In all his visits to Kerala, Bhargav Ramakrishnan aka Baggy has been amazed by the art movement he saw. Only a year ago, he was bowled over when he visited Kochi and saw the Biennale. But then there is a sharp contrast when the audiences are waiting to watch a standup comedy act.
The movement, in Baggy’s words, is still nascent in Kerala. He is going to try and warm them up in to laughing out loudly, at the LOL Comedy Nite, to be held at ChaiCofi in Kochi this Saturday at 7.30pm.
Baggy is a standup comic and artiste from Chennai, but he will use his knowledge and experiences in Kerala to customise the material he uses in Kochi. “There will be references to the alcohol prohibition in the state, and to Mallu food. I am a big fan of food in general,” he says. He has been an artiste and art manager ever since he finished college. Baggy has worked both as actor and director in theatre. His play 39 Steps had been nominated for eight META awards and won two. “It is a broadway play that I have adapted and directed in India.” Most recently, he has acted in Vinodhini’s play Grand Rehearsal.
To standup comedy, he had turned to in 2011 when he began running the standup movement called Evam Standup Tamasha. He has directed many standup artistes, and done shows in Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi. It was only a matter of time before he sat down and got content and became a comedian himself. “As an art form it has taken up so much of my time.”
Baggy had one public show in Kochi before this, apart from the corporate shows he comes for. “It is very different when you are performing to an audience that isn’t exposed to standup so much. It may take some time to get used to it.”
