Stand-up comedian Saikiran is a really 'nice guy'

Stand-up comedian Saikiran became a viral sensation with Dark Skin and Getting Married, a piece he tells us was born out of “a lifetime of experiences and observations”. It has more than 20 million views on YouTube and 40 million views on Facebook, which goes on to state that it connects with people on a deeper level. Primarily focused on clean comedy, Saikiran admits he prepared Pure Veg Jokes because he needed some way to bring the audience to watch his shows. From there to now performing before students of Harvard Business School, leaving them in splits, Saikiran has come a long way. Ahead of his solo act in Chennai, we caught up with the comedian who is wary of phone calls with journalists, and that’s how we begin the conversation.

Considering you are in a public domain creative art form where you are required to speak to people, why are you not comfortable for an interview over the phone?  
(Haha) My discomfort is not with a phone conversation per se. The issue is scheduling a call when ‘mutually convenient time’ becomes a bit difficult and also I have given a few phone interviews where I have been misquoted in the article; so for both reasons, I prefer email interviews.

Your beginning to becoming a known figure was with a viral video. How does one go viral? 
I have a simple answer to that — I have no clue. If I had the answer, I would go viral more frequently. Having experienced virality on YouTube and Instagram, the only thing I can say is if a large number of people find a video relatable and immediately after seeing it think of sharing it with someone they know, it will have the potential to go viral. The benchmark of something going viral is when the video comes back to you on WhatsApp; then you know it’s truly viral.

Also read: Falling in laugh: Comedian Rajat Sood is all set to charm the Chennai audience with his unique mix of jokes adnd poetry

Going viral is also something that makes or breaks one’s career... It made yours, broke others’... What’s your opinion?
Virality is not fully in our control, we can only react to the best of our abilities when it happens and hope we don’t lose control of our vehicle when it either suddenly gets a nitro boost or hits a speed breaker.

When you started Pure Veg Jokes, why was it so important to keep it “pure veg”?
I started doing Pure Veg Jokes before I had any videos. I needed some way to bring the audience to watch my shows and realised that I primarily do clean comedy and gave it a name that could encourage more people to check my show. Stand-up was still new and many audiences were apprehensive to come to a comedy show as they had misconceptions about comedy after watching some clips and formed an opinion that all stand-up shows are similar. And also at that time, many venues and art spaces were refusing to allow stand-up comedy in their spaces because they didn’t feel it would gel with their vibe which was more family friendly, so the name Pure Veg Jokes helped me convince a few spaces to let 
me perform.

What really is clean comedy and what is not? 
I don’t think it is clean comedy. My genre is observational and anecdotal comedy and I usually keep it clean. There is no perfect definition of clean comedy; it varies from performer to performer. Clean comedy is more an American concept where they had rules of what is allowed to be performed on TV or in colleges, which had more restrictions than the comedy clubs. I will paraphrase some comic who said that “if you look at a joke and wonder, is it clean? then it’s not clean”.

Have you stuck to clean comedy becasue there is a lot of scrutiny and criticism?
Not sure. It’s just closer to my natural style.

Also read: Time for no filters!: Funnyman Samay Raina is on a countrywide tour and we couldn't help but catch up with him

What are you bringing to Chennai? Any new set that you have prepared?
This time, I will be performing two of my shows — Pure Veg Jokes where I talk about my childhood and growing up in a fairly conservative middle-class household; and  the other show is Nearly Nice Guy where I explore my teenage and educational years and ponder why I turned out to be the person I am, including the answer to why I actually do comedy and specifically clean comedy. You have to see the show to find the answer to that question.

How do you go about writing your jokes and how do you go about preparing a set?
Writing is a constant process. I write daily for both my monologue videos and stand-up shows. And it usually takes a year or more to write a show and then some more touring and performing to fine-tune it.

Why do you think stand-up comedy has become such an influential art form?
The simplicity of it makes it surreal. It’s just one person talking, there is no instrument, no visuals, no graphics, no costumes, no music, no close-ups. Just a person and his thoughts laid down into well 
crafted words. 

You recently performed for students of Harvard Business School. How was the experience? Was 
it difficult to make them laugh?
It was an amazing experience. As I perform completely in English, I frequently get invited to do stand-up at corporate events where there will be a few expats in the audience. But in the event for students of Harvard, the majority of the audience was international with just a few Indians. I am glad my content worked well with a diverse international audience.

How long do you see yourself doing stand-up comedy? After all, how many jokes can one crack?
I will keep doing stand-up as long as it’s sustainable and a joy to work. One can make infinite jokes that never need to stop; it’s just about having a lighter perspective towards life.

If not a stand-up comedian, what would you have become? 
Hopefully, a librarian; most likely a corporate consultant.

Rs 499. May 27. 5.30 pm & 8 pm.
At Medai – The Stage, Alwarpet.

 rupam@newindianexpress.com
 @rupsjain