In the Limelight

Women standup comedians are winning hearts with their humour

Remember the first time you ever laughed. The kind of insane cacophonic laughter that almost made you and others around you question your attractiveness? That real laughter that mostly comes out when you’re alone and watching blooper videos of people falling off a treadmill and such. Now I could call this the best feeling there is. But really, to be able to make someone laugh like that, to watch a sombre almost puzzled look burst into a surprised bout of laughter, that is the best feeling in the world, and as a comedian, the aim is to recreate that over and over.

Humour is definitely subjective and as someone telling a joke what you’re really doing is sharing something that you find funny with someone else. Now whether they find it funny or not is up to them? But, it’s largely up to the comic and how the joke is told. The age-old ‘it’s not what you said, it’s how you said it’ from little arguments that couples have applies so well in telling a joke. Now in an ideal world, I’d like to say that it makes no difference whether you’re a man or a woman standing up on stage telling jokes as long as you’re funny, but the world isn’t as ideal just yet.

Comedy has been a maledominated field and there are fewer women up there in comparison (the numbers are increasing though and I’m quite sure and hopeful that this continues) and while I’d love to say it’s the same for both, being a woman and a comedian does have its own set of challenges and advantages. From sometimes going up to an audience that has a preconceived notion of ‘women are not funny’, families asking ‘Oh what is this you’re talking about on stage? Who will marry you?’ to being asked everyone’s favourite “What is it like being a woman in comedy?”. Really though, I’m yet to come across a male comic being asked “What is it like being a man doing comedy?”

Now in an ideal world, it’d be nice to not bother about what we’re wearing, talk about whatever we want on stage without getting eyerolls for the choice of a topic, and not have to worry about if as a woman and a comedian, we have a bad night on stage that the entire race of women would be considered unfunny.

Having said all that, it does have its advantages. As a woman, your perspective is so unique and hilarious in its own way. Getting on stage and making people laugh is almost like a super power. For example, my comedy comes a lot from my personal life; I’m from a Punjabi family, born and raised in Bengaluru by my mother who is a single parent. I bring all of this on stage with me, and at the end of the night, entertain the audience while letting them know who I am. It is a treat for audiences to see women take the stage because their perspective is not only a welcome change but also an eye opener in so many ways.