Sometimes, comedy is the best (and often, only) way to deal with a broken economy, a crumbling ecology, and our constant failure at adulting. And in 2019 alone, Indian stand-up comics have delivered some gems of wisdom, like these, that had every millennial unable to adult say, ‘it me!’:
1. Abhijit Ganguly on millennial couples
While there are many things millennial couples are doing right (or at least, that’s what we believe), there are few ‘basic’ things that we are most definitely failing at, in style- and that’s exactly what Abhijit Ganguly brings to light. Because let’s face it, we’re all surviving by eating ‘parle-g, kaali chaaye mein dubokar.’
2. Biswa Kalyan Rath on Indian mom’s superpowers
Let’s admit it, Indian mothers are a unique species with special talents – like the ability to always call a million times in under a minute and find items that are only hiding when you’re looking at them. An observation that Biswa Kalyan Rath expands upon in his stand-up special, Sushi.
3. Biswa Kalyan Rath on government banks
While his entire stand-up special Sushi was made up of hilariously accurate observations about ‘just Indian things’, the one thing Biswa nailed was his commentary on government banks. More specifically, on how we converse with bank employees.
4. Harsh Gujral on the epidemic that is Indian Reality Shows
Harsh Gujral talked about saas-bahu shows, and how, even they may not have as much melodrama as our ‘reality’ shows do. Hells yeah!
5. Varun Grover on Indian Elections
The Indian elections are an event that few psephologists have been able to understand. But Varun Grover’s insights definitely felt more accurate than most primetime news shows.
6. Urooj Ashfaq on taking cabs in Mumbai
When half of your life is spent in commuting to-and-fro from work, then naturally, you end up using cab apps more than dating apps. And Urooj Ashfaq definitely gets it.
7. Shridhar Venkataramana on the iconic ‘Man Vs. Wild’ episode
There is something called morbid curiosity. It’s what convinced most of us to watch one of the most iconic episodes released in 2019 – the Man Vs. Wild episode featuring PM Modi. And Shridhar Venkataramana put in words what each of us felt while watching it, and everything else that went down in August 2019.
8. Kenny Sebastian on ‘Everything Mallu‘
Everyone’s favourite companion for ‘chai time’, Kenny Sebastian talked about the unique talent of Mallu uncles. Frankly though, it could apply to most uncles we know!
9. Abhishek Upmanyu’s on every millennial adult’s obsession with nostalgia!
We may not be up to date with the latest Instagram filters or new shows, but we sure as hell can recount everything about the 90s. Because getting nostalgic about the ‘good old days’ is our favourite thing to do. Only, in Abhishek Upmanyu’s case, his friend experienced nostalgia a little too early. We all have a friend like that!
10. Abhishek Upmanyu on the never-ending ‘gyaan’ about Universe
There is information that directly impacts our lives and we should know about it – like how long do we actually need to put the microwave in the popcorn so that it doesn’t burn. But there are other subjects that we could do with little information on – like the universe. And that’s exactly what Abhishek Upmanyu calls out in his stand-up.
11. Rahul Subramaniam on Bangalore airports
People keep pitting Delhi against Mumbai, when really, Mumbai should be competing with Bangalore – especially when it comes to long distances. And Rahul Subramaniam is spot-on with his observations about everything unique to Bangalore, including the distance between the city and its airport.
12. Anu Menon on romantic comedies
In her stand-up special, Wonder Menon, Anu Menon talked about things that most of us have thought about – like the ultimate purpose of rom-coms.
12. Vir Das on Indians and their ‘affection’ for relocating to the US.
For his Netflix special Losing It, Vir Das took on his past mistakes (*cough, Mastizaade, cough*) and things that are unique to India and US – like our ability to stay there forever.
14. Sanjay Rajoura on Indian men and consent
In his usual sarcastic style, Sanjay Rajoura called out Indian men and their lack of understanding when it comes to consent.
15. Angad Singh Ranyal on the never-ending battle of losing weight
We’ve all struggled with weight-loss, but only Angad Singh Ranyal was able to figure out the reason, or rather, the ‘scheme’ behind it.
16. Rahul Dua on our never-ending search for happiness
We live through life searching for major sources of happiness, but according to Rahul Dua, true happiness lies in the little things. And TBH, he is absolutely right.
17. Neeti Palta on women buying condoms in India
For a country that beeps the word condom from condom ads, a woman buying condoms is definitely not a thing people are used to. And Neeti Palta lets us know exactly how unusual the sight is.
18. Azeem Banatwalla on the forever overflowing Indian fridges
No matter what time of the day or month you look inside a fridge in an Indian household, it will always be overflowing – with everything under the sun, except for chilled bottles of water during summers. But, no one understands the issues of taking care of a refrigerator better than Azeem Banatwalla.
19. Nishant Suri on ‘overconfident Indian bachelors‘
Indian bachelors are different than bachelors from other nations, and Nishant Suri knows the exact reason for it – overconfidence.
20. Akash Gupta on ‘Dog Parents’
Dog parents are very different from other parents. Because, while parents may still believe that their child has done something wrong, dog parents will never admit that their pet is anything but a cute a doggo. And that’s exactly what Akash Gupta talks about in his stand-up.
You can’t always change the situation. But you can certainly laugh on it!