BENGALURU: When we tell jokes, we often poke fun at things – personal or political – that are a source of pain to us. It helps us break the tension, if only for a few moments. Stand-up comics got us through the physical isolation of the lockdown last year and hardship of the subsequent months. But this time around, comics have mixed feelings about delivering their punch lines.
Bengaluru-based artiste Punya Arora, says, “For the first time, it feels that nothing around us seems okay and things are becoming more serious day by day. The circumstances are shocking and I have given a pause to uploading content because I could not get myself to do it. I need some time to process what is happening around me.”
Kritarth Srinivasan, who also lives in the city, stopped posting comedy videos on his social media account two weeks ago. “I feel the situation is just not okay for me to post content on social media. I disengaged completely in an effort to not be funny because social media has now morphed into a helpline service with a lot of health emergency requests,” says Srinivasan.
Troubled by the cries for help on social media, Abhishek Upmanyu decided to pitch in. While he previously used his social media accounts to engage audiences by uploading videos of his shows, he now uses his reach to help people with medical needs. He posted a video with this request: “Only those people comment who require medical help, and those who have the supplies to help.”
Like everyone else who wants to do something to ease people’s pain during this tough time, comedians too are taking their time in figuring out how to do what they are good at - making people laugh, but without being insensitive . “No topic is off-limits,” says Arora, but adds a rider: “I feel there is no need to re-work on content but the content cannot be tone-deaf. In any case, the aim is to make people laugh and that should not change.”
Srinivasan too, has not completely put comedy on the backburner. “I am still doing virtual shows for corporates. But I feel it is not organic anymore,” he says. Srinivasan says that Covid-19 will be a part of our lives for some time and that comedians need to be careful about not crossing the line or underestimating the seriousness of the virus. “I feel that jokes can be around the lifestyle created by Covid-19, but not on the virus itself,” Srinivasan says.
Pavan Venugopal, an artiste from the Kannada stand-up comedy group Lolbagh, also has similar views. “Covid-19 will be around for at least a couple of years or more. I generally stick to jokes around lockdown behaviour, work from home and similar things. The second wave is very severe. When we see our close associates being infected, it is really hard for artistes also to get back to our original form. But we should ensure our creative energy is not lost,” Venugopal says.