"At 21, when you are paid Rs 2,000 for a 10-minute performance, you start calculating how much would you be able to earn if you were to do it for 30 minutes, 60 minutes or 120 minutes. And that is exactly what I did,” shares Saket-resident and one of the most successful stand-up comedians, Appurv Gupta.
Born to an engineer father and a homemaker mother, Gupta completed his schooling from a government school and later did his engineering from Noida’s JP Institute of Technology, although he wasn’t much interested in it.
“In the first year itself, I had realised that engineering is not my cup of tea,” he says, “but I completed my studies as my parents wanted me to.” But in the first year itself, Gupta had started looking for alternative professions.
“Even as I was contemplating on what to do in life, my brother told me about an organization, Toastmasters International. A non-profit public speaking organisation, it offers platform wherein people from all age groups come together and support one another. They teach as well as they learn,” he says.
Since Gupta had no experience of public speaking, this clicked with him, and he became a member.
“I started performing at the Toastmasters Club. Over the next three years, I gave a number of performances. Some people told me I was funny, which encouraged me. I tried my hand at humorous speeches. Then someone told me that I should try my hand at stand-up comedy,” Gupta shares, adding that stand-up is the toughest form of public speaking.
“The advantage at Toastmasters was that even if you perform badly, the audience is supportive and helpful. They motivate you. But in stand-up comedy shows, people come to watch you after paying money, they judge you and give feedback which can be positive of downright negative,” he says.
Around 2011-12, Gupta started exploring places where he could perform. “There were only a limited few. Then one day, a friend told me at around 6.30pm about a place called Jukebox in Nehru Place where I could see stand-up and even do an open mic.
I went there and even though I could not perform good, it opened doors for me. I got to know of places where I could perform,” says the stand-up comedian who has performed over a thousand shows all over India and abroad. He then got to know about an open mic happening at Shooters Bar, South Extension on Sunday. “It was a competition, I performed and won the second prize, which boosted my confidence, and I knew this is the profession I want to be in,” says Gupta, adding, “laughter and applause from audience is quite addictive.”
Talking about the stand up comedy scenario in the country, he says, “Competition has increased over the last few years. Many enter the field for its glamour and money, without realising that there is a lot of hard work involved,” he says.
Central Club opens in Delhi
Gupta has taken his passion for comedy up by a notch by becoming an entrepreneur and giving back to the field that gave him everything. He opened Central Club at Akshara Theatre for artistes to perform. Open mics happen here every day but full-fledged shows are on weekends or holidays.