Rahul Dua on culture of standup comedy: We are not activists

From being a contestant on a comedy hunt to becoming one of the most popular comedians in the country — Rahul Dua has had quite a humble journey. He rose to fame post his stint in Comicstaan 2, and is currently hosting a TV show. For Dua, however, the highlight of the year was to appear on comedian-actor Kapil Sharma’s TV show. “As stand-up comedians, we are very different. But Kapil Sharma is such a huge benchmark,” says Dua.

Talking about comedians and the culture of stand-up comedy in India, Dua, who has an experience of around seven years, says, “We are comics, not activists. We are supposed to be funny.”

With the cancel culture and increasing intolerance towards comedians, comedy has become a serious business contrary to what it’s supposed to be. Dua admits that he tries to “stay away from activism”. He explains, “I am a pretty safe player. Mujhe darr lagta hai aur anxiety hoti hai if something steamrolls into something [negative] I did not intend. I consciously avoid doing or saying anything that will put me or my family in any trouble. I do not include anything like that in my art.”

He is even averse to the idea of roasting, something that comedians do quite easily.

“I never come from the place where I get up on the stage and in the garb of crowd work, insult someone. Everybody comes to a show to have a good time and if they go back having a slightly sour taste in their mouth, that is something I don’t want. My heart has always been in the right place. I never insult somebody intentionally.”

Rahul Dua