Saikiran comes to Chennai with his show, ‘Saikiran Checks In’

Saikiran Checks In is a show, which juxtaposes the lifestyle changes of many people of our generation. Growing up in a middle-class household and now thanks to corporate jobs, we get to experience things that we couldn’t even imagine. All this is wrapped in a series of hilarious observations/ anecdotes from my middle-class childhood to now checking into some of the best hotels across the country. 

It’s been a very interesting journey. As a consultant, you research and produce a report based on your observations. As a comedian, you take those observations and give them a funny twist. Fairly complimentary skill sets, except in comedy, nobody asks for footnotes, only punch lines!

Yes, it’s been a decade of comedy or as my dad calls it, a decade of disappointment or as my mom calls it, a decade of embarrassment! Every day in this business teaches you a new lesson, which mostly is that the lesson you learnt yesterday is all wrong. It’s all contradictory lessons without a syllabus.

I enjoy all kinds of humour, though I perform clean comedy. And no, I was never really tempted to “spice up” my content as clean comedy suits my nature and style.

There are lots of changes that have occurred in the last 10 years. To start with, the explosion of social media and so many comics becoming viral stars! The sheer number of live shows happening every weekend in all the major cities and large numbers of audience who are coming and appreciating different kinds of comedy in various languages. A decade ago, I wouldn’t have imagined or believed that stand-up comedy will be a mainstream, much watched, liked and a shared art form.

I am simultaneously touring five different shows — Pure Veg Jokes, Nearly Nice Guy, Matrimania, of course, Saikiran Checks In and my newest — Saikiran Tours & Travails. This new one is a storytelling show about interesting incidents that happened to me as I travelled across the country for my shows. I bring anecdotes of going tiger spotting in Ranthambore, learning surfing in Vizag, and how and why I got my portrait painted on the promenade of Pondicherry along with other stories.