Daniel Fernandes is not one to mince words. “When people use terms like ‘social change’ to describe my comedy, it makes me cringe and hate my job. I am an entertainer.” But then again, the 33-year-old has been among the host of stand up comedians who have been vocal about current day issues, from rape threats and feminism, to more recently the Holi celebrations in New Delhi that went awry. This style of humour he, however, simply ascribes to trying to make sense of the world. Which is why his latest show, Shadows, that touches upon topics like mental health and existentialism, is quite the departure from his usual sets that many have come to know and love. “Shadows is my first attempt at looking internally for material. I wanted to do something different with this show, so I figured the best way to do that would be to talk about my life experiences,” Daniel explains.
High and low
Delving into, as the show’s poster describes it, a world of various ‘shades of grey’, Daniel navigates through the 90-minutes offering his life experiences as a medium to deal with gritty subjects. “The show traverses themes like society vs self and the many questions we have to answer to survive in this world. I find that by being vulnerable on stage, the audience feels a stronger connect with me on a very basic human level,” he says when asked about baring his lowest lows to a room full of people. “A lot of stage acts tend to have this larger-than-life persona which audiences really love, but then it’s a persona that they can’t relate to because that’s not who they are in their everyday lives. Here, it’s just me going, ‘Hey man, life is pretty bad for me too, but if we can laugh at it together, it’s not so bad after all.’”
Road tripping
A month and a half on writing, Shadows saw a trial period of nine shows across Mumbai and Bengaluru before making its stage debut in Pune in February. “While Shadows has been received very well by the audience, it is still far from being finished. I like how the show is still evolving and is constantly being refined on the basis of what people are connecting with.” Currently, on a nation-wide tour that runs well into the month of May, the show will be Daniel’s second performance in the city since 2014.
At Museum Theatre. On March 31. 7.30pm onwards