Hyderabad has always made people feel at home, and for stand-up comedian Pranav Sharma, the city is no different. After wrapping up his sold-out show PS I Love You in the city, the young comic sat down for a candid conversation with CE about comedy, creative blocks, social trolls, and more.
Pranav has a quiet charm about him that makes it easy to see why audiences connect with him. He speaks about Hyderabad with genuine warmth, saying, “I feel Hyderabad is a good city because people here are lazy, and they give a homely feel. (laughs) I like this city because it is one of the first places where I got a very good response from the beginning. That is why Hyderabad gives me a cosy, warm feeling, and the people here are very welcoming.”
The show itself, titled PS I Love You, carries a deeply personal story behind its name. Pranav explained the emotion that went into choosing it, sharing, “The girlfriend I talk about in this show used to call me ‘PS’. My mother also calls my father ‘HS’, and that was a pure coincidence. When she started calling me ‘PS’, I got very emotional at that point. That is why I gave this show to her and kept the name PS I Love You.”
His journey into comedy was not overnight. “It was after 11th class that I saw stand-up for the first time, and the moment I watched it, I felt I had to do it. Back then, it was not a big thing, so I completed my education. Then COVID happened, and as soon as it ended, I started doing comedy in November 2020 and have continued ever since,” Pranav recalled that moment clearly.
Pranav’s first open mic was, by his own admission, a disaster, and things went sideways quickly. “It was an open mic, a mix of comedy and poetry. The poets were sitting in front, while the audience was sitting behind. I hit the first joke and the second joke, but during the third joke, a guy started crying. I got a little nervous and thought about what I had said that made him cry. (laughs) It felt funny to me, but the poet took it in an odd tangent. My first experience was not very good, but I still wanted to continue because I like going on stage,” he shares.
One of the most relatable parts of talking to Pranav is how openly he discusses the emotional weight of performing. He is deeply invested in every single show and does not hide it. He highlights, “There are a lot of creative blocks, and as a comedian, I want to get out of them as soon as possible because they come and go. Thoughts become stagnant, and there is always the fear of breaking them. Not all shows are equal because some are great, some are fine, and some are average. Audience mood and timing matter. I stay mentally stable by analysing and growing as an artist instead of doubting myself.”
On the subject of social media negativity, he keeps it refreshingly direct. “By not looking at it. I don’t read it because it is unavoidable. Some people won’t like what I am making, and I accept genuine criticism with an open heart. But when I feel it is coming from hatred, I don’t look at it. Even if I read it, I undo the memory in my mind,” he says.
As Pranav continues travelling city to city, making strangers laugh about heartbreaks, awkwardness and everyday chaos, the road ahead is only getting longer. With plans to take his show to Sydney and Melbourne next, the comedian is also working on sitcom-style content and hopes to turn those ideas into a mini web series soon.