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The sandy shores of Goa will LOL tonight
14 Jul 2017 05:27am IST
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Laugh Out Ladies, a stand-up comedy gig featuring three young comic talents of India – Punya Arora, Urooj Ashfaq and Sonali Thaker – will be held today in Colva. Café gets candid with these ladies and finds out more about them, their comedy, and more
Stand-up comedy
in Goa is on a roll! After witnessing
rib-tickling performances from some of the top names from the
industry like Zakir Naik, Varun Thakur, Atul Khatri and Kenny Sebastian, among
others, this time around, it is three ladies - Punya Arora, Urooj Ashfaq and
Sonali Thakker, who will be doing what they are extremely confident of – making
people laugh. And what could well make a strong case for negating sexism in the
stand-up comedy industry, this is perhaps the first time that three female
stand-up comedians are going to rule the stage in Goa.
Her age might tempt
you to not take her seriously, and this perhaps works in her favour, but Urooj
Ashfaq is doing more than just breaking stereotypes. At 21, Urooj is clear
about her priorities. A full-time stand-up comic and a writer on the side,
Urooj has worked with some of the top names in the industry. This Navi Mumbai
girl had a fun stint on Abish Matthew’s show, ‘Son of Abish’, full of what she
calls “making each other laugh all day and order a lot of food and spend all
day in one room just trying to think of jokes”, and believes that she has
gained a lot from that experience. That everyone around her was patient and
ready to answer her questions to help her get better was a massive added
advantage.
On the other hand,
for Punya Arora, a self proclaimed Punjabi by nature and South Indian at heart,
but more importantly a professional photographer and a visiting faculty at
Light & Life Academy in Ooty, a career in stand-up was a surprise. Punya
says, “I’ve always enjoyed watching stand up and at some point (years ago,
while studying photography), I was watching something on YouTube by this
comedian abroad and he’d turned a simple observation into something funny and
that really fascinated me. Also, throughout school, I’ve always been into
mimicry, imitating my teachers and people with different accents.” An open mic
in Bangalore was Punya’s first step into this industry and the response from
the audience was amazing enough to get her hooked. She adds, “It was such a
great feeling to see people’s faces light up and hear them laugh that I
honestly didn’t want to stop.” For those unfamiliar with Punya, her style of
comedy is observational, light-hearted and may involve more than one accent.
Punya has been featured on every major stand-up stage across India and her work
has been covered by print, radio, Buzzfeed and Huffingtonpost India.
Much like Punya, for
Sonali Thakker too, a career in stand-up was not a well-planned one. After
dabbling between pursuing studies in CA, dancing at celebrated choreographer
Ashley Lobo’s Danceworx, and a few other things, watching a series of open mics
in Mumbai tempted her to try it before she realised that she was bitten by the
comedy bug. But what encouraged her to pursue it full time? “Paychecks!” she
says with a wink, before adding, “I’m kidding. Or am I?”
Stand-up comedy is
still in its nascent stage in India and the three of them acknowledge it,
thanks to the various challenges that they face on a daily basis. According to
Punya, apart from making the impossible task of making people laugh, easy, with
the comedians, the audience is evolving as well. “Certain topics just don’t go
down that well at the moment but I’m sure we’ll get there eventually,” says
Punya. Another hiccup, according to Sonali, is that people expect comedians to
churn out new content every time, which is difficult. Sonali says, “It doesn’t
work like that. If a comic has made you laugh your guts out for half hour,
chances are he’s done that joke at least 50 times to get every word and his
timing right to make you laugh that hard. Churning new content takes time.” And
then there’s the classic issue of not being able to make a joke on a public
platform because it offends people’s moral, religious or political
sensibilities, says Urooj.
In a country where
women have to constantly fight sexism, stand-up comedy is still considered to
be an offbeat career choice for men and perhaps more so for women. Urooj
acknowledges this by saying, “Women are encouraged to look good, and not to
express themselves. It makes a lot of people uncomfortable if a woman is up on
stage joking and talking about her experience.” Punya, who is rather
experienced at trying ‘offbeat’ career choices as she recounts her initial
brush with photography, says, “When I started photography, that was considered
an offbeat career choice for women and now it’s the most normal thing you see.
Similarly, with comedy, I think there are fewer women right now, but there are
definitely more coming in.”
But the times are
changing and so are things in the industry. More people, regardless of gender,
are taking a shot at open mics and that is encouraging. Sonali says, “Stand-up
comedy may not be an art form that women tend to veer naturally towards. But
it’s slowly changing. You have three of them performing in Goa, who would’ve
thought of that?!”
We couldn’t have
agreed more.
‘Laugh
Out Ladies (LOL)’ curated by Joe’s Comedy Shack will be held today at
Boomerang, Colva, 8 pm onwards