In conversation with Yashwardhan Choudhary, a standup comedian delivering punches on stage and in the ring.
What made you venture into Stand-up Comedy?
In all honesty, I never thought of becoming one. I had a very different aim in life three years back. I was a professional Martial Artist. Then Stand-up came along which became more like a coping mechanism for me when I was diagnosed with clinical depression in 2016. In fact my doctor suggested me to tell jokes in front of an audience instead of telling it in person during our sessions. Although I bombed in my first open mic (got just 2 laughs), but the adrenaline rush was so addictive, I decided that I wanted to do this again. And here I am with a better perspective and understanding to keep my content simple & relatable. I guess comedy has really helped me recover.
Do you remember your first gig?
Oh that’s interesting. It was at a college Fest in Raipur and I was suffering with high fever. But I decided to go with it because it was a huge opportunity for me to perform in front of a huge crowd although for 15-20 mins. There was another comic before me and he was heckled bad. And when I got on stage with my cliché jokes, they loved me (almost!). But I had a small incident with a heckler which I regret now because it was very amateur of me. And the next day I got to know that he was the son of one of the trustees of the college. So this was my first gig, very memorable but still funny.
What is your approach towards your content?
My content is usually full of my experiences in life and of random thoughts of what I could experience in future. The credit of my material goes to the people around me. And before you assume it, no I don’t judge people. I just judge what they say (grinning). You see, a comedian’s job is not to look for funny stuff, but to think that it’s funny and tell people why it is funny. Then I go into storytelling. I have a bit where I tell the story behind a kid who committed suicide in my school. It is ‘based on true events’ and I turned that incident into a funny story and now it’s a part of my solo.
How many shows & open mics have you produced till now?
I have not counted but approximately, in Nagpur alone I have organised 55 Open-Mics and 22 shows of which 20 were National comics. Out of Nagpur, around 100+ shows have been produced by me.
Are you planning on releasing your video anytime soon? Tell us about it.
Yes. My plan is to release my first video this year. So, it is a 70 mins two part solo written by me. Initially it’s very juvenile and gradually it ascends towards darkness. It has some satirical material and it revolves around my family and how my childhood was- traumatic. The whole set just pitches how the upbringing can affect a child and result in Serious Consequences– which is the name of my solo.
Any suggestions for the budding artists?
I can just suggest them to be extremely self confident and have extremely low self esteem. You just have to make sure that whenever you go on stage, you deliver one good joke at least. And that is how you grow, by bombing and by people continuously criticising your jokes.
