You must be dropped on your head as a baby. That really helps: Kautuk Srivastava

“Being a stand-up comic feels a lot like being Rakhi Sawant”. The witty and chucklesome Kautuk Srivastava interacted with Spectralhues about stand-up comedy, the comical aura that surrounds him, performances, SnG comedy – with which he is associated and a lot more! Following are the transcripts of the interview:

I am being told, back then in the college, you were the Rose King. Any comments on that?

If my memory serves me, I only hosted Rose Day, but I like your version better. I was Mr. Ruia 2009 and that was quite special because it proved I had a personality, which was a huge relief to me.

How does it feel today to have become a stand-up comedian?

It’s a great privilege. It’s one of the best jobs in the world. You don’t have a boss, the work hours aren’t long and you get paid to say the things that everyone only gets to think. Just realized, being a stand-up comic feels a lot like being Rakhi Sawant.

What is the secret behind the comical aura that you are surrounded with?

It’s an ancient concoction made with newt’s tail, bat’s wings, a kitten’s meow and an inexplicable urge to play the fool.

Do comedians ever get offended or is everything, whether offensive or otherwise, taken humorously?

Oh yes, we do get offended! Just tell a comedian, “You’re not funny” and watch as they froth at the mouth, before lunging at your throat. But apart from that, as a species, comedians tend to be a sporting lot. I think for a comedian, things aren’t offensive and inoffensive but funny and unfunny. That’s our only threshold. The topic is irrelevant as long as we find something amusing to say about it.

Are your performances impromptu or are scripts written each time?

This varies from performer to performer, performance to performance and time to time. Improv Comedy for example, is completely unscripted. Stand-up is usually rehearsed. And yet, it is the live element that makes every performance unique, despite having the words on a page – the delivery, the jokes, the cadence, the act change to fit the room, the audience and the occasion. It’s a mercurial and imprecise discipline and that’s what makes it so wonderfully exciting.

Kautuk Srivastava (centre) performing with Abish Mathew (left) and Karan Talwar (right)

A lot of comedy shows are produced on the television and some of them aren’t really enjoyable. Do you think somewhere these shows are losing its charm or are being done just for the sake?

Comedy, like any genre of art, is ever evolving. As audiences get more conversant with the styles of comedy, the form changes. A lot of the comedy that is being produced in the mainstream is made keeping in mind the comedic taste of the lowest common denominator and until that level rises, I’m afraid economics is going to keep shows at a middling level of funny. But fret not! The Internet is here! With the freedom and opportunity available to anyone with a camera phone and a sense of humor, the internet is a madhouse filled with comedians and people who watch them; rescuing comedy from the laugh-tracks and stereotypes and encouraging bold expeditions into all sorts of comic expression. You are one WiFi password away from a lot of laughs. That’s a very happy thought for me.

What is it that you think people must do for developing a sense of humor in everday life?

You must be dropped on your head as a baby. That really helps. But seriously, it comes down to one word: curiosity. If you’re curious about the world you inhabit and all the goings on in it, chances are a lot of it will suddenly start appearing absurd and silly and downright infuriating. We tend to switch-off our attention when passing through our days, hurrying along, without stopping to look at the millions of things passing in front of our eyes. But if you pause, pull out the magnifying glass of your scrutiny and peer through it, you find ‘Fun’ sprinkled atop everything around you. At least this is what happens with me. Maybe I need to see a doctor.

Describe your journey so-far as a comedian.

Nothing comes close to being as fulfilling and as tantalizing as a career in comedy. Studies have shown that when you make a room full of people laugh, you become up to 3 times your normal size to make room for your inflated confidence. But when a room full of people is silent at your jokes, you get cut to ¼th your size. The real challenge is maintaining your regular height and body size. And like I said, it’s an immense privilege. It’s such a joy to be able to earn a living out of spouting every silly and serious thought I have about the world. Usually, all you get for doing that is a few more followers on Twitter.

What would you say about SnG comedy, with which you are associated?

“Please like, share and subscribe!” Now, that’s out of the way: we’re a bunch of 6 comedians (Varun Thakur, Karan Talwar, Aadar Malik, Neville Shah, BrijBhakta and me), who perform stand-up, sketch and improv. On our Youtube channel we put up videos that look to change society and eventually the world or make you chuckle – whichever comes first. Do look us up, we’re fun and will totally make friends with you.

Stand-up an art form that is defined by courage: Kautuk Srivastava

Tell us something about the art of stand up comedy

It’s an art form that is defined by courage. It takes courage to open yourself up to strangers, night after night; courage to show the sides of you that are deplorable, reprehensible, ugly and mean to shine the light on those aspects of others. It’s brave to have an opinion and voice it knowing you might be in the minority; it takes guts to be upon that stage, in the middle of stormy silence, clutching on to the mike stand; it takes audacity to own the right to be ridiculous. It’s a valiant madness and worth every minute when you see the smiles.

How would you describe yourself in five words?

Idiot, inquisitive, daydreamer, outsider, gassy.

Any message for our readers?

Congratulations, you made it this far!

READER’s QUESTION

Do you feel that comedians in India face a problem in expressing their creativity because of censorship?

Of course, we do. But I think comedians and artists all over the world face censorship. It’s the degrees that vary. Having said that, I think one of the virtues of creativity is that it thrives in construction. The more people try to put a lid on things, the more creatively people find a way to wriggle through. It’s only a matter of putting some thought to it. And it makes the job more exciting. We constantly try and smuggle in our subversive, progressive and liberal views into our comedy and although it makes us the lamest smugglers in the world, I believe the goods we smuggle is arguably the most precious of them all.

• About the Author

About Suyash Karangutkar

Suyash Karangutkar is a young, dedicated and an enthusiastic journalist who has a deep interest in National and International Affairs. He is an ardent political spectator who finds politics fascinating. At Spectralhues, he heads the Mumbai team and covers National Affairs & Politics. He also occasionally writes columns for Spectralhues. He can be followed on Twitter @columnistsuyash