Laugh out loud

Laugh out loud

The comedy genre has exploded over the last few years in India with the mushrooming of new comedy clubs and stand-up comedians achieving celebrity status.

However, the limelight seems to be squarely focused on the men with very few women making a mark in this space. Given this, TLC is launching Queens of Comedy (QoC) — India’s first-ever female comedy show which will kick off this Sunday. It aims to give female comedians a stage to show that when it comes to being funny, they can give the men a run for their money! The medium of the show is both Hindi and English which will allow it to reach a wider audience. It will air on weekends at 10 pm on TLC.

QoC will be judged by Rohan Joshi of AIB and celebrated stand-up comedian Kaneez Surka, and actress Richa Chadha. Varun Thakur of Struggling Actor Vicky Malhotra fame will host the show. We speak to Zulfia Waris, Business Head - Female & Family Entertainment Products, Discovery Communications and Rohan Joshi, to know more about the concept and the show.
Excerpts:

Tell us about the idea behind the show.
Zulfia: There is a strong perception that women are not inherently funny and take themselves very seriously. QoC will change the way females are perceived in the comedy circuit in India. With their insights and perspectives, women can combine humour and self-deprecating wit with hilarious results. When we started doing a little bit of research on comedy in India, we figured that there is big gap between male and female comics. Our core audience is essentially female millennials and we are very keen on getting a different point of view and voice and that’s the germ which kickstarted this entire concept. 

Given that the show is being aired on television, to what extent will the content will be censored? 
Zulfia: We will be sensitive about a few things but that doesn’t mean we won’t touch controversial issues. We generally have a guideline and we will make sure that we stick to it but also ensure that the female voices are heard without offending anybody. I do not think anyone goes out with the intention of offending anybody. A point of view should be taken with the same regard as it has been expressed and that’s about it.

There is a popular notion that women can’t make you laugh. What’s your take? 
Rohan: The whole idea about women ain’t funny comes from the stereotypes that we associate with women. We have a super patriarchal culture where society feels that women should be seen but not heard. Our history is proof that our society doesn’t value a woman’s thoughts, opinions and feelings, so this thinking that women cannot be funny is really rigid and regressive. I don’t subscribe to it. I think being funny or not funny has got nothing to do with gender. I have seen many women who make me laugh and are a lot funnier as compared to the guys. It all boils down to not respecting women. I am happy that I live in an era where women are challenging the taboos and breaking stereotypes.

Many of the TV comedy shows have men cross-dressed, cracking sexist jokes. What is your take on this?
Rohan: It is extremely sad because this country actually has a rich tradition of great comics in Hindi and other regional languages. But television comedy in Hindi (I am not saying theatre), is garbage and has always been garbage. Apart from the Great Indian Comedy Show, I can’t think of a single Indian comedy show that has made me laugh and not made me bury my face. When it came to bringing comedy to the small screens, the least talented and most hacky people on planet came to make us laugh.

What expectations do you have from the contestants? 
Rohan: When you hear a joke, you laugh at it. It doesn’t take you long to understand it — it is just so organic and that’s the approach I am taking it in. Later I will look into the intricacies of a comic’s performances and try to find out what was it about her joke that made me laugh. Just make me laugh. It is as simple as that!

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