Well, all of us are familiar with the popular phrase, “Laughter is the best medicine” and it certainly holds true as laughter comes from within when you have forgotten about the stress and problems in life while enjoying something funny or hilarious.
Seems like the phrase is now taken seriously in India lately and executed in a funny way in the form of open mic stand-ups by a new generation of comedians bringing a whole new flavor of humor while address day to day problems or trending affairs in the country.
Open mic shows or stand-up acts are not new in this country. However, the star comedians of such shows were often restricted from the limelight due to the lack of coverage or proper media channels. Even the likes of Johnny Lever got some popularity simply because they were featured as star comedians in Bollywood films. Although not at the same level as Johnny Lever, Raju Srivastava also got his share of fame due to films.
Evolution in Laughter Industry
But, then the Great Indian Laughter Challenge happened and the big hunt for stand-up comedians began. The show actually made people in India realize the importance of laughter in life. This was followed by Sony’s Comedy Nights and then a whole new channel dedicated to comedy shows was introduced known as SAB TV. Owing to these shows, Kapil Sharma, and many other comedians earned their share of fame in the country.
However, these shows were targeted towards the mass. The youngsters were still not much interested as the humor quotient was so generic. But, all that changed when there was an outburst of several new age stand-up comedians fresh out of college chose social media channels such as YouTube and started a new revolution in the laughter industry in India.
These stand-up acts were uncensored, realistic, humorous, sometimes insulting, but most importantly, they got the attention of the youth in India. Social media channels, especially YouTube, played a huge role for this new breed of Indian stand-up comedians and helped them earn their share of fame overnight.
Today, at FilmyKeeday, we decided to give tribute to these young comedy stars of India, who made it their life’s mission to make Indians see a new perspective while having a laugh about it.
Best Indian YouTube Stand-Up Comedians
Vir Das
You must know him as a comedian in Bollywood, but did you know that he was a successful stand-up comedian before he made his debut in the film industry? Yes, Vir Das has performed more than 100 stand-up comedy shows and is well-known for his wit and humor in the industry before hitting it big on the big screen. His best work as a stand-up comedian includes the six (1.5 hours) comedy specials both written, directed and acted by him. These comedy specials were Brown Men Can’t Hump, Not for Members Only, Bored of The Things!, Who Let the Das Out?, Son of a Switch! and VIRagra.
Sorabh Pant
Rated as one of the top 10 stand-up comedians in India by TOI, Sorabh Pant has performed more than 250 shows across 17 different cities across India. Besides, open mic events, he is also known for his funny tweets and has been listed No.1 by IBN Live in 2012 among the top 30 most interesting twitter users in India. His comedy specials include Pant on Fire and Travelling Pants, alongside his comedy company East India Comedy that he established in 2012.
Kenny Sebastian
Kenny Sebastian can be touted as the stand-up rockstar of Indian comedy industry. Based in Bangalore, Kenny had tough times to see through his stint as a stand-up comedian. A journey that started with making special effects films on YouTube eventually made him a YouTube star as a stand-up comedian. He took up stand-up comedy after he won the first prize at the Stand-Up Comedy Festival at IIT Fest in Mumbai. Although it wasn’t planned, the experience gave him a new path in his life and the rest of it is history. Today, he is among the top stand-up comedians in India.
Kanan Gill
Kanan Gill is the man behind the hit concept on YouTube, “Pretentious Movie Reviews”, where he and his friend Biswa Kalyan Rath reviewed some of the box-office bombs in Hindi film industry and became a household name in the YouTube arena. Kanan Gill also hails from Bangalore and has an Engineering degree in Computer Science and was working as a Software Engineer before being stung by Stand-Up comedy after he won a competition called Punchline Bangalore and then repeating the success yet again at Comedy Store. He has also been a part of improv sketch comedy show, The Living Room on Comedy Central.
Aditi Mittal
One of the first women to do stand-up comedy in India, Aditi Mittal has been featured among India’s Top 10 Stand-Up comedians by TOI and is also popular for his witty, intelligent and funny tweets that got her among the list of Top 30 Indian Women to follow on Twitter created by CNNIBN.com. Besides being a stand-up comedian, she is also a successful writer and has showcased her talent by writing columns in Grazia Magazine, DNA, FirstPost.com and Financial Times.
Vipul Goyal
Well, he may not be as famous as others on the list, but Vipul Goyal has had his fare of success in stand-up comedy. Before pursuing his career as a Stand-up comedian, Vipul Goyal worked as a Retail Analyst. He is also an alumni of IIT Bombay and he shares a lot of his IIT experience during his stand-up acts in humorous ways. Besides open mic stand-up sessions, he has also performed at events such as TEDx Talks, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Montreal Comedy Festival, Toastmasters International and the Ignite Talks. He founded and runs a unique HR company called Humorously Yours along with his 5 other IITian friends.
Abish Mathew
One of the highly popular names among the Stand-up comedians, Abish Mathew is known for his funny enactments, song lyrics, mime acts using sketches, as well as online shows on YouTube. He enjoyed his share of success after inviting other big names from the same industry such as Vir Das, Kanan Gill, Suresh Menon, and many others to his popular talk show “Son of Abish” that’s both famous among the offline and online viewers.
Papa CJ
Yes, we have an Oxford MBA on the list as well. Papa CJ, who has pursued an MBA degree from Oxford University found his passion in stand-up comedy shows. Having worked as an executive coach and a motivational speaker in the past has helped him nurture a career in stand-up comedy. He is one of those early Indian stand-up comedians who started out internationally and then set up a base in India. After he moved to India in 2008, he set up India’s one of the first English-language stand-up comedy circuit and helped in grooming the new talent. He is one of the highly successful Indian stand-up comedians internationally having been featured in Just for Laughs festival in Canada, Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and a number of stints at the Edinburg Fringe Festival. He is known for his sold-out solo performance in London in 2016 and two standing ovations at Broadway debut in New York.
Zakir Khan
Zakir Khan rose to instant fame after he won Comedy Central’s India’s Best Stand-Up Comedian competition. After that, he has won many accolades for his comedy style from different media groups such as NDTV and many others. Besides being a Stand-up comedian, he is also a writer and has produced several radio shows. Currently, when he is not doing a stand-up, he is seen in the news comedy show, On Air with AIB, which he has also co-hosted and written along with Tanmay Bhatt and Gurusimran Khamba of the All India Bakchod fame.
Daniel Fernandes
Here’s another MBA grad on the list; Daniel Fernandes. Before it was MBAs and IITians taking up writing as the career change, now it seems that writing as been replaced by Stand-up comedy. The stint that started as a hobby by regular performances at comedy clubs such as Canvas Laugh Club, The Comedy Store, Blue Frog, and High Spirits, Daniel gradually developed it into a full time career after collaborating with big names in the industry such as Gurusimran Khamba, Aditi Mittal, Biswa Kalyan Rath, Abish Mathew, Kanan Gill and many others.
Biswa Kalyan Rath
Kanan Gill’s partner in crime on Pretentious Movie Reviews, Biswa Kalyan Rath is a well-known Indian Stand-up comedian and YouTuber. An IIT alumni with B.Tech degree, Biswa has spent some of his quality years in the IT industry. During this time, he somehow came across Kanan Gill and then rest is history. Following his passion, he decided to quit his job at Oracle and took up a full-time career as a stand-up comedian. With time, he went past the shadow of Kanan Gill and started performing solo and gained similar success in the field as his ex-partner in crime.
Rohan Joshi
One of the founding members of All India Bakchod, Rohan Joshi is quite famous in the laughter industry of India for both his personal and professional acts. Besides being a successful writer and comedian producing some of the most watched shows on their AIB channel, Rohan Joshi has also been a favorite at gossip columns because of his alleged affair with Shaheen Bhatt, sister of Alia Bhatt. However, the real shot to fame and controversy happened when he, along with his 3 other AIB founding members, decided to do a Roast Comedy inviting celebrities like Ranveer Singh, Arjun Kapoor, and Karan Johar. Despite being hit, the show also earned its fair share of criticism from all sections.
Tanmay Bhat
Another founding member of AIB, Tanmay Bhatt is currently in the news controversy over his Snapchat video titled Sachin v. Lata: Civil War. Controversy and fame go hand in hand with Tanmay Bhatt and AIB. The best example could be witnessed during the AIB roast, where the show was both praised and criticized equally from all corners of India. Apart from roasting comedies, he has also made some cameo appearances in Bollywood films like Ragini MMS 2 starring Sunny Leone and Mr. X starring Emraan Hashmi.
Jeeveshu Ahluwalia
35-year-old Indian stand-up comedian living with his mom, Jeeveshu Ahluwalia is one of those comedians who make the audiences laugh by cracking self-implicated jokes. His performances as a Stand-up comedian are mostly inspired by everyday conversations, quirky monologs, peculiar situations, some eccentric friends, etc. He also features some of his acts based on his day to day life experiences living with his mom.
Russell Peters
Well, we have saved the best for the last yet again. People from the Stand-up industry very well know who Russell Peters is! For many of the Indian Stand-up comedians, he is the inspiration and motivation behind taking up the career of a stand-up comedian. Basically from Canada and currently based in Los Angeles, Russel Peters made it to our list because of his Indian descent. Russell Peters owes his success to one of his great influences in the industry, George Carlin. He began his stint in comedy and got his fair share of success when his performance on Canadian TV show Comedy Now! went viral on YouTube and rest is history.
Your Turn!
Share the list of your Favorite YouTube Standup Comedian from India. You can add more names in the comment section of this Article.
