To make people laugh is the toughest job in the world. Imagine choosing standup comedy as a profession! But the way stand-up comedy has picked up over the years, slowly becoming a mainstream career option, says a lot about what people the world over are keen to watch. While English comedy has seen a commendable rise from where it started, owing to the fact that it caters to a wider audience, Tamil standup comedy has found its footing in Chennai. What began as a means to popularise Tamil comedy has now turned into a genre of comedy itself.
Spearheading this ‘movement’ of sorts is Annamalai Lakshmanan, who started a forum called Tanglish Comedy in 2016, to encourage standup comedians to perform in Tamil. He says, “In Chennai, English is the niche, Tamil comedy has a wider reach. When standup comedy started, it was predominantly English with some comedians sprinkling few Tamil words here and there. But slowly, we have witnessed a transition.”
In 2014, a group called Chennai Comedy started Chennai’s first ever open mic, and in 2015, Annamalai was the first comedian to perform his set entirely in Tamil/Tanglish in a Chennai Comedy open mic. “If the lineup had 10 comedians, nine would be performing in English while I would be the only one performing in Tamil,” he tells us, adding, “In fact, at one of the open mics, the first table was full of eight Scottish people, imagine the plight of Tamil, comedy and me! But I kept performing in Tamil. I felt my comedy, my expression will come out best in my mother tongue — Tamil, and hence, I had this conviction of performing in Tamil/Tanglish right from my first show.”
Later, a conversation with fellow stand-up comedian Jagan Krishnan is what sowed the seeds to form Tanglish Comedy. “We discussed: ‘Why are we, Tamil middle-class comedians, performing to Tamil middle-class audiences, in English?’ Two weeks later, Tanglish Comedy was born. It is world’s first
platform for Tamil/Tanglish stand-up comedy,” the comedian says.
Annamalai informs that Tanglish Comedy’s first open mic saw 55 people in a 30-seater! The response was massive! The audience had made it clear that namma baashaila comedy pannunga pa... English kalandhaalum ok... Namma baashaila pannunga... There was no looking back.
“Comedy in Tamil (mother tongue) hits home harder than English! For the audience, comedy in Tamil feels much more relatable, personal and enjoyable. An English comedian with skill and craft can most certainly produce the same kind of results, but the chances of it happening with Tamil are more and easier here. Tamil is more than just a language — it is a culture, something ingrained within us deeply, including all the Tamil references,” explains Annamalai.
Also, Tamil as a language by itself lends naturally to comedy. For example — Sledai (pun) is a natural free-flowing aspect of Tamil language by itself. From Tamil Sangam poetry to the new age social media poets, most of them share a good sense of humour, which the language naturally lends itself to!
All these apart, Tamil has always had a rich lineage of comedians in films, like Nagesh, Chandrababu, Manorama, NS Krishnan, Goundamani, Senthil, Vivek, Vadivelu, Kovai Sarala, Santhanam, Yogi Babu and so on. “Likewise in theatre, Madhu Balaji, Neelu and the likes, S Ve Sekhar and Y G Mahendran, successful in both mediums. Crazy Mohan, a great comedy writer and actor across both mediums again. This lineage of Tamil comedy continues and in many ways, Tamil standup comedy is its modern version, a new age voice of the same,” he says.
Talking about what contributes to its popularity, Annamalai shares, “Alex in Wonderland Standup Comedy Special and Comicstaan Tamil on Amazon Prime, Praveen Kumar’s Tamil stand-up comedy special — 36 Vayadhiniley (with 5.6+ million views) and the Tamil fake-awards comedy show — Acadummy Awards on YouTube — the success of these shows online put Tamil stand-up comedy on the global map! As for the last one year, the rising reach of social media, mainly Instagram reels, and the presence of many Tamil stand-up comedians in this space has given a further reach for Tamil standup comedy. The journey from here is onwards and upwards!”
Evidently, there have been quite a few well-known comics in Chennai, who though began with English comedy, later moved on to Tamil. Praveen Kumar is one such name. Having started his stand-up journey in 2008, it was only in 2017 that he made a switch to Tamil comedy. He explains why, saying, “One day, a friend of mine told me, ‘You think in Tamil and then translate the joke in English and perform; why don’t you do it directly in Tamil?’ That made a lot of sense. However, at that time, there were very few Tamil comedians and no Tamil specials. But that’s when I thought, when Hindi comedians can do a full act in Hindi, why can’t I do in Tamil. So, I went on to do my first ever Tamil special on YouTube titled 36 Vayadhiniley that did really well. After that, I decided that I am not going back to English; to the extent that I moved from Bengaluru to Chennai because of the scope/opportunity I see in Tamil stand-up comedy.”
Mervyn Rosario, whose tryst with stand-up comedy began in 2016, would initially do shows in English. “We all started with English and slowly shifted to Tamil, mainly because while performing in our mother tongue, we are more natural. Also, a lot of live shows are now happening in other cities like Salem, Erode, Kanchipuram, Tiruppur, so it helps in expansion of the market. Again, I think people here also wanted to try new forms of entertainment apart from TV, cinema and OTT, and Tamil stand-up comedy filled in that space for them. Now they can have a hearty laugh over something they really relate to and connect with,” Mervyn says, adding, “Foreign markets are huge now because Tamil shows can make them (people who live abroad) feel at home and, of course, there is that regional connection. And since financial options are now open to Tamil stand-up comedy too, it felt right to shift from English to Tamil.”
According to Mervyn, Tamil stand-up scene has been growing “mainly because of Insta Reels”. “Many content creators post comedy reels on a regular basis and people can watch them live! Different voices invite different audiences as people can pick and choose, and they need this kind of family outing in this stressful work life. Also, I feel people relate better with humour based on their daily happenings.”
Agreeing with him, Praveen adds, “Social media, especially Instagram Reels, are driving forces for people to watch Tamil stand-up comedy. Reels, in fact, have been catching up a lot, in terms of comedians putting out content regularly. Earlier, comedians would put out a 10 minute YouTube video, which would mean five to six months of writing, practicing and performing in various places, and finally when a comedian decides to let go off that material, they will record that and put it out. But now things have changed. Now, even while going to an open mic, comedians record a 30-second video and put it up as Reels. Good thing about this is that there is no right or wrong about this. Whatever works for the audience, works for the comic. Secondly, stand-up comedy is live entertainment, and people really want to go out and enjoy a show other than the movies. This particular art form is trying to fill that gap of getting people to be entertained live. Add to that the fact that one can go to these shows with family, friends, colleagues, just about anyone.”
.png?w=640&auto=format%2Ccompress)
“As a stand-up comedian while performing in native language, my content attracts and connects more audience. Authenticity and originality of the content will never leave while performing in native language. A mix of Tamil and English is how I deliver my set referring the language as Tanglish Comedy, which is spoken by majority of people in our daily life, connecting them easily and directly to my content. I believe staying original to your content and authenticity in performance will deliver you the result of laughter and applause from audience. What is your content, whom you are reaching out to, understanding your target audience and how you are presenting, everything matters,” says comedian Vignesh Vijayan.
Nesan David, one of the youngest stand-up comedians in Chennai, who primarily does his material in English, is now making inroads into Tamil. “Lately, there has been a surge in Tamil stand-up comedy with open mics and other platforms really helping budding comedians to explore in regional language,” he says, adding, “During the lockdown, creating funny content and becoming viral on Instagram was pretty common amongst content creators. Now stand-up comedians are basically doing the same, but with a live audience. Instead of creating funny content and posting them as videos, comedians write/create funny content and come and deliver them on stage and entertain the live audience. Plus, they record their live performance and post it on Instagram Reels/YouTube videos. So, I see this as a 2-in-1 opportunity for comedians. They can be a standup comedian on stage, and also a content creator on Instagram. And since stand-up comedy videos are now being circulated in and around Tamil Nadu, many have come to know about stand-up comedy, and are willing to come and watch live shows.”
Email: rupam@newindianexpress.com
X: @rupsjain
Punit Pania: The voice of parody
Aakash Gupta unwraps freshness in a spick-and-span comedy show
Once you achieve one milestone, there’s another one waiting: Gaurav Gupta
Standup comedian Ravi Gupta’s ‘Kal Ki Chinta Nahi Karta’ is about taking a chill pill
EXCL: Comedian Urooj Ashfaq on winning the Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards
Trevor Noah’s Bengaluru shows cancelled