It's obvious: there has never been more — or arguably, better comedy by women. Maybe, that’s why it can feel so absurd to recall a day when this once seemed impossible, when women were deemed unsuited for stand-up comedy, when the very idea of a female comedian seemed to be a joke in itself. Female comedians in Hyderabad are not just rare but perhaps, also discouraged. The crowd only thinks of one solo artiste armed with a microphone and a store of wit, energy, joke, and nerve. However, the more, the merrier. A bunch of seasoned female stand-ups will assemble on the occasion of International Women’s Day this evening, which includes Pensy, Sravanthi Basa, Pooja Jadhav and Snehal Deshmukh — also known as Hyderabad’s ‘rising stars’.
A strong collective of Hyderabadi women comics, despite being a distinguished one, stand-up comedy, particularly in this city has been a long-contested performance site for female performers. There could be more of it, and simply focusing on such positive development as this evening, means that the (extensive) changes still need to be made are being skimmed over.
Busting myths
“A woman alone on a stage is expected to be ‘pretty’ and to sing, maybe dance. If she did comedy, it is not welcome. People think that they’d lose their femininity or womanhood if they crack jokes. My goal is to inspire everyone to do what they love. In Hyderabad, there are only the four of us who are active female comics. So, one can understand why I am saying this,” begins Pooja. Being a CA by profession, of course, she will talk about corporate scenarios, nightclubs, and conservative parents. She notes that Hyderabad is slowly welcoming women when it comes to comedy. Although she speaks for herself, having opened up for Aashish Solanki, Vipul Goyal and Mohammed Hussain, she knows that a lot more needs to be done.
‘We’re beyond our periods’
Snehal, who will take the stage for a good 15 minutes to deliver observational comedy says that her humour is self-critical. “It is my style. Perhaps also because I am a woman who hasn’t been able to figure out how to feel good about myself; it is perfectly fine to have bad days. It requires quite a load of vigilance to perform as a female comedian in Hyderabad,” she tells us, lamenting that the standard (mis)conception of the public is that all she talks of are menstrual cramps, relationships and heartbreaks.
“But don’t male comedians also talk about the same topics but get away with it just because they talk from a biased and ignorant vantage and colour their words with male-driven erudition, as the audience calls it?” adds Pensy who will be on top of her game with jokes about the professional front, finding an apartment or an Uber ride along with dating. Again, similar subjects a man would joke about. The typical belief is that there is an easy space for any man to be ‘a good bloke’ and take charge of amusing the crowd. This evening, these women will show that they aren’t any less.
‘We’re here to make you laugh’
Women can always play the maverick, if they want to, and then translate that into a performance. “Then again, we’ll be regarded as the unhappy ones,” says Snehal. The reasons are complex, but one way to understand it is to see gender itself as a performance — the very act of performing femininity in everyday life precludes the opportunity to behave as a masculinised maverick. “When a woman makes you laugh, she is considered like ‘one of the boys.’ But we don’t rely on anyone’s approval. Our sets don’t have a clear message but are quite like a regular one. All we hope is that people from all walks of life come and watch us perform,” adds Sravanthi.
`249 upwards. March 8. 8 pm. At Aaromale, Jubilee Hills.
chokita@ newindian express.com PaulChokita