New Delhi-based comedian Amit Tandon is often called the ‘married guy’ of stand-up comedy. While the reason could be that he began his career as a comedian post his marriage and two kids, the 42-year-old embraced the tag, which led him to create his own set of fans and a brand of humour too. “I started off more than five years ago at mostly open mics. I was one of the older ones of the lot and I was also the only one talking about marriage and having kids,” says the Patiala-born artiste. In his upcoming show, Not Getting Wiser, in Hyderabad today, Amit will present a completely new script with more ‘honest’ experiences and jokes about parenting and marriage. “Amongst the many things that my kids ask for, Hyderabadi biryani is one. Every time I’m here, I have to pack one box for them,” he adds.
Although Amit comes from an engineering and software background, his clean comedy and conversational delivery garnered him fans quite instantly. His shows have no cuss words or sexual references, something that makes it appealing for audience of different age groups. What makes his comedy particularly endearing is the level of relatability. With hardly any contrived or exaggerated jokes, his comedy relies on true wit surrounding everyday people and situations. “I believe that everybody in the audience should take at least one joke from the show back home. I don’t want my jokes to be one of those WhatsApp forwards. So, my comedy is mostly observational and super personal,” explains Amit. It’s the same genre of comedy that has taken him to more than 12 countries including USA, UK, Australia and Singapore.
Despite having done more than 800 shows, Amit confesses that he has a sense of nervousness before every show even today. “The first five minutes of every show is critical. That’s the time you establish a connection with the audience. It’s not easy to make strangers laugh. So before my show starts, I spend a few minutes talking to my children or scribble my thoughts or important parts of the script on a paper,” he shares.
Amit, who is currently busy with his multi-city tour, is also working on a web series based on the 1947 partition and a Netflix special.
At Sri Sathya Sai Nigamagamam.
November 30, 8 pm.