The recent
past has seen quite a few stand-up comedy gigs happen in Goa. And if the
healthy attendance for such gigs is anything to go by, then it would be safe to
conclude that there is a healthy number of takers in Goa for the funny things
in life. It is for this reason that more Goan youngsters are getting motivated
to host stand-up comedy gigs. In one such gig, currently one of India’s top
stand-up comedians, Zakir Khan, performs at Kala Academy today, followed by
another top rated stand-up comedian, Atul Khatri, who will perform in Goa later
this month.
Warren Viegas,
the man responsible for getting Zakir Khan to perform in Goa, believes that
stand-up comedy in Goa is growing rapidly as is evident by the audience coming
out to shows. Warren’s company, Las Viegas Comedy Club (a pun on his own name)
has, to date, produced three shows, featuring Kenny Sebastian, Kanan Gill and
Sorabh Pant. Warren says, “I was eager to find out if Goa had a comedy market,
and invited Kenny Sebastian to Goa to do a public show. The inaugural gig was
completely sold-out, with 80 folks standing! I was encouraged by the response
and produced two more sold out shows.” A comedian himself, Warren has performed
alongside his friends and some of the leading comics in India. To further
develop the stand-up comedy scene in Goa and “to turn Goa into a comedy savvy
market like the metros”, Warren has started a budding open mic session at
Showbar, Taverna and Tito’s Courtyard.
Till now, Goa
has seen well known comics like Vir Das, Amogh Ranadive, Radhika Vaz, Neville
Shah and Anu Menon, along with those mentioned above, perform in Goa. Another
company by the name of Jack of Events (JoE) that has organised a few successful
stand-up comedy gigs in Goa, has also worked with Vir Das’ company Weirdass
Comedy, to organise the Weirdass Club Smash that was a prelude to Weirdass
Pajama Fest. Anoop Allen of JoE seconds Warren’s thoughts about the stand-up
comedy culture in Goa, and says, “There is still ample opportunity for
experimenting with this form of entertainment. There is indeed a lot of response
from the Goan public; we have been seeing a lot of houseful shows of late and
hence, I can say that people are definitely open to the concept. There are a
couple of players in the market right now and the next couple of months will
definitely see a boom in the stand-up comedy scene in terms of frequency of
shows as well as venues wanting to experiment with the concept.”
Apart from
organising comedy gigs with established comics, a few organisers have been
experimenting with the idea of developing the culture in Goa by conducting
comedy talent hunts. One such event that was recently held at Showbar by The
Goan Comedy Club enjoyed a great response with Goans coming in from all over to
support local talent. In fact, when performers lost confidence or forgot a
line, it was the crowd that kept them going. Kaif Shaikh, co-founder of The
Goan Comedy Club, says, “Our only purpose as comedy promoters was to conduct
this hunt to promote local talent. For the past two years, we have been getting
comedians from all over India and Dubai as well to perform in Goa. We have seen
the culture grow from nothing to a houseful audience. So we thought it was
about time that we try and show the other states that Goa has potential.”
A hearty laugh
is what helps us sail through the testing times that we live in. By getting
more people to tickle Goa’s funny bone, a few good souls are setting the right
example for the somber ones to follow.
