Stand-up comedians Guna Kannan & Sai Anand talk to Indulge about dreaming big as a duo
“In union there is strength,” said Greek storyteller Aesop and Chennai-based stand-up comedians Gunaseelan alias Guna Kannan and Sai Sundaram aka Sai Anand seem to be following it to a tee.
Having decided that they would spend their lives making people laugh, the duo has joined hands to make the impact two-fold and they will be performing in town soon under the banner ‘Guna Sai Live’.
We begin by asking the lads how they came together as a team and Guna responds instantly, “We knew each other through our open mic acts for about three years. Four months ago, we decided to collaborate, for both of us had content for a half solo. We mutually agreed to it and we've performed a show as a duo already. Since it was a hit, we've decided to continue with it.”
The concept of the show, the duo say, is to deliver observational humour derived from things that are personal to them. Both have decided to play to their strengths this time. The act will begin when Sai Anand gets on stage, followed by Guna. Each will perform for 30 minutes and there will be opening acts prior to them getting on stage to keep the audience engaged.
Moving on from the show, we ask Guna and Sai the road they have traversed thus far and both say it hasn’t been a smooth one. “It’s been three years since I began cracking jokes on stage. When I began, we did open mics at places like restaurants, where the audiences are not very receptive or engaging and I faced a variety of hecklers as well,” says Guna.
Sai, who has been doing stand-up comedy for close to five years, said his journey so far has been filled with learning curves. “Soon after I began performing live, the pandemic happened and I had to unlearn what I knew and learn how to do comedy online, which I found to be very restrictive. But, it did help me hone my writing skills, for I started afresh,” he states.
When asked what the most difficult part is when it comes to stand-up comedy, Sai responds that getting stage time is the difficult part for a budding comic. Guna, on the other hand, says he finds striking the right balance between writing jokes and delivering them on stage is very difficult.
Going forward, the comedians state they plan on performing at many other cities, with a show already scheduled to be performed in Bengaluru next month. “We would like to do at least one or two shows a month,” Guna chimes in.
Before we end the chat, we ask the Chennaiites about one impactful event that changed their perspective of comedy altogether. While Sai Anand says he found his mojo while dealing with a heckler who was rather combative throughout his show a few years ago, Guna Kannan gives a more deeper answer.
“When I began stand-up, I wanted to deliver messages and provide counter perspectives. But, soon I learnt that I need to learn the craft and not over deliver my jokes. One has to be genuine and crack jokes from the heart to be able to be funny,” he states.
INR 200 onwards. On August 6. 5 pm. At Offbeat Music ventures, RA Puram.