Let’s talk about Baggy and Soapy. If you follow the stand up comedy rush going on in our city or if you stood witness to Bhargav Ramakrishnan (Baggy) picking on the audience and Sundeep Rao (Soapy) whipping arses in the air, at the Laugh Ok Please concert conducted in Phoenix Market City, recently, you’ll know who they are.
Though other stand up comedians like Kathik Kumar, Alex and Arvind SA were also a part of the show, City Express decided to talk to these two. So, after a hearty laugh that night, we caught with the duo about their life and the comedy acts they bring alive in their shows.
Turns out, the person they are on stage, is who they are in real life, only less flamboyant. “What you see on stage is Sundeep saying what he cannot in society and what you see in Sundeep is a lot like the comedian on stage. They aren’t two different individuals. I’m very much me, but unfiltered. I am who Sundeep Rao is but no so wild and exaggerated at least not when I’m sober,” chuckles Sundeep, who is the only partially blind comedian in the country.
While he is a comedian who loves bringing characters on stage using different accents, Bhargav enjoys getting his audience to interact with him on stage. “It is something I do in real life with friends. Picking on things they say that are funny,” he says. But it doesn’t always. “If they say something that ain’t funny, I turn the table and make a joke out of myself, that works well. Its easier now as I am able to identify the people who I can get something out.”
Ferreting out more about how they prepare themselves, the two gave both similar and different answers. Here’s how. Bhargav says, “When I experience something funny, I make a voice note so that my reaction is recorded, capturing the moment. Later, when I sit to write, I listen to it and I’m able to relive the moment. Otherwise it’s a hollow experience.”
Sundeep more or less has the same inspiration except that he doesn’t record or pen it down. “Sometimes, I wake up in the night with a great joke and the next morning, it’s gone. People do ask me to use a recorder but I believe if it’d meant to comeback, it will.”
To know more about their shows, keep an eye on Bhargav’s facebook page and Sundeep’s sundeeprao.com.
Baggy
He has been a theatre director and actor since college. He is also the director of 39 Steps, which got nominated for 9 Tony Awards and won two of them
Sundeep
He is the only partially blind comedian in the country. He was a content writer for an IT company before he decided to become a full-time stand-up comic
Both have different ways of relating to the audience and also preparing for their respective shows