Stand-up comedy faces setback in Hyderabad since Covid outbreak

Hyderabad: The coronavirus outbreak brought the stand-up comedy business in the city to a standstill. As venues were shuttered and playing gigs canceled, many comedians find the future of comedy to be uncertain. Although some comedy lovers still choose to attend the live shows, the numbers are far from what they were in 2019. Well-known […]

Hyderabad: The coronavirus outbreak brought the stand-up comedy business in the city to a standstill. As venues were shuttered and playing gigs canceled, many comedians find the future of comedy to be uncertain.

Although some comedy lovers still choose to attend the live shows, the numbers are far from what they were in 2019.

Well-known stand-up comic, Avinash Agarwal, points out that not just the stand-up shows, many other parts of the entertainment industry took a hit. Several shows of various comics were cancelled during the first and second waves, and now due to the Omicron threat.

“While there was some breathing space between these incidents, people are a little afraid to attend the gigs. I have to add that those who really like watching live comedy shows certainly came,” he says.

Video-calling app Zoom came as a rescue for many comedians, as they were able to hold shows there. “However, when or if we will be able to pull the same number of people to the venues as we did before Covid, is a question that no one has an answer for,” says Avinash.

While video calling apps did give a bigger platform to the comics, where people from several different cities could attend the show at the same time, the creative gratification for many was missing.

“The applause and laughter from your audience is addictive for us stand-up comedians,” shares famous city-based comic, Bhavneet Singh, adding, “This we do not get on Zoom calls. Also, the tickets for video shows go far way less than the live gigs. The tickets that used to go for Rs 250 to Rs 300, are sold for Rs 50 to Rs 100.”

But, most comics do not earn from these stand-up gigs. “We mostly earn from corporate or private shows, which almost dried up during the last two years,” laments Bhavneet.

Some of the stand-up comics, however, believe that the audience came out in huge numbers for comic gigs. Rajashekar Mamidanna, a big name in the comic circle of Hyderabad, says, “I feel people found every opportunity to come out and attend the shows. I did over 50 shows in 2021, and during many of those the show was housefull.”

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