It’s time to stand out with Telugu stand-up comedy
Hyderabad: “Nenu Hyderabad Lo Chala Posh Area Lo Unta…. Dhoolpet Hills,” jokes Sandesh Johnny, a well-known stand-up comedian in the city. Having made a mark with his perfect comic timing in Hindi and English, Sandesh is amongst a few stand-up artistes who have moved to Telugu to create a stage for regional stand-up comedy in the city.
“At present, there is no Telugu stand-up comedy scene happening in the city because we don’t have any person to look up to as a reference point. So, this is the beginning of a new industry of its own, which is still in the making,” says Sandesh.
Adding to it, Santosh Mohan Veeranki of Tale Tellers Troupe India shares, “For the past few years in India, the stand-up comedy scene is booming but only in cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad and New Delhi. The most selling comics in India are not English comics but regional ones like Zakir Khan, Abhishek Upmanyu, Abhinav Bassi, all Hindi comics and also Aravind SA and Praveen Kumar from Tamil Nadu. So, regional comics are creating a platform in the language that they can relate to. This is when we realised that there is a need to create a Telugu stand-up platform here.”
Santosh with his team had curated a late-night Telugu open mic event every Saturday before the pandemic struck. However, he looks forward to getting back on the stage once the Covid restrictions are lifted.
In the open mic event, three minutes are given to any participant who has registered at the venue. “This was an attempt to create an audience for Telugu stand-up comedy. Also, I want to gather a minimum of 25 stand-up comics in the next five years from the two Telugu States with an aim to see at least one Telugu comic performing in the Amazon Prime show – Comicstaan,” says Santosh.
When it comes to comedy, till recently, the Telugu audience were exposed to the work of veteran comedian Brahmanandam in movies and television shows like Zabardast, Kushi Kushiga or Patas Punches. The concept of stand-up comics is still relatively new for many in the two-Telugu speaking States.
“One of the reasons for lack of awareness on Telugu stand-up is due to lack of comics in the language. So we need to build the audience and educate people about stand-up comedy first while simultaneously creating a good pack of comics in the language,” points out Hriday Ranjan, a stand-up comic in the city.
But how can one hook the audience to their shows? “Through interesting comic scripts we can attract audience. At present, jokes are usually based on Telugu culture, language, daily way of living or simply about the general way of life. College life, parents and pressures, engineering, etc are some of the go-to topics for comic shows as many relate to them at a greater level,” Hriday adds.
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