'Kids Are Unfiltered And Perfect For Stand-Up Comedy': Anuvab Pal On His NCPA Workshop
Anuvab Pal is a name that is highly recognised in the world of stand-up comedy, especially in India. He is one of India's finest comics to be recognised globally, apart from being a screenwriter and a mentor and teacher with regards to humour writing, performance and storytelling.
Anuvab will conduct a special workshop at the National Centre of the Performing Arts, Mumbai or NCPA on July. In this workshop called The Nation Wants to Know... My Kid Is Funny, he will work with young participants (9–14 years) to help develop their original comedic material, from performance and structure to timing and finding one’s voice as a performer or writer.
He speaks to The Free Press Journal about the workshop, his association with NCPA, comedy in India and more.
Excerpts from the Interview:
Tell us about the special workshop to be held at NCPA? What can participants look forward to?
Kids are unfiltered and perfect for stand-up comedy. They know exactly what they want to say without any inhibitions. This is Part 2 of a workshop I did in May. That also had a set of great kids.
How do you see this workshop changing the way stand-up comedy and humour are done or seen in India or generally?
I think kids getting into and being able to write and discuss their opinions helps them think freely, which in the age of AI is very important.
How do you feel working with NCPA for a workshop like this?
I’ve been collaborating with the NCPA for over 20 years, and it was their idea originally, and now we've done so many comedy workshops for kids together.
For workshops, what is your process in terms of what you want to do?
Most important is for them to come up with stories and ideas. To imagine and express themselves in ways they feel most comfortable. In the future, they may choose to use it for comedy, public speaking or anything else.
As a seasoned stand-up comic, what still excites you in terms of content? Do the years of work bog you down?
Sometimes it does bog you down. But I've done this for nearly 20 years, so it does have its ups and downs. I still get excited when I travel and get new experiences, and a little story comes out of that.
As a leading and highly respected name in the field of stand-up comedy, how have you seen the scene evolve? Is it positive or negative evolution?
YouTube and Insta have made a huge difference. What I see from my time to now is people wanting to be Insta-famous as a comedian first, I guess that’s the future.
Considering stand-up comedy in India is seeing negative run-ins, is good humour safe? Are we still not as developed in terms of, say, political or social humour?
I think so. There are a few incidents, and there always will be in a country of so many opinions and taboos, but so many comedians are still working, and no one has quit because of political pressure.
Which of your colleagues are your favourite, contemporary and newbies?
Love Vipul Goyal, Azeem Banatwala, Anirban Dasgupta
Finally, why do you think the special workshop at NCPA will be different?
It is close to being sold out, and I think every kid’s comedy workshop is special because they get to perform in front of an audience. And the show is better than most adult comedy shows I’ve seen.
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