Miss Funny Bones

Somya Abrol

 

Had it been up to religion, a woman would not have known happiness. Here, we speak not of happiness of the eyes, as many proclaim being the ultimate litmus test for joy. Osho, too, advocated the fact that historically, women weren’t supposed to know of “happiness”. But, two delightful forces of nature have had a ‘meet-cute’ in the recent past, and raised a silent rebellious battle against the purists of the world. It wouldn’t have been too long then, before this force hit our country.

Meet, the women comedians of India. They’re sassy, they’re cocky and they take their comedy very seriously. So much so, that they’ve left secure, well-paying careers behind without an ounce of regret. Ever wondered why is humour a rare (and more attractive) asset on women than on men? While you ponder on that for a while, let’s get you introduced to some of India’s most successful funny women who were born with Chromosome F. For the uninitiated, ‘F’ is for ‘funny’; don’t think too much.

Neeti Palta
Subtle sarcasm
“When we started off about five years ago in the amateur stand-up scene in Delhi, it was like ‘mike laga lo, jokes bol lo’ on any given Sunday. We’d try to get our friends to attend our gigs,” says Neeti Palta (38).

“Slowly, our friend list started shrinking. When I told my parents that I want to quit my job at J. Walter Thompson, they were flabbergasted. A woman comedian back then meant someone like Bharti Singh; Indians’ exposure was limited to Laughter Challenge. I quit my job and ended up writing the Indian version of Sesame Street, Galli Galli Sim Sim. While trying to make it big on the comedy scene, I also got to write my first Bollywood movie, O Teri, produced by Atul Agnihotri.”

Neeti’s initiation into the comedy scene, before she decided to go whole hog, was off-beat. “The improv American show by Drew Carey, Whose Line Is It Anyway? Was being held at the Maurya. I went there as an audience member and was called on stage for some random improv. Those guys loved my timing, and I, quite frankly, loved doing that. And hence began the hobby, which became a full-time career.”

Neeti’s comedy — observational, sarcastic, — is mostly about the life of a woman in the Indian setup, her life phases, and in parts, about being a Delhi girl. “The key is to make light about things that concern all of us without trying to lecture.”

 

 

 

 

Vasu Primlani
Questioning normalcy
 “A lot of you might not know this — I was in the US before shifting to India. And while I was there, Obama spoke about me. He said, “Vasu Primlani… Never heard of her.” That was Vasu Primlani’s (41) opening line for her act in Chandigarh, not very long ago. Keep in mind, though, she says the above with a deadpan face. A stand-up comedian for the past six years, Vasu’s methods of humour swing between deadpan and physical — two swings you probably wouldn’t take at a homosexual woman.

A full-time environmentalist six years ago — before she decided to be full-time funny — Vasu moved to New Delhi four years ago and has since been party to varied reactions to her brand of comedy: “I don’t know if I can ‘brand’ my comedy, but yes, it’s largely about questioning the notion of normalcy, our mannerisms, norms, environment, women, rapes and LGBT issues. I take the risk of baring my thoughts and my personality in front of my audience, which has worked against me, too, at unexpected times. During a gig in Bangalore, a woman actually raised her hand to come on stage and slap me. I said into the mike, ‘Don’t even try; it turns me on.’ So, you have to learn to take it in the stride that some people might not be as open to homosexuality as some others; we’re still a very evolving culture.”

Vasu does, however, believe that she’s making a difference with her comedy, one laugh at a time. “I’ve had guys take me right into their arms after I get off stage. They just come forward and throw their arms around me in elation. Where does that happen? They know they can take that liberty because I’ve let my guard down for them. This one time in Dubai, a young guy called me a day after my gig there and said, ‘After laughing stupendously at your gig last night, I went home and cried.’ That’s called breaking a barrier. Somewhat like a pug breaks the ugly barrier and starts seeming cute – I call it pugly.”

Kaneez Surka
Improv(ment)
By now, that picture is probably teasing your brain with “Where have I seen her before?” Don’t fret. You’ll remember her as the many women characters from Cyrus Broacha’s The Week That Wasn’t on CNN IBN. A part of the show since 2006, Kaneez Surka (31) fell in love with the only method of comedy that defined her at the time — improv (improvisation). So, Kaneez found herself attending improv workshops in the US three years later, and returned to Mumbai to join Improv Comedy Mumbai (ICM) after a workshop with Adam Dow. “After the show, I knew my true calling was improv. So I started attending various workshops abroad, since the improv scene in India wasn’t big back then. In 2013 again, I went to the US for some lessons in improv and returned to start teaching this method of comedy to aspiring comedians in India,” says Kaneez.

Since May 2014, however, Kaneez has discovered a new love for stand-up comedy. Though still in the awkward phase in her relationship with stand-up, Kaneez is sure to find her ground in it before you can say ‘cheese’: “Making the shift from improv to stand-up wasn’t a cakewalk. Improv is all about team work; you feed off each other’s weird perspectives and are allowed to be different people in your characters’ garb. Stand-up, on the other hand, feels like getting up on stage and baring my soul;   you’re alone. It is, however, learning a new skill, which I’m glad about. Besides, I’m a 31-year-old divorced woman, who is dying to have a baby. My perspective on life is different.”

Aditi Mittal
Stand-up philosophers
 “About five years ago, I went for an open mike with a friend, she was trying her hand at comedy. I just gave it a shot and nailed it the first time! By the next month I had a Bollywood movie in hand, and soon after, a flat in Mumbai.”
“No, that’s not how it happened.”

“I just knew that I wanted to act and write — was a nautanki fan bachpan se — and comedy seemed like the perfect combination,” shares Aditi Mittal (28), finally getting serious — sort of. The young comedian has been on the comedy circuit for about five years now and has to her credit performances at the Women in Comedy Festival (Boston), BBC’s Red Button TV, LA’s Love Factory and being featured in a documentary called Stand Up Planet, among a gamut of other achievements. The funny damsel, however, is just getting started. “This is just the beginning. I believe it takes decades for a comedian to find his/her own voice; to get polished like Louis CK, for instance. I believe stand-up comedians are actually stand-up philosophers. I hope I find that voice soon and make an original mark as a comedian.”

What drew her towards comedy, however, besides “not doing much” in the US before returning to India, was simply, “The sound of laughter. There’s something about hearing, seeing people laugh in unison. Even if people laugh at a dirty joke, they’ve all become an accomplice in that moment. That, to me, is a sense of togetherness. Historically too, laughter was the signal for passing of danger; an establishment of togetherness.”