Showing posts with label Landing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Landing. Show all posts
I think you have to give us comedians the audacity to be imperfect-Vir Das
8:27 AM
From Noida to Nigeria to the stage in New York where he became the first Indian comedian to win an Emmy award, it’s been quite a journey for Vir Das. In an interview to Kritika Sharma, the 44-year-old talks about the early days of DIY standup, and his brush with controversy
Kritika Sharma (THE TIMES OF INDIA' November 26, 2023)
Congratulations on winning the Emmy. How’s the experience been?
I haven’t slept in about six days as I have seven shows lined up. But it has been a tremendous amount of love and nothing like I have ever experienced in my career. No one thought that we were going to be nominated for an Emmy and win the award, I wasn’t even supposed to be in America. I was supposed to be in Bengaluru and in other Indian cities. I went there to cheer for Shefali (Shah).
This was your second nomination. You must’ve had a hope that you would win this time?
I did not think I was going to win, because the last time I was there I lost to a massive show called ‘Call My Agent’. Even this time, I was against the massive Netflix show ‘Derry Girls’. I was kind of an underdog who got thrown in there.
Why do you think your special ‘Landing’ won?
The last show that I did ‘Vir Das: For India’ was very much like a comfort show — I like to think of it as rajma chawal. People thought that he is talking about all the things that we love, and it makes us feel like home. However, I realised that I had not let my audience into my personal life. I kind of went for it and let my audience know me with ‘Landing’. I think that resonated with the audience, as well as the idea of carrying the idea of home with us wherever we go. As we become more global, this is something that we can relate to.
Is there a difference between your audience in India and abroad?
Pretty much wherever I go it’s about 50-50 (Indians and locals). All of them expect an authentic Indian story. They already have a local, palatable version of the Indian diaspora from successful Indian American and British Indian comics, so they expect me to come up with something that they haven’t already heard of. That is kind of what I like doing, taking stories from Noida to Norway and stuff from DPS to Dublin.
Tell us a little about your initial journey as a stand-up.
I was quite young when I started, and looking for other people to collaborate with. Being a comedian is like being the only one in the room who sees the ghost, and you’re just kind of looking around to see if anybody else sees the ghost too. When you find that person, you kind of gravitate towards each other. That’s kind of how we started the comedy scene in India. In the early days, we used to do amateur nights and pretty much every senior comic in India came out of it. We had to do the ticketing, marketing and then do the headlining and ring the bell to let each other know that we were out of time. It was all DIY at that time, and it was a lot of fun. There was no context for what was good or bad comedy; we were just trying things.
Your Noida school teacher says you were interested in theatre as a child. How did the shift to comedy happen?
Ever since I was five years old, if you put me on the stage, I would be very comfortable. I did a bachelors in theatre minor from Knox college, Illinois. I had done some 25-30 plays and after that I needed an art form which was a little more organic and a little more rebellious. But the theatre training did help because it lets you be comfortable on stage.
Who are your inspirations in comedy?
Johny Lever. I think everyone should watch Johny Lever perform live, at least once in their lifetime. The others who inspire me are George Carlin and Richard Pryor.
Your 2021 monologue in Washington DC titled ‘I come from two Indias’ sparked a lot of outrage. How did you deal with it and what do you think about comedians being targeted in India?
I think you have to give us comedians the audacity to be imperfect. As for the trolls on social media, if you are going to take the freedom and traction that comes with social media to promote your art, then you have to take the flip side too. If I’ve ever been in the spotlight for any kind of reason, the first thing I’ve done is write a joke about it.
Do these things make you worry about how your audience is going to react to some jokes?
My audience is too diverse to predict what they are going to like and what they will not like. I just have to go with gut instinct, and hopefully they realize that it all comes from the same heart. The audience ranges from 18 to 60-year-olds with varying ideologies and religions. If I try and second guess myself, I will drive myself insane. I hope that they realize that this comedy is coming from a place of love.
When I walked off stage, I panicked and was asking people, ‘Please tell me I thanked everyone’-Vir Das
5:35 AM
Rishabh Suri (HINDUSTAN TIMES; November 24, 2023)
Having performed in front of big and small crowds, in India and around the world, stand-up comedian Vir Das no longer finds it tough to make people laugh. He’s “hopeful” that his jokes are now “good enough” and will crack up the audience, but “it still requires work and manoeuvring,” he says.
Das won the International Emmy for Best Comedy for his Netflix show, Vir Das: Landing, which is tied with Derry Girls (Season 3). Ask if this win and the pressure of representing India affects him and he says, “I feel the pressure to be funny. Winning this trophy might add an extra thirty seconds to the applause that my audience will give me at the end of my show. And I am always grateful, but they tell me, ‘I spent money to buy a ticket, got a baby sitter or didn’t party for a month to save up, so make me laugh’. That’s the pressure [I feel], but I’m happy to take it on.”
When his name was announced, Das confesses that he blanked out. He says, “Laughter is laughter. This category allows underdogs to punch above their weight. When they took my name onstage, I was in shock. I don’t remember anything I said. When I walked off stage, I panicked and was asking people, ‘Please tell me I thanked everyone’ (laughs).”
The crowd will clap for me for Emmy but 90 seconds later, they’re going to say, ‘Come on, make us laugh’-Vir Das
8:23 AM
Cinching an Emmy Award for his show, Vir Das on finding fodder in his life’s perils—like the American pop singer does—to create the special
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; November 23, 2023)
Several comedians would vouch for the fact that tragedy begets comedy. Soon after coming close to experiencing the death of his career, Vir Das is now celebrating a career milestone. Das, however, believes that his International Emmy Award win for his stand-up special, Landing, will not significantly change his life. “It was a good night; I met really good people who I respect and admire. It’s something I’ll remember for a long time,” he says, quick to add that within a few hours, he’ll be back to doing what he was meant to.
“I’ll be in Panchkula, Chandigarh, in 36 hours. When I stand on stage, [the crowd] will look at me and say, ‘We’re happy for you’. They’ll clap, [shower me] with love, and I’ll appreciate it. But, 90 seconds later, they’re going to say, ‘We got babysitters. We spent a damn ton of money and drove all this way to see you. Come on, make us laugh’.”
Das’s Landing could well be described as a personal anecdote, penned with the aim of giving a viewer a peek into his life, including the shame he encountered when his trajectory nosedived. “I had never put myself out there like I did with Landing. I was ready to share it with people. [I thought], if Taylor Swift gets to write about a rough night, why don’t I? I am hopeful that my narrative helps somebody else deal with their rough night.”
Among his inspirations are Johny Lever for the way he “owns the stage”, George Carlin for “saying the tough things that make people uncomfortable”, and Richard Pryor for tackling “very vulnerable situations”. But, when asked what sets him apart from his fellow comedians, Das refuses to analyze his work. “It’s none of my business. When I leave the stage, the viewer will [be assured of the fact that] I have given 600 per cent. Thereafter, the viewer can decide if that was good or bad.”
Like most evolving artistes, he struggles to watch his years-old content. “I cannot even watch stuff from two months ago. I don’t watch myself. If I can get through a whole year without having to look at myself, that will be a good year. Sometimes, when I [analyze] an old premise that I worked on, [I tell myself], look at what I did with that eight years ago, and what I can do with it today. Back then, it led to the [making of] two jokes, now it could have been 24. I didn’t know enough back then.”
He may not be able to chart a roadmap to the Emmys for aspiring comedians, but he encourages them to “write and rewrite”. “Also, they [viewers] have to know you. If you can get them to get to know you in the first 30 seconds and form a real connection, they’ll stick with you for 60 minutes. If you can’t, they’ll stick with you for 60 minutes, but might forget about you the next minute,” says Das, who is gearing up for his next stand-up special.
“MindFool is about not knowing how to adult. Most adults, I believe, are kids pretending to have their s**t together.”
There is no pressure because I represent laughter; leaders represent India-Vir Das
8:36 AM
With comedians being increasingly scrutinized, Landing star Vir Das says stand-up comics should be viewed as ambassadors for laughs, not country
Priyanka Sharma (MID-DAY; December 27, 2022)
What is home? The place where you grew up, or the one where you belong? Is it a familiar pin code, or the sense of safety that comes from familiarity? That’s what Vir Das attempts to decode with his latest special, Landing. The subject stemmed from a natural curiosity that arose after travelling extensively this year.
“I travelled to 25 countries this year. [It made me] question the notion of home, and I began to realize that home is not a place. It’s a feeling [derived from] largely other people. That’s the central idea of this special — what it means to feel at home,” begins the actor-comedian.
The Netflix special marks the comedian’s return to the stage after almost three years. He had taken a break to focus on his acting projects. But soon, the comedian in him was missing the reverberating sound of laughter in an auditorium.
“I haven’t toured in the past three years. I mainly acted. But I have built a 10-year touring career. So, when it came to [Landing], I cancelled all my projects, and took eight months to rebuild my touring career,” he says fondly.
While it’s natural to feel nervous holding the mic after a substantial gap, Das says his audiences are his support system. “I always let them be my teacher and guide. I have an intelligent, educated audience, who are interactive. So [when] I try something, they recognize that I am imperfect as an artiste. They give me the freedom to be imperfect.”
But freedom does not come easy, especially in today’s times, when jokes are taken out of context and comedians are harshly judged for their political commentary. Last year, Das’s monologue from Two Indias had received polarised responses across the country, with some detractors lodging police complaints. Does that put any pressure on him to represent the country?
“There is no pressure because I represent laughter; leaders represent India. My job is just to make people laugh. People who come to my shows work hard. They travel cities and get babysitters [so that they can attend the show]. My job is to make them smile for those 90 minutes.”
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