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Top & Best Stand Up Comedians in India in 2024

Posted on by Bhavik Sarkhedi

Updated/Edited on 27th June, 2024:  This is one of the most-read blogs on my website. Thank you so much for showing so much love to this post. I feel grateful (Joining Hands Indian Style). I am an independent verified SEO writer, best-selling author, reliable ghostwriter and personal branding expert who helps entrepreneurs and startups nurture their online/digital presence. Guaranteed results in SERP (Search Engine Results Page). Lead Generator via LinkedIn. See my portfolio here and follow me on socials: www.linktr.ee/sarkhedibhavik Thank you. Keep reading informational blogs. Keep sharing. Reach out to me for any feedbacks and suggestions on content writing, personal branding and digital marketing 🙂 🙂

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2023 was a good year for comedy. Dealing with anxieties, monday blues, relationship struggles we all need something to refresh our minds. With rising platforms like Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hotstar etc. giving a stage to leading comics, the comedy scene only seems to be growing. One such area of comedy that is becoming popular by the day is Stand up comedy in India. From watching Laughter challenge on our TVs to watching stand up comedy specials of our favourite comedians, we know that stand up comedy in India is not a new business but the popularity seems to be increasing in the more recent years. If we were to make a list of the Best stand up comedians in India in the year 2018, it would be difficult to choose among all the great comics, but in this blog we have made an attempt to do so.

Best stand up comedians in India in 2018(in no particular order)

  1. Kanan Gill

Some call him a pretty face while others appreciate his unique style of delivery. But what is this? Old tradition notions that beauty and brains cannot exist? Kanan Gill might be the living example of showing that that’s not true. His Amazon Prime special- ‘Keep it real’ which released last year, made his place even more prominent in the stand up industry. Between the feeling of nostalgia for the Pretentious movie reviews and Kanan’s growing stand up career, there is a road. How do you cross? (You won’t get the reference if you haven’t seen his Amazon special. Go watch it now.)

  1. Rahul Subramanian

His relatable jokes and quirky insta stories make him special. His role in the AIB’s video where he played ‘the overachiever’ shows how much talent he has. His stand up comedy special ‘Kal mai Udega’ came out in 2018 and was very well received by the appreciators of comedy. His stand ups about DJs, house maids, drugs in sports were among his best bits.

  1. Neeta Palta

A screenwriter by profession, she is also among the top leading inspirations in the field of stand up comedy  in 2018. Taking a dig on various cultural practices and thoughts, this lady does not shy away from expressing her opinions without any filter and with a perfect comic timing. The confidence she displays on the stage is an inspiration for every girl who wants to pursue comedy but often hears ‘arre it’s a man’s job’ or ‘women aren’t funny’.

  1. Biswa Kalyan Rath

Biswa- mast aadmi has created a position for himself in the comedy industry. With saying the funniest things with a straight face to giving us major liners like  ‘aye tatti tera naam kya hai?’ Biswa has our heart. His relatable jokes and simplistic approach towards comedy makes him stand out from the rest. Along with many other comedians, his standup special ‘mast aadmi’ came out last year.

  1. Zakir khan

Zakir Khan comes as a saviour for the people who have been tired listening to the question “Why aren’t you in a relationship?”. SakhtLaunda has become a brand and has made singlehood even more amazing. His stand ups usually revolve around love, heartbreaks, struggles of a common man etc. Delhi girl was one of his first stand up acts and to be honest we still love to binge it anytime. His Two stand up specials came in the two years Haq se Single in 2017 and KakshaGyarvi in 2018. This desi boy has amazing comic timing and the way he adds shayari to his comedy makes the whole experience even better.

  1. Kenny Sebastian

Yes, the guitar guy. Kenny Sebastian has always been one of the best stand up comedians in India .His relatable jokes on middle class problems, his acting and his music bits make his performance stand out from the rest. His ‘chai time with Kenny’ is a simple and lovable concept of stand ups. If you are a person who doesn’t like his comedy, please ‘Don’t be that guy’.

  1. Prashasti Singh

Prashasti Singh came as a fresh new talent in stand up comedy in 2018 along with many others from the show Comicstaan. Comicstaan aimed to give a platform to new stand up comedians and help to polish their skills through new task every week mentored by top 7 comedians of India. Her desi girl persona along with blatant honesty was loved by everyone. Guys (read in Prashti’s voice) please watch her stand up if you haven’t yet.

  1. Daniel Fernandes

Generally focusing on social issues, Daniel Fernandes’ jokes are filled with political humour. His dark jokes make us think and rofl at the same time. His ‘strange way to celebrate an Indian festival’ stand up comedy in 2018 was a well articulated piece.

  1. Abish Mathew

Good boy Abish has our hearts with his cute face and simple jokes. From being a host of his own show ‘Son of Abish’ (creative name!) to getting his own stand up special ‘Whoop’ only recently, this comedian has surely proved that he’s worth it.

  1. Aditi Mittal

Aditi Mittal has set a ready stage for female comedians and has been an inspiration to speak our mind. With her bold and unapologetic jokes on periods, bras and orgasms, this girl does not shy away from representing the problems faced by women in their day to day life.

Atul Khatri, KaneezSurka, Rohan Joshi, Rahul Dua, Kunal Kamra, Abhishek Upmanyu. Oops we have run out of space. There are so many other comedians that we have loved this year and we would therefore like to mention few other names-Maybe,some odd day in 2020- you will hear about some viral video ‘Bhavik Sarkhedi’ :p. If it happens, I will have one pseudo name, Yes, Unproposed Guy.

We hope that stand up comedy in India as well as the rest of the world  continues to bring a smile on everyone’s faces and the comedians who make us happy share this happiness and continue to grow.

How to be a Stand-up Comedian? (Only If You Want To Be:p)

Posted on by Bhavik Sarkhedi

After Instagram’s provided us with a new job called an influencer, what do you think is the second most popular job today? We believe that it might be stand up comedy in 2018. With everyone trying their hands on this growing types of comedy, only few have been able to mark their positions in the industry. What is it that separates these groups- the best stand up comedians and the amateurs? The How part. To mention in advance, we are not doubting the talents of anyone. We know that art is unique and there is no particular equation to go about it. If we wanted that a majority of us would still like math. But we know how things are. So, yes the how part.

Read More: Top & Best Stand Up Comedians in India

To be a stand up comedian you should first be funny. What’s funny? Who defines what’s funny? To be honest funny has no dimensions. If you can even make kids laugh at a birthday party you are funny to them (probably not funny to us or a stand up comedy material but atleast you get some bucks). If your jokes depend on misogyny or racism, sorry but still not funny. All your ‘no offence’ do not make any sense just like you. If you are funny to get the girls, sorry to burst your bubble but your corporate shows would probably consist of middle aged uncles half listening to you. If you are doing comedy to get famous, haven’t you heard about the FIRs in the last year for stand up comedy in India ? You might go the opposite way. But if you love comedy with all your heart and want to make people laugh, then it is worth giving a try.

For a stand up comedian you need two important things- good stage presence and delivery, and your script. Both of them can come naturally to you or you may have to put in more efforts (just like women competing with male privilege or blacks competing with White privilege). If you do not have the natural stage presence, do not worry. Real world is not like your home where all of a sudden your mother asks you to dance in front of relatives saying ‘beta uncle konaachkedikhao’, it is more like a series of events where you grow as a stage performer and reach a level where you are comfortable with being on stage. However, that comfort isn’t present always. There would be days you feel more nervous than others but that’s okay.

Every performance makes you stronger. So it is important to attend as many open mics you can. Speak out in front of people while socialising. Practice your eloquence at home in front of your mirror. Don’t ask your mother though, the lady loves you and would approve everything you do. The other important part is the script. Script isn’t a one time thing. You can’t just sit and decide that I’ll write the entire script right now. You have to be an observer who observes ordinary things in daily life. Doing stand up comedy in India please do not say that ‘Gujaratis are so stingy’ or ‘punjabis are so loud’ are your own observations. They have been overdone just like the candid posts on Instagram.

Everything you find funny and you think that might be worthy of being in your script- write it down. All the jumbled jokes and anecdotes go in your diary. And then when you finally get ready to write, you have a trunk of jokes to sprinkle in your script. You then decide what format you would like to choose. How many one liners you want, how many anecdotes, how many jokes taken from ordinary life, how many political jokes etc?

This categorisation would depend both on you and the audience you are going to present in front of. If you want to do stand up comedy in India , you would need jokes that would make all Indians go – yess that’s right. Like Kunal Kamra makes more political jokes because of his own beliefs and Vir Das makes more jokes on Trump, racism and Indian life depending on the audience he caters to. So choose what suits you best. On a scale of delivery the meter can go from Biswa to Kenny on the basis of enthusiasm. Do not-and I cannot emphasise this enough-try to copy any other comedian you consider one of the best stand up comedians.

Your audience isn’t a fool like a bhakt and would see it right away. Only Bollywood is allowed to proudly steal stuff and still be celebrated by the audience. This doesn’t happen in comedy. If they wish to get the same style as someone who’s already one of the best stand up comedians , why would they even choose you? Why not go for a comic who has already proven himself? The most popular stand up comedians in 2018 were the ones who had their unique style of delivery like Prashasti Singh or Rahul Dua.

Therefore, it is important to put a face mask, play some light music and think about your life, i mean style because that’s how self introspection looks. You have to then make a rough script. Do not let your fingers tremble during the rough script. Write anything you want to in the format you have chosen. This isn’t final. You’ll have to make 3-4 more scripts before you reach the final and you improve with every script. So go on. Think of it like your college exams and write whatever you feel like. But unlike college exams, you will get chances to improve it and passing is more important in this case.

When you have your script and a platform to perform it, the last step is to deliver it with confidence. For men – think of it like your girlfriend’s ex- you are better than that dumb boy at least. For everyone else- have the confidence of an average man. That’s it. You are ready to go folks. Make stand up comedy in 2019 better than stand up comedy in 2018 or any earlier years.