CHENNAI: I was always the cocky guy in my school gang,” says Chennai-born stand-up comedian Vivek Muralidharan, who is currently based in Hyderabad. We catch up with him ahead of his first live one-hour solo show in Chennai, organised by Chennai Comedy. During his initial days, in Hyderabad, Vivek had to pay to perform at venues. “Now it has changed; it is much better. In Chennai, you have an open mic almost every day,” he says, adding that Chennai’s comedy scene is doing very well, because of groups like Evam. “The way a show is marketed and presented to people is good — they are on top of their game. Hyderabad is still trying to figure out the one person who broke-out really well,” he shares.
Being a stand-up comedian is not easy. Vivek faced a lot of rejection for about four months. “For one particular open-mic, I came up with a set about how I dealt with my breakup while driving to the venue. And it turned out to be my big break,” he says. In retrospect, he realised that it was because he was being more honest and vulnerable on stage. “Since then, that’s how I work on my sets. Like George Carlin says, ‘Any joke always has exaggeration, but how good it is, depends on what you’re exaggerating,’” shares Vivek.
An engineer by day, and comedian by night, Vivek has mastered the art of work-work balance. With comedy shows every weekend, he says it’s all about time management. “Whenever I have a show, I leave work at 6 pm as I need at least two free hours ahead of the performance. There were times when I would be on call with my manager 15 minutes before the show,” he says.
While it has been two-and-a-half years into the comedy business, Vivek admits he is not yet ready to become a full-time comedian. “I don’t think my five fans can support me monetarily,” he grins.
At his upcoming show, Vivek will have some new comic material, and also his popular act — ‘How it was the wrong time to be a woman in the cinema of the 80s’ — commenting on the stereotypical treatment of women on screen.