That it is currently the only club in Delhi-NCR dedicated to comedy with purpose built acoustics is reason enough for us to write about People & Co. A restaurant so clear in its purpose is a rare thing to come by in the prevailing environment of cloned concepts with no originality. Nevertheless, it makes up for all that was missing till now.
They host the Canvas Laugh Club, a space that allows for performances such as musical concerts, fashion shows, theatre and of course, stand-up comedy. “I genuinely believe that the Indian stand-up comedy scene is becoming a global attraction. The opening of People & Co was the tipping point for this industry,” says Amar Agrawal, the MD.
The primary impetus to introduce a concept restaurant such as this was his love for the arts. While he was studying at the University of Southern California in the US, he visited India only to be baffled by the billion people who lived here, and the handful forms of entertainment that existed. That’s how he got a sense of purpose, and Canvas Laugh Club was introduced in Mumbai in 2010. Agrawal has now brought it to Delhi.
The calendar for the month is full with candid conversation and laughter. On May 7, Anu Menon performs with Maheep Singh, and Vinay Sharma will be performing. Next week, you have the very witty Nishant Suri, who confesses of his life being terribly depressing but still manages to make people around him laugh. He will be accompanied by Raghav Mandava and Siddharth Dudeja.
This was the good part. The other side was that Agrawal couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that customers were simply not psychologically prepared to pay a fair price for live entertainment.
“We started with a ticket prices of Rs 500. After a year, when we attempted to increase it to Rs 750, our occupancy crashed from about 75 per cent to 20 per cent. This forced us to roll back the ticket prices,” he says. “Things are showing signs of improvement again,” he says.
People & Co is here to satiate your hunger for entertainment, but also hunger. The best offering from this all-day wine and coffee bar is Kendall Jackson Pinot Noir and Two Oceans Pinotage. They go well with Crispy Prawns and Lamb Shanks, we’re told. Nespresso coffees are a hot seller with Volluto and Roma being popular flavours.
The stage is also open to impromptu jazz sets with mature and amateur musicians. Their open mic nights have been a hit too. Choose a gig, book a table and wish yourself an entertaining experience.