Keeping the audience in splits sans expletives

Amit Tandon is a stand-up comedian with a difference. He is known as the ‘married guy’ among the lot and popular for his ‘clean jokes’ on stage. Ask him how he mastered the art of keeping the audience engaged without the help of expletives — a common and accepted norm in the comic style, Amit attributes it to his family and his corporate background. 

“The concept of stand-up comedy was introduced in India by youngsters who witnessed such shows in the US and the UK. They brought with them the style, including the curse words, as freely expressed in those countries. In my case, I was married and had kids even before I entered the arena. Since my shows largely revolves around my family, I adopted a style of my own. Also, I have been part of the corporate industry for over five years earlier, I’m able to curb that part of my tongue out of practice,” says Amit with a laugh. 

However, his upcoming show will be elaborate in terms of topics covered. “Comedy is all about being honest on stage, otherwise people will not connect with it. Also, you should be able to laugh at yourself to make others to laugh at your jokes. So, when I began, the comedy was largely about personal experiences — my wedding and having kids. Now it’s been about five years and you can expect variety. I would love to spruce it up with a little Tamil, though I’m bad at picking up a new language,” says Delhi-based Amit. About growing intolerance towards free speech and particularly for stand-up comedy shows, Amit says it is a minor group claiming to be the representatives of people who come up with such threats for publicity. 

Amit, who says he got into stand-up comedy as a hobby, is still coming to terms with the fact that he is getting paid for cracking jokes. “For the first four years I didn’t make any money, but slowly clubs started calling me and I started getting to perform. Now I’m going on a nine-city tour across the UK to perform. It’s all still unbelievable to me,” says Amit, who has plans to come up with a unique show on ‘100 years of Indian cinema’ next year. 

“There is so much to the history of Indian cinema we don’t know. I want to showcase it with a grand event. It won’t be yet another comedy show,” he says.