Sapan Verma discusses how he gave shape to One Mic Stand, which has been nominated in the Best Comedy (Non-Fiction) in the upcoming mid-day and Radio City Hitlist Web Awards
Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; February 16, 2020)

How do you rope in five celebrities from different walks of life and convince them to give a go at stand-up comedy uninhibitedly? It's easier said than done, believes Sapan Verma, who spent four years on his brainchild, One Mic Stand, graduated from the storyboard to an Amazon Prime Video offering. "I don't think the comedy scene was evolved enough to pull off a show like One Mic Stand. We didn't have [lavish] budgets on the Internet, [until a few years ago]," he explains.

With Shashi Tharoor, Taapsee Pannu, Richa Chadha, Bhuvan Bam and Vishal Dadlani as part of the line-up, the stand-up comic pulled off a casting coup with the maiden edition. Mention that Tharoor was a revelation on the show, and Verma says the politician's willingness to try his hand at comedy took him by surprise. "While I had known [the other participants] from before, I had never met Shashi Tharoor. I simply went to his website and dropped an email regarding the show. An hour later, his manager responded saying that Dr Tharoor watches my videos and wanted to know more about the idea," recounts Verma incredulously. What followed was a two-month chase to lock Tharoor's dates. "I kept on calling Tharoor's office landline number until he answered. The first time he got on a call with me, I froze. Once he heard the pitch, he asked me when the shoot was scheduled and when it would air," he says, adding that the MP—known to have a way with words—was the fastest learner of the lot.

Bringing celebrity guests also had its share of pitfalls. "One actress who agreed to do the show. So, I went to her house with a female comic [who would mentor her] and discussed possible topics for her set. But she had to back out when she bagged a big film," laughs Verma.

One Mic Stand has been a learning experience for the creator-host. "I was involved in everything—from figuring the title of the show, to the [background] music, to [overseeing] the edit."

More About One Mic Stand
- Verma was keen to rope in Shah Rukh Khan
- Dadlani said he was comfortable performing for a crowd of 20,000, but a setting of 50 makes him nervous

- Cast Your Vote For The Hitlist Web Awards
- One Mic Stand (Sapan Verma, Amazon Prime) has been nominated in the Best Comedy (Non-fiction) category.

The other nominees are:
- Going Downhill (Stand-up special: Neville Shah; Amazon Prime)
- Sushi (Stand-up special: Biswa Kalyan Rath; Amazon Prime)
- Jestination Unknown (Vir Das; Amazon Prime)
- Comicstaan 2 (OML Entertainment; Amazon Prime)

There are 14 categories that the public can vote for. Log on to www.hitlistwebawards.com to cast your vote.

You can also vote via SMS. Send HITLIST <space> category name <space> your choice (a/b/c/d as on the website) to 57575.

Voting lines close on March 8

Richa Chadha mentored by comics Ashish Shakya, Sapan Verma for her gig on One Mic Stand
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; November 6, 2019)

Given her sharp comic timing in Fukrey (2013), it's a pity Richa Chadha hasn't got the opportunity to display her funny streak more often in films. Keen to explore her favourite genre, the actor signed up for the upcoming stand-up special, One Mic Stand, that sees celebrities take the stage and present their sketch to a live audience.

Chadha reveals that while she knew her style of comedy leaned towards satire and dry humour, she turned to comics Sapan Verma and Ashish Shakya to help her hone her craft. "I have dabbled in stand-up before, but taking this on was a challenge. Sapan and Ashish have distinct styles and I imbibed their individual style [for my act]. They pushed me to do better at each step," says Chadha, who spent a week with the duo polishing her material.

As an artiste, she is no stranger to expressing herself in public, but Chadha adds that tickling the audience's funny bone can be exciting as well as daunting. "Humour, for me, is a fairly natural way of expressing myself. [But here] I struggled with how much I should reveal of myself, because people think of me as a serious person. So it was an experiment. But then, I owe my career to experimentation."


Sapan Verma and Ashish Shakya