India's hottest stand-up comedy stars

They are brash, funny, young and are deadpanning their way to the bank. Meet the new crop of standup comedians whose ribtickling humour is becoming a staple at cafes and hangout zones across the country.

Armed with staccato wit sourced from everyday life and delivered in both English and local lingo,these entertainers are regularly dishing out comic relief at "open mike nights", a trend that seems to be picking up across metros.

"We started around three to four months ago. Now we have two comedy nights per month. If the response is good, we plan to increase the number of these nights," says Harsingh Patwal, manager, Shooters Bar and Grill restaurant here.

In a follow up to popular comics such as Vir Das and Papa CJ or Russell Peters, who have built up a loyal following in the country, cafes and other eating joints are increasingly conducting "open mike nights" usually on a monthly basis where upcoming artists including college-goers  get a chance to display their talent at comedy, poetry, music etc.

While Cafe Oz has 'Krack you up Nights' organised by Bombay Electrik Projekt, a group that advertises itself as an alternative nightlife entertainment solutions company, Lodi -The Garden Restaurant has been hosting comedy nights for quite sometime now.

"We had hosted Papa CJ in 2008, Weirdass Ham-ature nights twice last year, and we had a turnout of 150 - 300 guests during these events. In the recently held comedy rock evening on 27th May by Alien Chutney, Vir Das' comedy rock band, we had a turn out of over 200 guests" says Inderpal Singh Kochhar owner, Sewara Hospitality and Development who runs the Lodi Garden restaurant in the capital.

 Moving ahead of jaded one liners that often centred on picking on politicians, stand up comedy is found to be exploring even taboo subjects.

Young comedians are delving into local material and real-life observations to pack an original punch to jokes.

"Observational humour is popular besides the regular community based jokes. Political humour though falls flat in Delhi circles. Stereotypes make for good joke material but we are careful about being offensive to anybody," says Abish Mathew, a standup comedian.

However, established and younger comedians seem to differ on content. While sexual humour seems to find more acceptance in metros, where comedy acts are mostly in english language the approach of older generation is more wary.

So is comedy becoming obscene? "Look at comedy shows on television nowadays, even young kids in it are saying embarrassing things. Vulgarity is creeping in comedy," says Pradeep Pallavi, a particpant of "The Great Indian Laughter Challenge" a popular reality TV show.

While Pallavi disapproves of too many "double meaning" jokes, several others say they depend more and more on double meaning jokes to elicit laughter.

"Sexual humour is an easy bait and as long as the audience responds to it, such jokes will be cracked. It is all about the audience after all. Society is more open minded now," says Mathew.

Mathew says one liners such as "My wife worships me like God. Did I mention she is an atheist?" are an instant hit among the cafe audiences.

Raghav Mandava, who launched Cheese Monkey Mafia, in January 2010 to give comedians and musicians in Delhi and NCR a platform to showcase their talent has an interesting take on sexual humour.

"If it is funny, it belongs on stage. But when comedians take a holier-than-thou attitude, they don't," says Mandava.

The big daddy of them all, Papa CJ, who initially began the tradition of "open mic" nights in Delhi in 2009, also has views on the subject.

"It is perfectly okay to talk about sex after all we are a nation of 1.2 billion. But when you tell a coloured joke you have to tell it well while simultaneously also managing the hypocrisy of the audience."

Audiences also seem to be largely supportive of such jokes. Jasdeep Khurana, software engineer and a regular visitor at a cafe in Delhi says, "Of course all kinds of jokes are are okay, as long as they are a bit sensitive."

Stand up comedy is growing rapidly, but the quality of the comedians will grow only with time says Papa CJ. "When I began 8 years ago I did 250 shows in 10 months. Here, in India you don't have that kind of opportunity. But audiences are loving the live stand up form," he says.

Siraj Khan, who was a finalist in the first edition of "The Great Indian Laughter Challenge" attributes the changing comedyscape to comedy shows on television. "I have been 15 years into this profession. Before I use to earn a meagre amount of Rs500 to Rs1000 per show but since the advent of laughter challenge six years ago it has all changed. Now the income is much high."