Head out for a month-long comedy festival, says Mallika Sarna
What do you call a gathering of 21 comediansIJ lOl Comedy Evenings. A month-long festival, which is being organised by the DlF Mall of India in collaboration with Canvas laugh Club (ClC), it brings together the frontline of stand-up comedians like Aakash Gupta, Aditi Mittal, Radhika Vaz, Abijit Ganguly, Varun Thakur and many more. But not just stand-up acts, the club would also feature a line of epic shows including Vagina Monologues to keep the audience captivated.
To keep the laughter flowing, the funniest tummlers will not only entertain the audience through their witty brains but will also give them a chance to share their sense of humour through open-mic sessions. Also, the one month long festival would feature star comedy on “best in stand up and rising star nights” to ensure lOl Comedy Evenings are the comedy destinations to head out to.
“We are excited to host the:lOl Comedy Evenings” from July 7th to 30th at the DlF Mall of India as it is a novel idea to engage shoppers during the end of season sale. It gives us great pleasure in crafting such fun activations for our visitors,” says with a smile, Pushpa Bector, Executive Vice-president and Head, DlF Premium Malls.
Aakash Gupta, started as a theatre actor and has been doing comedy since almost three years. He ventured into comedy by accident. “In 2014, I saw a comedian performing and learnt about stand-up comedy. To be honest, I did not take inspiration from anybody to follow my passion for comedy,” says Gupta, who is often confused for a school going kid.
Gupta believes there is no hard and fast rule about generating the content. He says, “Most of the content is based on immense observation. Sometimes, ideas do pop-up while travelling to places.”
But generating comedy is not easy and needs several traits to be successful. He says, “It requires a lot of hard work and patience which take years to develop. You need constant improvisation and upgradation to stand out from the rest. The content needs to be original in order to make the audience laugh. Apart from these qualities, style and aura also play a pivotal role in enthralling the audience.”
Nitin Gupta, another stand-up comedian too agrees, that comedy is serious business. “In the beginning people hardly laughed at my jokes but now the scenario has changed. Today's shows go well. I have created my niche audience so their reactions are quite predictable,” he says.
Amar Agrawal, managing director, ClC says, “We are proud to have been such an integral part of a building a complete industry from the scratch and now I aim to expand the ClC experience to multiple geographies. With the ever-growing fan base, we do not wish to restrict the ClC experience to where the clubs are physically located. A lot of content is available online also. However, coming down to watch comics in action is something one can't miss out on.”
Canvas laugh Club is known for its funny shows. The group has been working with some of India's finest comedic talent to develop fresh content and shows. Since 2010, ClC has treated Indian audiences to an art form that now, is becoming a big trend. Come discover the hilarious world of the Canvas laugh Club and see the funny side of life!
Photo: MD Meharban