, things turned around. Come by any Wednesday, and see a comedy scene in full bloom, with years of history now behind it.
Perry Menzies runs a great room.
Good shows make you good. Bad shows make you better. Shitty shows make you great.
A pilot doesn’t spend most of his training flying the plane on autopilot, and a well-seasoned comedian has likely spent way more of his or her time dealing with crap than reveling in fan appreciation about how funny their blowjob story was.
Whether it’s building the thick skin needed to deal with hecklers, bartenders using blenders, crowd noise or trying to convince 50 drunks who prefer to watch sports that their first tinder date story is much more interesting, a comedian must be ready to deal with anything.
Back to the pilot analogy, I’m going to assume that 80% of a pilot’s training isn’t on autopilot but on what to do when things go wrong and comedy is exactly the same.
When you watch a comedian like a Bill Burr or Louis CK talk about women or traveling, they didn’t just magically get selected as the random white dude to talk about these things for a collective conscious.
They’ve dealt with all of the above and then some, night after night and have masterfully figured out a way to deliver a message through a swarm of drunk and apprehensive message blockers that have earned them the stage and audience they command.
Bombing for a comic is like Training Day. Man that pun was the bomb. Ok sorry.
When you bomb as a comedian, you overcome quite a few things.
Stage fright.
Ego.
Course correction.
You leave the stage feeling like a pile of dirt, but after a few hours or days, you quickly realize it’s not the end of the world and regroup.
It builds the mental fortitude necessary to survive in this business of constant rejection and swings and misses. All of the above is realized much much faster of course if you can learn from it properly and….
Disarm the Bomb and Get on With It
It’s comforting to know that bombing is commonplace, and everyone bombs.
It makes going through this comedy journey a lot easier, no matter what stage you’re currently in. But understanding why you bombed, uff….that’s easier said than done.
Was I too nervous? Too fast? Too slow? Was it the audience? Were the jokes too dirty or not dirty enough?
These are all questions you’ll ask yourself with fellow comedians at 1AM in some dingy restaurant eating unhealthy food as you wallow in self-pity.
But they’re extremely helpful in making you a better comedian. As you answer these questions one by one, you learn to spot the causes of these issues at all future shows and eventually, you bomb less. Let’s take a look at each:
1) Were you too nervous? Or too fast/slow?
I still get nervous, even after over 1000+ times on stage.
Maybe I’m performing in a new country and not sure if they’ll get my references, or the show is being filmed, or the jokes are just too new and I’m not confident enough in their delivery.
Or that girl I like is in the audience and it’s going to chip away at my timing and pacing since I’ll be checking her reactions to see if I’m winning her over, which I’m so clearly not. Either way, it’s another part of the job.
One of the easiest ways to spot this during your act is to notice if you’re stuttering or mumbling your words.
The more you do this, the audience subconsciously loses faith in your setups and your timing suffers. Another way to spot this (and learn from it) after the fact is by recording your set. A comic once told me that they film each performance and watch/listen to it immediately in traffic on the drive home.
When you do this, especially after an open mic, you’re actually performing twice that night (the logic being since you were most likely going to perform the exact same routine the next open mic night, you’ve done this by listening to yourself and now you’re going to adjust on the next show). Plus we have so much time before and after a show as comedians, not watching your set is almost inexcusable since you’re sitting there waiting to go up anyways. (Same is true for not memorizing your set and going up with a piece of paper, but more on that another time).
2) Was it the Audience’s Fault?
IT’S NEVER THE AUDIENCE.
I live in India, a place that sometimes can feel like 30 countries mashed together each with different languages, foods, customs and a whole slew of unique comic references depending on which state you’re in.
Punjabi’s may like a certain type of jokes, South Indians might prefer another type, and then the foreigners in the crowd are just happy they’ve found a place that is crowded and not on lonely planet.
And despite all of that, I’m here to remind you again, IT’S NEVER THE AUDIENCE.
2M views on this video and I still get 10% of hate from people who just didn’t like it. That’s just more for me to learn, not to complain about.
I’ve done shows with my super American accent, in Hyderabad, for 400 Canon salesmen who didn’t speak a word of English.
But despite everything, it’s never really their fault.
They’re just a group of people who happened to be together at a given intersection of time and space (Star Trek reference woo woo) and you happen to be the comic.
It might not be the perfect audience, but early in your career, you will see very hostile or quiet rooms get turned around in almost magical fashion by a comic who is up for the challenge and knows what he or she is doing.
Maybe all your jokes are about sex and dating and the audience is filled with Aunties & Uncles.
Or maybe you do a whole set on corporate life and marriage and you’re catering to a bunch of 16-year-old college-bound kids who know nothing aside from Game of Thrones and video games.
Either way, your job is to make a group of strangers laugh and until you command a huge theater of fans who are identical to you, you first need to learn how to make them all laugh.
Take any show you can get and be ready for any crowd. Try to perform for people who aren’t like you and watch the other comedians who are performing and take stock of what works.
Not blaming the audience is the first step towards correctly reading the audience.
And being able to read the audience (e.g. Do they want dirty jokes? Are they tired of dirty jokes? Maybe they don’t care about jokes but love the crowd work, etc..) is one of the most important skills in your comedy arsenal.
3) Maybe you just sucked bro.
It’s important to make friends as you push through the ranks.
They help you enjoy the highs and march through the lows.
And as comedians, we have a lot of fun doing it. Before tonight it had been a few months since my last good bombing when I performed in Surat with comedy friend Vipul Goyal.
The crowd wasn’t ideal for me and I didn’t scan them enough to realize that. I don’t speak Hindi but I could have done stuff that was a bit more in line with their lives rather than stretch the references to see if they got it.
After a less than stellar performance, I walked backstage and Vipul asked me (with an evil smirk hiding behind his curiosity) “How was the show?” I told him it was alright, and that at least I had fun.
To which he replied “Nice, but the audience should have fun too no?”
Stupid bastard.
Either way, it’s helpful to remember that in comedy you’re always learning as you go.
You will have different types of bombs as you progress through your journey:
The new material bomb,
the nervous on a new stage bomb,
the on-purpose open mic bomb, whatever it might be.
But more often than not, it will be because the joke isn’t funny.
Remember this, and keep reworking your act.
When a joke works 9/10 times you can be sure the joke is fine and it’s just a matter of finding the right crowd. But if you’ve done it twice and it bombs on a real show…it could just as easily still be the joke and you simply lucked out those first two times.
Some Final Thoughts
The best comedians have really good bomb stories, and that’s part of the reason they’re revered as the best comedians. When it happens to you, just remember it as another part of the job.
Embrace it with a smile on your face and thank your lucky stars it’s happening now than when Seinfeld is in the audience, and you’ll be ok.
Some other pointers I didn’t get a chance to talk about:
Don’t focus on the one guy not laughing to the extent it takes away from those who are laughing with you. Disappointing 10 percent is better than disappointing 90 percent.
Cut it short and deal with it. Watching a comic unravel on stage is not pleasant for anyone. If you’re bombing, finish your set early. Give the emcee adequate signs (e.g. Put the mic stand near the center of the stage) and wrap it up, ending hopefully on whatever laugh you can muster.
Get back up on stage as soon as possible. Whenever I bomb, I quickly try to find an open mic later in the night I can go “wash off the bomb.” It helps my mind get back to a positive place and resets the comedy heart to deal with the career again.
I was chatting with my brother the other day and telling him how one of the toughest parts of freelancing is that it’s so easy to do nothing.
I don’t mean the “sit at the wall in clinical depression” type of nothing, but the “watch eight episodes of your favorite new show while ordering food on your favorite app” nothing.
With a trivial gym break in the middle of course.
How to stop being Average?
So how do you stop being so mediocre and live up to your full potential?
You recognize that you can learn any skill in the world that used to take thousands of dollars…for the price of a burger.
Then you learn to siphon your time. Netflix and torrents might be free but they’re costing you a lot more than you think.
Most adults learn this only once they have kids and life forces them to value their time. If you learn this in your twenties you’ve pretty much won.
I’ll explain what I mean now for the rest of this post.
We’re all Average at Something
The real issue is that most of us assume a six-figure salary and a house are the end goal. But in reality, most guys and girls who attain this by 30-35 realize it wasn’t so difficult at all with stock options, corporate benefits, working from home, frequent flier points and who knows what else.
That’s when your internal appraisal machine really freaks out…because society gave you above average results for your very average performance.
How much did all that work you did at Deloitte really impact you OR that company David?
I’m an Artist and I’m Also Mediocre
Depending on where you live (I’m currently living in India although writing this in LA) a lot of professions allow you to make enough money to be good but complacent enough to skip the great.
And that’s a big problem.
I mean maybe not that big.
Whether you’re in the corporate hustle, the creative space or a small business owner in some hybrid of the two, you are always going to be fighting self-inflicted mediocrity.
When you’re making six figures but web surf 4 hours a day, you’re doing it.
When you’re earning your rent in a single night by being a musician/artist/comedian/video maker and then getting stoned for the next three days, you’re doing it.
And when you’re simply wondering at 35 how did I get all these things and still find myself a bit uneasy or unhappy…you’ve done it.
The obvious reason is income (e.g. If you’re not starving you won’t stretch yourself) and the obvious answer that you’ve read a 1000 times is to find your passion and do what you love.
But I’m letting you know that I do what I love and sometimes…I’m still a lazy piece of shit.
So my real question is what (or who) enables your mediocrity?
You probably dabble with thoughts of:
hating your life,
or your boss,
or not knowing what to do with yourself.
But in reality, you may just be on a long drive with the gas pedal only pressed halfway down.
Or in simpler words:
Why do you continue to do just enough when you know deep in your heart of hearts that you are capable of doing so much more?
Again...who or what enables your mediocrity?
Ok, I’ll go first.
And I don’t mean this in a mean way at all because I cherish her with all my heart…but for me it’s my mom.
My mother saw me working in high school/college and then the 80 hour weeks to pay off my student loans, and then sort of just observed as I matured through my professional milestones and always acted busier than I was. (Side Note: Make it a point to entertain your parents for 5 minutes a day on the phone, Facebook isn’t gonna go anywhere and you can always check it while they’re on speaker).
In her eyes, I need to relax a bit more, not get so stressed out and if I miss my 8 AM alarm…I deserved the sleep and my body needs time to recover (From you know, all that drinking and slogging I was doing at the open-mic).
She’s the same type of lady who would call me “healthy” instead of fat when I really need my friends to kick my ass into high-gear.
I’m the quintessential Indian mama’s boy, and I can smile about it now because I’m fully aware of it and take steps to mitigate it. Am I going to stop talking to my mom? Of course not. But recognizing her well-intentioned attitude towards me and the fact that I’m growing up in a different time albeit with many similarities, allows me to stay focused and stay hungry without compromising our relationship and without letting me get fully dependent on her to do things I can easily do for myself.
She doesn’t want me to be mediocre, but doesn’t fully understand this is the age to hustle and “I gotta do me, baby”.
So who or what enables you to be mediocre?
Is it the job that allows you to coast while keeping your lifestyle as comfy as you want it?
Because the charm fading away from this will one day hit you like a ton of bricks. All the miles, hotel points, and cash/perks/houses aren’t going to motivate you any better when you’re still staring at your screen with no purpose or motivation.
Or is it your friends who are obsessed with girls and travel and could care less about what you do as long as the tinder matches still come in? I’m talking to you twenty-year-old dudes who grew up with Ted and Barney (or 30-year-old dudes with Chandler and Joey).
Or is it something as simple as alcohol and drugs?
Meme-ception FTW
Maybe it’s a partner you spend more time arguing with instead of having as an actual “partner” who helps you complement each other to be better people.
And most importantly, it’s obviously a huge chunk of you.
That would be so trippy.
Just to be clear, there is nothing wrong with the house on the hill, the two kids, the cars and the whole deal.
But have you noticed how most of the typical case studies on success….Zuckerberg, Musk, Gates, Bezos… all did amazing things well beyond the years they had no financial incentive to?
Or in simpler words, they were rich as hell before really impacting upon their life’s work (and more importantly, some had families before the real grind began).
They could have bought the private island or huge apartment in New York, partied with celebrities and danced/laughed/screwed their way into obscurity.
But they didn’t do that.
In fact, Elon Musk once said the idea of sitting on some beach “sounds horrible.” And eventually, after 1000 Instagram selfies and packaged holiday after packaged holiday, you’ll start to agree.
There is nothing wrong with being average, but there is something wrong in treating yourself averagely.
Sanjay-San from Kyoto
I don’t have the answers on how to stop being mediocre or on how to accomplish greatness. But I do know that 99% of us, (a stat I just pulled out of my ass) know that we can so easily do much, much more.
When you finish college the real challenge begins, but everybody acts like the hard part is over.
In school, you had that friend who you always wanted to do better than but rarely did.
You had the coach who pushed you to run another mile when you thought “OMG I’ve never run more than 3 miles ever.”
Somewhere along the way…you stopped doing all of that.
WHY?
Additional productivity tips from the Birdy Num Num podcast.
Stand up comedy is a very interesting art form in that to the casual observer it appears anybody can do it.
You’re a human with a microphone, talk for 30 minutes and you move on after selfies and adulation.
However, as we’ve all learned in life… if it’s too good to be true then it probably is.
And stand up is no exception.
Share the stage but share a lot more.
There is nothing funny about the funny business and comic after comic will tell you it’s a grueling journey that only the strong survive. Like a soldier going to war, the ties that bind are the ones that help you make it or break it.
How do I survive doing stand up comedy?
How do you survive your first five years in stand up comedy? The simple fact is that you need to make friends in this business to have the patience to stick it out.
I’m not talking about kissing ass or only hanging out with people who can give you social media clout or book you on shows. I’m talking about:
buddies you waste 4 hours with doing a show for 2 people who don’t pay attention
fellow comics who will tell you if a joke has scope or legs to stand on
people who want to grow and put in the work on video editing, social media, film making
people who don’t just want to bitch and drink and moan about who slept with or who got what spot, (although those gossip conversations do help you alleviate some stress when things don’t click which normally they don’t)
Comedy is Networking Whether you Like it or Not
Most comedians are either introverts who think if they just write jokes the rest will fall into place OR extroverts who think if they just hang out and make friends, the gigs will fall into place.
Very few comedians are both, and that’s where the sweet spot is.
A guitarist can be an introvert and then just toss up a YouTube video and show the world how awesome he is…but YOU need to the same thing with your jokes AND get out in front of the public or producer and get your stuff recorded.
That takes social skills, my friend.
Just like you can’t climb the corporate ladder without attending a few office functions or simply being a friendly face amongst your peers, you can’t grow as a comedian if you don’t learn how to scale.
I myself am so used to booking rooms, running marketing, helping others, managing my career and doing other things but you need to learn to let people do things for you. They will mess up, you will know you could have done it better yourself but you need to build a web of people because I got something to tell you:
Most comedians who book rooms or shows aren’t actively wondering about who will kill the most. They just think about the last 10 comics they interacted with who have a solid 20 minutes (should be most of you after 5 years) and then dig deeper if required.
Also, friends, networking and an innate sense of human nature around relationships (both professional and social) are what keeps most of us in it for the long haul. We grow together, we cry together, and ironically, we laugh together.
The irony of our profession is that while you’re one man or woman on stage, you probably need a team off of it.
CREATIVITY IS HARD WORK BRUV. Are you sure?
How do I make Friends in Comedy?
Comedians tend to grow up in classes similar to your batch mates in college or high school that you make your way through life’s milestones with.
The group of comics who you started performing with from dingy little coffee shops to those better shows at bars and ultimately paid shows are the ones you’ll become close with.
Your pain and constant effort to improve becomes the shared experiences your working group of comics will never forget.
You slowly start to depend on each other as writing buddies,
you hang out and bond over those long hours before a set,
and when it’s all said and done you dissect the game plan on what worked and what didn’t over a few cold ones.
Post-show bonding is one of my favorite aspects of comedy because your mind is already firing on all cylinders anyway.
Most importantly if you spend enough time with someone you start to trust them.
You trust if they hear about a good show they will refer you and vice versa.
You trust if they perform before you or you before them, you will do a good job warming up the crowd and be grateful for the opportunity they’re extending your way hopefully to return the favor in the future.
Quid pro quo which exists amongst our friends in their more traditional professional service jobs is also an unwritten rule in comedy.
Just like your old college flatmate may help you get that dream job at Google or Facebook, the comic generally never forget their pals while moving up the ranks.
Nobody Is Out to Get You
I hate to break it to you but you’re not that important.
Not even to hold a grudge against.
Comedians love to call out the world but never call out themselves.
One of the misconceptions that occasionally occurs in the stand-up comedy world and also contributes to people giving it a try and then quitting is that they aren’t part of the “cool” crowd.
They come from nowhere to an open mic, wait a few hours, tell a few jokes that don’t go so well, and then disappear never to be seen on stage again.
These people then think nobody laughed at them because they weren’t pals with the host or some other childish but understandable reason, get discouraged and move on.
Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately?) this is far from reality.
As a host of several events myself, this is the last thing on the host or organizer’s mind.
He or she is simply providing a platform for his or herself and others and is trying to move a quality show onwards while giving everybody a fair shake. We’re all vulnerable and far from apathetic, and the kid who that person may have seen us being chummy with could have been the same person that got booed off the stage a year earlier.
It’s just that these people continue to show up, put in an effort, and like a coworker that grows on you over the months and years, this new performer starts to become a part of the struggling family.
They’re so many comics I’ve seen grow up who used to annoy me all the time, but I can’t help but want to help them when they keep showing up to put in the work.
The best advice I’ve heard given to any performer is simply “show Up.”
These guys don’t care how well connected you are. They just care about a good time that evening and if the opener was late and you’re manning the camera, a good host will ask you to do 5-10 mins.
You never know who will cancel, or be late with traffic, or need help with something and how that inconvenience could be a blessing in disguise for you.
We’ve all been beginners and remembering that on a daily basis from the fresh faces that show up, the last thing we intentionally do (at least most of us) is hinder an aspiring beginner from even getting started.
It’s just too much work to be a dick to someone on purpose. So stop being insecure and just keep your head down and do your shit.
You Will Still Meet Jerks
While the majority of comedians operate in the manner above, you do also meet people in this industry who may be polar opposites.
They see other performers and those in the business of comedy as mere stepping stones.
These people pay lip service to get a show or two in the beginning but in the end, it may simply about them and what they do, and they would be damned about making lasting friendships in their chosen creative profession.
Some want to be famous actors, some want to do YouTube, others just want to get laid.
Whatever it is, it doesn’t affect you and your journey, so again, suck it up.
This is probably true of life in general.
While I’d love to say karma has a way of course-correcting these selfish folk it’s not a guarantee and I’ve learned shouldn’t really be something on your bucket list.
Finally, as you get older in your comedy journey the phrase it’s not who you know but what you know becomes a little less relevant.
Luckily for the comic, no matter who you know, ultimately the judge of your worth will come from the audience who in the beginning cares entirely about the opposite. They judge you on what you say while on the stage and how they feel about it. But the chance to make it on the stage first is where relationships in comedy gain such significance why it was worth talking about here.
So many comics wonder about what other comedians think of them while forgetting what the audience might think of them.
CONCLUSION
Comedy isn’t easy but like going to war or being in medical school, knowing your not alone is what makes it a lot easier. You still need to nail your final exam and score highly all by yourself, but the rest of the time you need to find a way to study with others.
After years of doing this profession, building up a scene and having my own ups and downs I would suggest the best way for you to survive in this business, and this is for completely selfish reasons…is to just work hard and be nice to everyone you meet.
I know it’s a bit ironic, but you’re begging strangers to hear you talk, so any ego you had should have been dropped the second you thought about doing this.
Questions or comments? Agree or Disagree? Hit me up on my Instagram or comment below.
