Funnyman Rajat Sood, a growing face in the Indian comedy scene, is widely known for his multiple sets that have garnered many views online; he also won the India’s Laughter Champion title. This stand-up comic has brought to the table a distinct style of comedy merging poetry and shayari with his observations and funny anecdotes. His style of comedy has resonated with the crowd largely and now he is set to tickle the funny bone of the Chennai audience. Ahead of his gig produced by The Grin Club titled Rajat Sood Live — Pomedy Show this evening, we have a chat with Rajat and learn about his experiences of performing on TV, the inspiration for his style, what the audience can expect from his show, and more.
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For Rajat, seeing people laugh at his jokes “is a drug.” “Laughter liberates us from our worries and troubles, and knowing that our art holds that power is a very beautiful feeling,” he adds while talking about his inspiration to take up comedy.
Sharing his beautiful experience on TV, he says, “Performing on a stage, which has given birth to so many comedy legends of our nation, was a moment of pride. And winning the show was the cherry on the cake.” He also reminisces about the rush of adrenaline when he performed in front of many Bollywood biggies, including Suniel Shetty, Taapsee Pannu, Rajkumar Rao, Ananya Panday, and Mithun Chakraborty.
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Rajat’s style of approaching his sets includes a combination of poems and shayaris, which is uncommon among many contemporary stand-up artistes. Subsequently, this will also be the primary format for his show in Chennai. He opens up about the reasons behind employing this approach. “The inspiration for this is the human heart because we all adore our emotions in a moment and then want to laugh at those experiences the very next moment,” he says. “Hence, I thought of combining the two art forms ‘poetry,’ which can make us feel and adore our emotions, and ‘comedy,’ which makes us laugh at our experiences, and present the blend as a new art form — ‘Stand Up Pomedy’ to the world,” he adds.
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Rajat’s set also often introduces different perspectives on love. Highlighting what makes this topic great material for his shows, he says, “The world exists because of love. You too exist because of love. And me too, Wait! I will have to confirm it with my parents,” he quips. “Jokes apart, I am that guy who leads from the heart and thus, love has had a huge impact on my life and I believe it does play a crucial role in everyone else’s life too,” he adds, citing a couplet he wrote on the same — “If there were no thirst on your lips then we would never learn how to drink. Similarly, if there was no love, we would not learn how to live.”
Having performed on TV, Rajat also reflects on the differences that artistes might observe transitioning to live shows. “TV lets you present your art to the world but you are unable to interact with the viewer. On the contrary, live shows allow us to interact with the audience, know their story, be a part of it and have fun with it, which is something I do a lot at my shows,” he compares. Also, appreciating the format of crowd work, Rajat promises its use in the upcoming show.
₹300 onwards. Tickets available online.
May 19. From 6 pm.
At Medai - The Stage, Alwarpet.