Stand-up comedy in Tamil brings clean humour to city

The popularity of open mics and stand-up comedy in the city has been increasing steadily, with local performers and those from other cities opening to house full shows. However, most of these acts are in English. So of late, comedians are adopting the regional language to produce content that the Tamil-speaking audience finds more relatable.

Praveen Kumar is one of the most popular stand-up comedians who performs in Tamil. Based on his observation, he says, “People are not interested in English stand-up shows unless Kanan Gill or Vir Das is performing. Hence, vernacular language has been taking over for the past two-three years.” He says he noticed this even more so during his latest show called Mr Family Man. “I have been touring across Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and India, and am getting an amazing response because I am performing in Tamil, not English. The point I’m trying to convey doesn’t get lost in translation and the audience can relate to the jokes,”he explains.

Another city-based comedian, Annamalai Lakshmanan aka ‘Mala’, says he has been performing in Tamil and Tanglish — Tamil mixed with a few English words — because he is comfortable conversing in it. “While this was one of the reasons, the second one was that only English shows were being promoted in areas like RA Puram, Besant Nagar, Adyar, Nungambakkam and parts of Anna Nagar because the audience had more exposure and were well-versed in English. I began establishing a connection with people who are more familiar with Tamil in localities between Vadapalani and Porur,” he says.

This has ensured a smooth transition from English to Tanglish comedy even in the ‘posh localities’ — take the CounterCulture Comedy Club Chennai located in Alwarpet for example. “We host a lot of open mics with a focus on Tamil with the aim of creating a community in the city,” says Vikram Raghu, who manages the club. During each event, anywhere between eight and twelve comics perform; this includes rookies, a local line-up of talent and experienced comedians from the rest of the country. “Ever since we have opened the doors to Tanglish comedy, around 40-50 people specifically looking for vernacular content fill thehall,” he adds.

One of the biggest advantages of a rising Tamil stand-up comedy culture is that people who understand and speak the language finally have another medium apart from cinema to expose them to humour. “Until now, the only medium of comedy that people sought was movies but a lot of dialogues are cringe-worthy. Thankfully, the content we produce is mature and sensible,” states Annamalai. Praveen seconds this by adding, “All my content is 100 per cent original so I don’t have the need to make references to movies or repeat those jokes. I don’t use phrases like aaniya pudunga venamor vada poche.”

Is there anything they would change in the Tamil open mic and stand-up comedy scene? “There are rookie performers who tend to swear a lot or crack crass, stereotypical jokes about terrorism and rape because they think it is cool. With some training, they should be able to enter a refined space and expose the audience to clean humour,” says Annamalai. “Also, people think it is enough to prepare content and just go talk on stage but they are mistaken— essential elements like body language, gestures, voice modulation and facial expressions play a huge role in making a show more interesting, so I wish they include that in their acts,” he sums up.