Stand-up comedian Karunesh Talwar feels the hardest part of comedy doesn’t happen under the spotlight. It happens long before that, in the quiet after the applause has faded and the last special is already online, when he’s left staring at a blank page and wondering, “Okay, now what?” With his India tour around the corner, he sits down with Bangalore Times for a candid chat about the self-doubt of writing a new show, the backlash comedians learn to live with, and why the comedy circuit should care a little more about the craft and a little less about the fame. Excerpts:‘I just go with what I find funny’You’d think Karunesh spends a lot of time guessing what the audience wants to hear. He doesn’t. His writing process starts with one simple question: does he find it funny? “I don’t think about whether a particular set will connect with my audience. I feel like that’s a backward way of coming up with material. If I find it funny, then I’ll say it. That’s literally the only thing,” he says. Predicting a crowd is a losing game. “Nobody is smart enough to know what people in general want. So I just go with what I like. After that, I have to hope there are enough people like me who will find it funny as well,” he adds.‘You feel you’re at your absolute lowest when you write a new show’The freedom on stage comes after a long stretch of doubt. Older sets are a click away, audiences walk in with fresh expectations, and a new show can feel like starting from scratch. “Writing a new show is when you feel you’re at your absolute lowest as a comic. It takes a year to come up with a show, and when you have a strong show, you feel really confident. But when you’ve uploaded your material on YouTube, and you’re back to zero, you feel like you’re out of ideas,” he explains.
There are times when comedians get called out unfairly. But it’s not as if every time a comedian gets called out, it’s unjustified
Karunesh Talwar
‘Indian stand-up comedy need to show its real art form’Karunesh entered comedy when it was still seen as a hobby. He has watched it grow into a career people take seriously, with more people buying tickets. A viral moment helps everyone, he says: “Anytime any comedian goes viral, it’s beneficial to all comedians.”But more eyeballs haven’t meant better comedy. “There’s so much of a focus on trying to become famous, and not on trying to become better. I kind of feel like it reflects poorly on all of us,” he says, adding that the mainstream image of Indian stand-up doesn’t always show the art form at its best.He doesn’t put the blame only on the industry or the audience. “If we want to keep the standard of the circuit high, then we need to work harder and put out more content as well,” he says, owning up to the fact that he could do more himself.‘Not every time a comedian gets called out is it unjustified’Today, comedians are often judged on a single clip or line taken out of context. Karunesh agrees that backlash can sometimes cross into an attack on free speech, but he’s clear that criticism can also be fair. “When people get called out for saying things that denigrate marginalised communities, when people make horribly misogynistic statements or jokes about victims of sexual violence, I’m not with the comedian. I’m with the person criticising them,” he says. For him, it’s not as simple as comedians versus critics. “There are times when comedians get called out unfairly. But it’s not as if every time a comedian gets called out, it’s unjustified,” Karunesh adds.The fear of backlash shapes his own choices, too. “I have a lot of stuff to say politically, but I don’t say it. I refrain from expressing my political opinions because I’m scared of the backlash. The fact that I’m scared to say anything tells you what side I’m on. If you’re speaking truth to power and you’re taking that risk, then people are going to listen. And you want that attention for sure.”
