Comedian Shivanshu Dwivedi turns life's confusion into art with 'Idhar Udhar' in Hyderabad

We all remember our relatives asking us what we wanted to be when we grew up. It was always a question that either made us say something ambitious or left us confused. For comedian Shivanshu Dwivedi, that very confusion became the foundation of his latest show Idhar Udhar, which he’s bringing to the city.

“The name comes from this one time where I was asked, ‘what do you want to do with your life?’ I couldn’t answer properly, so I just said, ‘I’ll do idhar udhar.’ Back then, I wasn’t confident about it, but now as an adult, that’s exactly what I’m doing,” he says with a laugh.

The show, as the name suggests, is about little observations from here and there — about himself, the people he meets, and the country he lives in.

“It’s about what you see when you’re just walking on the footpath. From society’s weirdness to quirks about the nation, that’s what I try to capture,” Sivanshu explains. The result is a collection of funny, sharp, and sometimes emotional reflections of everyday life.

His journey to comedy was not straightforward. Shivanshu tried his hand at music, theatre, and even worked as a software developer. But he quickly felt trapped in the corporate cycle. “I gave my all to my job for six to seven months, and they gave me an eight per cent raise. That number on my growth—it was depressing. I didn’t want my life measured like that. Ineeded to express myself, and comedy gave me that space,” he shares.

Talking about his creative process, he says comedy is less about clever writing and more about honest connection. “The grammar of writing and Over time, I’ve tried to write the way I speak, so it feels natural. Even if the audience does not get the concept, but feels the emotion, we are on the same page.

As for Indian stand-up as a whole, Shivanshu believes the industry is still young but already adding something new to the global scene. “Globally, self-deprecating comedy wasn’t really a thing until Indian comics started doing it. We bring that introspection, sometimes even sadness, into our comedy.”

For him, comedy is not only about getting applause. “The best reaction is not laughter, but that shine in someone’s eyes when they’ve seen something. If I can give even 10 seconds of that in an hour-long show, my job is done.” With Idhar Udhar, he proves that wandering through life with open eyes can be more than confusion — it can be art.

Tickets at `299.

September 20, 7 pm.

At The Street Comedy Club,

Madhapur.