Comedy’s job is just an hour of escape: Sapan Verma

In an exclusive conversation with Indulge Express, stand-up comedian Sapan Verma opens up about Lower Back Pain, his latest special, where personal crises turn into collective laughter. Reflecting on turning 35, fatherhood, and a wild Amsterdam detour, Sapan shares how life’s absurdities became fuel for comedy.

Sapan Verma on fatherhood, Gen-Z and the stand-up scene

From generational divides to the weight of adulting, he unpacks it all with trademark wit and vulnerability, turning midlife chaos into something unexpectedly cathartic.

You’ve navigated turning 35, fatherhood, and some interesting Amsterdam adventures in your new special. At what point did you look at your life and think, “This is either comedy material or I need therapy!”

There's a quote often attributed to Mark Twain that says humour is defined as tragedy plus time. So I know that whenever I'm going through something crazy or terrible, I'll be able to look back at it a few months later and find the funny in it. It's a bit selfish maybe but whenever an incident happens, my first thought always is—"how can I make this funny for the stage?"

In your special, you hilariously claim to have “needless superiority” over Gen Z. Is this the kind of thing you can blame on being too old for TikTok, or did you just miss the memo that we all need to be fluent in dancing now?

(laugh) There comes a point in every person's life when they stop understanding new technology and trends, and that's when they officially become old. For me, last year has been about that. I absolutely cannot dance to trending music on reels, I can't wrap my head around the idea of 'situationships', and words like rizz, slay and no cap sound like alien speak to me. I'm officially what they call an uncle (laugh). So what I claim as moral superiority over Gen Z is actually a closet inferiority complex.

In a world where neighbourly squabbles can suddenly turn into a full-scale identity crisis, do comedians have the job of being the emotional fire extinguisher, or is it enough to just make people forget about life for an hour?

I've always believed that the primary job of a comedian, by definition, is to make people laugh. You can then decide to add some emotional storytelling or a social message, or political commentary as the icing on the cake. Or, you can also choose that the icing will be made of even more silly jokes, and nothing else. And to be honest, in these times, even making people forget about life for an hour is a job well done.

You’re an expert at balancing self-deprecation with actual self-awareness. How do you manage to laugh at yourself without actually having a midlife crisis while on stage?

The truth is that I'm always having a midlife crisis on stage. That's why the show works, because a lot of people around my age can relate to it. Laughing at myself is the easiest thing for me to do—it doesn't offend anybody else. I also see it as growth in your writing—as you get more personal and anecdotal, it’s more unique as you’re looking inwards.

As a pioneer of Indian stand-up, does this special feel like a bit of an evolution, more than just jokes, almost like you’re the “self-help guru” we never asked for?

They say you become what you hate, so becoming a self-help guru sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy. This show definitely is an evolution for me in terms of joke writing, storytelling and performance. I can see a vast difference from my previous shows. But I'll be honest, I've written this show while babysitting my newborn child and combating sleep deprivation over the last few months. So I just wanted to create something that I would enjoy performing.

How excited are you to be performing in NCPA?

It’s a dream come full circle—NCPA is where I watched my first plays, and now I get to perform here. That’s surreal.

Catch Sapan Verma’s latest comedy special Lower Back Pain at the NCPA Experimental Theatre, where chronic backaches, fatherhood, and midlife crises become a laugh-out-loud therapy session.

Venue: Experimental Theatre, NCPA

Date: May 11, 2025

Time: 7:30 PM

(By Arundhuti Banerjee)