Herald Café: Is ‘Men are from Bars’ going
to be the first performance by East India Comedy in Goa? How excited are
you about the show?
Sorabh Pant: Sorabh Pant: Not our first
performance. I actually come in to Goa every two weeks for some corporate show
or the other. We’ve also done a few shows at Deltin in Goa. But this is going
to be our first ticketed public show in Goa where people are consciously coming
out and paying money only to see us. It’s a lot of pressure. We’ll need about
32 Kings Beers before the show. I’m also excited because my birthday is the day
after the show so I’m going to bring my birthday in after the show. My wife and
kid are with me as well, so party ends at 10:30pm.
HC: As your act will showcase three men and
their relationships with women, how confusing are women to you?
SP: Women aren’t confusing. Human beings
are confusing. All human beings are idiots in some shape or form. Men and women
both behave stupidly in relationships and the idea is to showcase precisely
that. Angad is engaged, I’m married and Atul is married with kids – that’s the
theme. So, it’s about looking at relationships from all different points of
view. We tell people that this show is a good test for your relationship –
either you’ll break up after it or understand how stupid you are to fight for
dumb s**t!
HC: How often do you come to Goa and what
do you like about the state?
SP: Goa is one of the few places in India
that are about free and open celebration of life. I love the laid back
attitude, I love the beach, I also love the flooded greens by the roads in the
middle and also the churches. It’s wonderful. But, of course – I’m mainly
coming to Goa to hope some Russian looks at me. I also like talking to the
locals who are just absolute chillers. My favourite story in Goa is when I once
went to a small general store to buy a pen about 2 months back. They didn’t
have a pen but the lady’s daughter recognised me, so they offered me an invite
for dinner and drinks. I had a show so I couldn’t go, but this time maybe I
will! I love the hospitality even though I see how impatient Goans get seeing
tourists ride scooters like they were mentally unstable!
HC: How important is humour in one’s
life?
SP: Humour is important to me because it
pays my bills and that’s very important. Who knew that making juvenile jokes
would give me a career?
HC: Do Goans take jokes well?
SP: Hell yeah! Done a few shows in Goa and
Goans love to laugh and their usual refrain after a show is: ‘Man, why you
didn’t do more jokes on Goans? There’s so much to talk about, men!’
HC: How long does it take from
conceptualisation of an idea to an actual video online?
SP: Depends on the video. Usually it takes
about 2-3 months. Our video ‘Shaadi Playlist’ took about 3 months. Some rare
videos take a week – our ‘Bottom Line’ videos about the news take about a week.
The others take much longer.
HC: As a writer, how do you go about
preparing your material, specifically the punchlines and one-liners?
SP: You don’t consciously go chasing a
one-liner. At least I don’t. I just write a lot! Juggling writing between
standup, novels, ‘The Bottom Line’ and our sketches – so, there’s a lot of
writing involved. After a point, you’re chasing the concept and trying to stay
true to the concept – the jokes usually follow.
HC: Are you working on any new projects?
SP: Working on lots of new projects: ‘The
Bottom Line’ is a priority, then is the next novel which is very ambitious, and
of course, the next standup show which is about my 6-month-old son – so, that
should be fun!
HC: How is young India reacting to sarcasm?
SP: Young India is sarcasm! Our biggest
consumers are young people. I think the 14-28 age bracket is 80-90 per cent of
our audience. So, they love what we do and we love them for loving what we do.
I am not being sarcastic here.
(East India Comedy presents ‘Men are from
Bars’ is on September 13, 2015 at 9pm at Ravindra Bhavan Margao)
