‘Comedy is serious business’

A native of Kanchipuram who did his schooling there, the popular stand up comedian Praveen Kumar has more than 450 shows to his credit. Rated as one of the top 10 stand up comedians in India, Praveen, an alumnus of BITS Pilani, will soon be holding Chennai audiences in thrall at an event organised by Jupiter Events.

“During my college days I was part of the Comedy Mime Club; I must have done about 20 mimes. I would consider that as my starting point in the humour world. But after we passed out of college, I always wanted to do something related to comedy.  One day, I read an article on stand up comedy in 2008 and thought that it was something I could do on my own without depending on anybody else. So I took it up,” he says.

Behind a good joke
Comedy is serious business, he says. “Nobody knows the background process of how hard we work to get a joke right and we don’t even know if it will work in front of a live audience unless it is tried. If it fails, we might look like losers on stage. We need to cater to all kinds of audiences and make sure they have a good time. A disciplined comedian will sit every day to write new jokes and hone his existing ones,” says Praveen, who  recently launched his one-hour solo show in Bengaluru, ‘The Tickle Minded’, which is a collection of material he put together in the last three years or so.

Stand up comedy in India has picked up the pace. “However, it is still in the growth phase. If you take English stand up comedy, there are very few comedians in the entire country; most are in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. We still have a very long way to go if we have to match other countries, but we are definitely on the right track. A couple of weeks ago, I was part of India’s largest comedy festival in Mumbai, called the ‘Axe Weirdass Pajama Fest’, organised by Vir Das, which was spread across the city for three days. More than 5,500 people in the city bought tickets and watched stand up comedy during  those three days. I think that sums it up.”

A multi faceted artiste
How does he juggle several jobs? “Until recently, I was able to juggle three jobs — a marketing professional, stand up comedian and being a husband and father. I always felt the need to improve myself in comedy and never found the time to do so. I also believe, ‘You cannot expect awesomeness to meet you at your comfort zone’. Hence, I thought I will start this year with a bang. So I quit my job a few days back. Now I will have more hours to work at something better and bigger. My family is my biggest support,” he adds.

A pill for many ills
What would he say to laughter being the best medicine? “Yes, it is. We feel high when members of the audience come to us after the show and tell us that they forgot all their worries and laughed. That is the biggest remuneration — more than money. Recently, I had somebody come up to me after my show and say, ‘I had a very stressful week, and thanks to you for making me forget everything’. What more can I ask for?” Praveen says.

Quiz him if his next step would be jumping to cinema, he replies with characteristic humour, “Then what will Vijay and Ajith do? Do I sound like Power Star now? Jokes apart, cinema was never on my mind and never will be. I believe in ‘Do one thing and be the best at that’. As of now, my concentration will only be towards stand up comedy and there won’t be any change in that.”