Stand-up for these Tamil comedians

The stand-up comedy scene in Chennai has picked up, and how! What started off as a small event a few years ago has now snowballed into a movement of sorts, with many groups performing at various venues as part of a comedy night. The scene for English stand-up comedy has already been established in the city, thanks to city-based groups and comedians from other cities, who regularly perform here.But if you have been wondering why a Tamil-speaking state doesn’t have Tamil stand-up comedians, think again. There are a bunch of youngsters, who are rocking the comedy scene in Tamil.
A forum called Tanglish Comedy, started by Annamalai, popularly known as Malai, has been encouraging stand-up comedians to perform in Tamil. With as many as 50-odd performers, the scene is getting bigger and better. Malai says, “I am a Math teacher, who developed interest in stand-up comedy after watching Russell Peters and Rodney Dangerfield. We are a group of friends, who love to see the funny side of things. Slowly, I began participating in open mic forums, where I cracked jokes in Tamil. In fact, I was one of the very few who used to crack jokes in Tamil at an English stand-up comedy forum. After meeting many like-minded people, I began Tanglish Comedy, where we encourage artistes to perform in Tamil. Though, it is open both to Tamil and English speaking audiences, there is some connection with the audience here when you perform in Tamil. We have hosted over 15 weeks of performances, featuring more than 50 artistes.”
So what sets these comedians apart from the ones on TV shows like Asatha Povathu Yaaru? Kalakka Povathu Yaaru or Comedy Junction, that supposedly promotes Tamil stand-up comedy, or from entertainers like Bosskey or Badava Gopi? Malai clarifies, “Stand-up comedy has a certain grammar. It is not like mimicry, joke-telling or the stuff people say in humour clubs. People often confuse us with them. But we have a particular theme that we work around on. We follow the likes of Cho Ramasamy or G Gnanasambandam… if you see their videos; they take up topics and crack jokes. Stand-up comics have a voice and a clear thought-process over a topic. It should have some thematic continuity and shouldn’t be re-telling of jokes.” Another regular Tamil stand-up artiste Jagan concurs. “There was never a concept of stand-up comedy here, until recently. It was just the art of cracking clever one-liners. We have had many debates, elocutions and speeches, where one can get humorous. But that’s about it,” says Jagan, who discovered his talent in stand-up at an office event.
So, what is a Tamil stand-up comedian’s USP, when compared to their English contemporaries? “English artistes do bring in a city-connect. But mostly, they will touch upon national issues. In Tamil, we go hyper local,” Malai laughs, adding “We don’t make too many cinema references, though.” But why’re they called Tanglish? “Nobody speaks pure Tamil these days. We say ‘office-ku late aiduchu’ and not ‘velaiyukku mani aiduchu’. Urban Tamil is more colloquial, which is why we’re called Tanglish,” explains Malai.
Sudarsan Ramamurthy of Chennai Comedy, who laces his stand-up acts with liberal doses of Tamil says, “Most of the comics, who are based out of Chennai, use a large amount of Tamil in their set. Despite calling themselves as an English stand-up artiste, they use Tamil only because the audience can relate more to it. Sometimes, their jokes are better when conveyed in Tamil. But yes, we don’t use a mix of Tamil and English.”
Where does the challenge lie? “The challenge is to crack this as a business model. For people, some of the common ways of indulging in entertainment is by watching a movie, going to the beach or a mall or heading to a restaurant. The English stand-up comedy scene itself took so long to pick up here, and so, it will be tough for Tamil comedy scene, too, as it is relatively new. Also, 90% of comics have day jobs, including me. If we get full-time professionals, it would be easier to concentrate on the craft and do shows in other cities, too,” says Malai, adding that the response has been quite flattering so far. “We have been seeing houseful shows and the audience is a mix of people who come from both urban and migrant societies. What’s interesting was that we even got the older crowd to laugh to our jokes.”
Sudarsan adds, “The scene started off pretty recently. Though the reception has been good, we don’t know how far it is going last. For an English stand-up performance, we get audience from various communities. But for Tamil, it is only a certain section. So, our audience is automatically limited. Also, there is enough comedy content for Tamil audiences on TV. Since people get that entertainment on television, we don’t know how many would be willing to sit through a show.” Jagan says, “The moment you call yourself a Tamil stand-up comedian, they categorise us as a ‘show for elitist Tamil community’. They don’t understand that it is open for all.”
RJ Vaidhy of The Pundits, who liberally uses Tamil in his English stand-up comedy acts says, “Most of us use 30% Tamil in our content. Only the ones who don’t speak Tamil opt for a full-length English act. But since there is already an abundance of Tamil comedy not just in films, but even in Tamil theatre, the audience may be reluctant to come for a Tamil stand-up show. Aspiring comics should use social media as a tool to become popular, and then do full-length shows. Having a YouTube channel or a page on Facebook can get them an audience online, who will then come for their shows when they perform live. This way, one can improve the jokes, too. I have done one set in Tamil, but it was only for a limited time. The response was good, but I would think twice to do a big event. It will take some time to catch up.”
With many of our stand-up comedians travelling to other cities in India and abroad, Tamil stand-up comedians say that what they want to do is to take Tamil comedy within Tamil Nadu and to countries like Singa pore, Malaysia and Dubai, where there is a considerable amount of Tamil-speaking community.