AMAR AGRAWAL, the 48-year-old MD of Gurgaon-based The Spa Group, has been watching stand-up comedy ever since he was studying at the University of Southern California in the US. But when he came to India, he was baffled to know that there are a billion people and not many preferred forms of entertainment besides movies. After founding his company in 1998 and starting off with luxury retail (The Spa Group brought brands like Swarovski, Lladro,Villeroy & Boch, Versace Rosenthal, etc, to India), before expanding into verticals such as health and wellness, entertainment, hospitality and craft retail, Agrawal finally decided to create venues for live entertainment in 2008.
“The opening of Canvas Laugh Club in Lower Parel, Mumbai, in 2010 was an outcome of this decision,” says Agrawal. But the first shock came when in a country of a billion people, he realised that India did not have enough stand-up comedians. “We ended up flying down comedians from around the world every week. Most surprising, however, was the fact that customers were simply not psychologically prepared to pay a fair price for live entertainment. We started with ticket prices of R500. After a year, when we attempted to increase it to R750, our occupancy crashed from about 75% to 20%. This forced us to roll back the ticket prices,” explains Agrawal, adding, “It was only last year (2015) that the Mumbai club managed to break even for the first year with previous losses still carried forward.”
Smile, please
Following the popularity of Canvas Laugh Club, The Spa Group has now launched its second venture, The People & Co, in Gurgaon. The People & Co has brought together three different concepts under one spacious roof: Canvas, the auditorium, which stages performances by stand-up comedians, music concerts and theatre; Plate, the restaurant where chefs cook what they feel like instead of depending on a fixed menu; and Public, the all-day bar with a stage to house live music performances.
Not to be left behind, Bengaluru also saw the launch of its first comedy club, That Comedy Club, in May last year. Located on Church Street, That Comedy Club has been started by 29-year-old engineering graduate and former IIT aspirant Sumendra Singh.
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Singh decided to open the club soon after he organised a festival, Bengaluru Comedy Festival, through his comedy production company Comedy Wagon in Bengaluru. “The decision was based on the fact that the shows we produced didn’t have any recall value. People had the best time at the shows, but didn’t know where to come back and when. At that point, the country had just one comedy club. It was a huge opportunity staring at me,” says Singh, who then met his friend Adeel KQ and discussed the concept with him. They zeroed in on a space in Beer Republic on Church Street. Within four months, That Comedy Club was ready.
What works in these clubs’ favour is the atmosphere—a refreshing change from a bar or a restaurant, where all that matters is food and drink. At comedy clubs, you’re getting both, plus a dose of laughter.
Stand-up comedians can’t agree more. “I personally think comedy clubs are a good addition and a great platform to perform at. It gives serious comedy lovers a place to come and enjoy at the same time,” says Gurgaon-based ‘laughterpreneur’ Jeeveshu Ahluwalia.
Ahluwalia has done over 1,500 shows across different genres. His journey from the boardroom (he was the director-operations of BPO company Teleperformance India, before he took to stand-up comedy full-time in 2013) to the biggest clubs, colleges, corporates, auditoriums and comedy festivals has taken him to every corner of India and the world.
Abhineet Mishra, “an HR manager after sunrise and a comic after sunset”, adds: “Comedy clubs in India have provided great impetus to the space in India. The ‘open mic’ sessions hosted by these clubs have allowed new entrants in the circuit to develop their craft.”
Commenting on the existing comedy clubs, the Mumbai-based Mishra says Canvas Laugh Club in Mumbai is almost like the Mecca for stand-up comics and that is where he started his journey as a stand-up comedian. “Canvas Laugh Club hosts events like ‘Kill or Die’—a format that empowers the audience to ‘gong’ you off stage. Shows like these empower audiences and attract them to the comedy scene. Besides the Canvas Laugh Club, I have also done gigs at The People & Co—the ambience is world-class and the audience turnout is very encouraging. That Comedy Club in Bengaluru has also grown in popularity,” he adds.
Expect to see more such clubs in the near future. “The Gurgaon club (The People & Co) will be followed by three new clubs in Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru. Post these, we intend to expand the concept to other major cities across the globe such as Hong Kong. Singapore, Los Angeles, South Africa and Colombo. Effectively, we intend to have in place about 14 clubs in the next three years,” offers Agrawal of The Spa Group.
Funny days are here
Despite the challenges, the growth of stand-up comedy in India has been nothing short of phenomenal. “We are getting serious, especially now that people are realising there’s money and fame in comedy. Big comedians are making lakhs off one gig, and becoming YouTube stars and movie actors,” says Sapan Verma, a Mumbai-based stand-up comedian and co-founder of the East India Comedy, a comedy collective where he performs, writes, acts and directs.
“One big trend is that now people have started taking comedians seriously. They realise that we make sense at times and our opinions matter,” adds 27-year-old Verma, who has been on the comedy scene for about five years now.
As per New Delhi-based Neeti Palta, one of the few women stand-up comedians, it is a growing field. “Comedy is the new wave in entertainment and everyone wants to ride on the wave, be it corporates, pubs, hotels, event organisers, etc. There are more avenues opening,” says Palta, who left a cushy job in advertising (she was among the top of her league as a senior art director at JWT), before taking up comedy full-time.
The 38-year-old Palta, though, admits that as a female comedian it does take her a little bit of extra effort to put herself up on a public platform. “Unlike most male comedians, I am very choosy about the shows I want to do. But then, I have something to say, so I do. Ours is still a conservative society with clearly defined (at least in their heads) gender roles and some people find it harder to deal with a comedienne being outspoken. But the response I have received so far across the country has surprised me rather pleasantly,” she adds.
“Indians are fortunate to have an evolved Facebook and YouTube platform that allowed the genre to grow and expand much faster than what has been witnessed anywhere else in the world. It may now also be safe to assume that the Indian stand-up comedy scene is the fastest growing in the world. There is now serious money to be made in this,” offers Agrawal of The Spa Group.
“This area will grow, as with times to come, more people will be aware of us and what we do and how we do it, and the acceptance grows with it. It still has a long way to go, but we are on the right track,” adds Ahluwalia.
So how serious is the business of comedy? “It’s serious enough for aspiring comedians to take the leap of faith and quit their jobs to take a chance with comedy. The number of calls we used to get saying, ‘paise nahin hai par exposure achha milega’ have gone down. More and more corporates have tuned into the idea of stand-up comedy as a viable entertainment at their events and are wiling to pay for the calibre of the artiste they invite,” says Palta.
