With the stand-up business rapidly growing in India, women are also taking the stage by storm. Women stand-ups have not only carved a niche for themselves, but are also throwing in more nuanced performances.
Comedy is serious business for women, who have broken the glass ceiling and made themselves heard, feels actor, writer, director and stand-up comic Sumukhi Suresh, who started her career in 2015. “I have found a niche and I work towards increasing a general interest in my following. I am always thinking about what to do next and 24 hours is just not enough,” she says.
What began as improvisational shows for Sumukhi took an unexpected turn when she decided to take her friend’s advice seriously and give stand-up comedy a shot. “My first public appearance was in a corporate show in Chennai. It lasted 40 minutes and from then, there was no looking back,” she recollects.
Sumukhi says that things have begun looking up for women in this profession, “I love performing for an all-women audience because they are more accepting,” adds Sumukhi. Churning out fresh content on a daily basis is not easy, she concedes. “The moments of struggle are a part and parcel of the profession. It’s not easy, but I love tackling challenges head on,” she adds.
Speaking her mind
With more than a lakh following on Instagram, Shraddha Jain’s (@aiyyoshraddha), one-minute videos gained enormous popularity during the pandemic year. She says that she began doing stand-up even before she knew the term existed, “I have memories of friends, cousins and relatives huddled around me and cracking up at school and family events,” says Shraddha.
Reinvention is imperative to stay afloat, says Shraddha, “The biggest challenge for any performer is to write and compose great content. You get that right and you are unstoppable, regardless of gender,” feels Shraddha. She says that she has been fortunate to be able to speak her mind and come up with something new every time she hits the stage.
Comedian Sumaira Shaikh got so hooked to stand-up comedy in her college days that she almost took a year off her studies to pursue a career and explore the stand-up scene. “I was nervous for my first open-mic. Before the performance, Sumukhi Suresh was present for the show, and she was the first comic to tell me “Hey you were very funny”. That set the tone for me. Things have now changed and there are more female comics present in a green room than before,” feels Sumaira. She enjoys performing at open-mic events because that’s where stand-ups experiment with new material.