Sumukhi Suresh on the risk of doing stand-up comedy: A man filed a complaint against me in Bangalore
Sumukhi Suresh opens up on the changing scene of Indian stand-up comedy, being trolled as a female comic and competing with comedy creators on Instagram
Sumukhi Suresh is currently touring with her stand up special Hoemonal, and she did her recent show in Mumbai. The comedian admits that while being a stand-up comic has its perks, it also has become a dangerous profession to be in today. She says, “It is risky for sure, but it's the law of the land now if you are going to take the risk of saying something that's not usual. When I went to Bangalore, a 60-year-old man put a complaint against me for being vulgar in a public place, which was hilarious. He was like ye aise kaise baat kar sakti hai stage pe.”
However, she is not perturbed by it. “There is a range of complaints doing rounds, agar sabko respond karein to kaise chalega. Main to apne agle set ko public nuisance and vulgar bolne wali hun,” she quips, adding that even with such fears, the comedy industry is thriving. “More comics have come in the picture and now, being a comic is not your USP anymore. You have to make sure the audience gets a good experience on your live show. Also, the amount people in India spend for a show is equal to a movie ticket, so you have to make sure you give them a film worth of entertainment. It's definitely become more challenging and exciting,” she says.
Sumukhi Suresh also asserts that even though Instagram is also filled with a lot of comedy creators and influencers, and there is stiff competition from everywhere, but she isn’t fazed by the, “There is a competition on Instagram, but stand-up comics are writers as well. And we are fundamentally looked at to take opposing views. We are negators, who challenge every conversation. The characteristic of a comedian is different from other comedy creators. Of course, you have to play the game that everyone plays when you come on Instagram. But as live comedians, we don’t get a leeway. People will forget an Instagram reel in 30 seconds, but we have to sit with our audience for one-and-a-half hours. So, the pressure is much higher.”
Being a female comic, Sumukhi admits that often she is trolled for doing jokes on “women issues” including periods and bras. And she explains the conditioning behind it: “Fundamentally what happens is that a lot of boys are raised funny and to laugh, jaise wo bakchodi karte rehte hain apne gang mein. But ladkiyon ki bakchodi utni baahar aayi nahi hai, par hum log bhi waise hi hain with each other. If a female comic is funny on stage, boys go like isse better to main hun. So, karo. Ladkon ko to opportunity har nukkad pe milta hai. And boys also keep talking about engineering only, so how much are they going to talk?”
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