HYDERABAD: Clad in a loose t-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers, Mumbai-based comedian Shreeja Chaturvedi casually walked onto the stage and drowsily said, “Hello, hello, hello…meri awaaz aisi hi hai. Please get used to it.” And boom, truckloads of laughter echoed through the hall at events hub district150 in Knowledge City as Shreeja set the mood for her Superiority Complex stand-up show.
Par for the comedy course and aligning with Shreeja’s superiority theme, the spotlight beamed on her as we, the greedy audience, threw our phones away, munched on some popcorn in the dingy hall, and well, continuously laughed our guts out for an hour.
A suave comic
Taking seemingly unrelated topics and seamlessly tying them together with her deadpan Hinglish humour, Shreeja snuck an improv or two into her set and pulled several legs along her one heck of a rollercoaster comedy ride. Who would’ve thought a quip on Hyderabadi biryani and the fish building could give way to a rant on Mumbai flyovers and rangoli? Oof, only the suave Shreeja could make us feel like we were sitting on the sofa in her living room as she mimicked her typical Indian parents and their intrusive questions about her personal life, friends and of course, the classic shaadi-waala drama. Hailing her ‘superiority’, the audience showered her with claps as she told her parents off in a comically high-handed way.
And if you think she doesn’t venture into the ‘hush-hush’ topics, Shreeja will prove you wrong. Her unabashed jokes on sexuality, pleasure, and even pregnancy ultiyaan are borderline arrogant yet manage to humbly justify themselves: What she really means is, yes, I am the best and will say so and so. So what? Arre, own your space yaar!
A happy-happy audience
And indeed, the audience was open-minded, gobbling all her jokes up. “Shreeja is so relatable and has a unique style of delivery. There’s a part of me that aspires to be a stand-up comedian so seeing women comics such as Shreeja perform inspires me,” said Neena, an attendee.
The comedian knew exactly how to tailor her set for Hyderabadis too, making the crowd grow wild as she threw in some Urdu lingo. The deliberate pauses, exaggerated whispers, and sarcastic expressions screamed pure comedic genius.
“I’ve been following Shreeja since Comicstaan. There’s a lot of thinking and observation that goes behind Shreeja’s jokes. As a guy, I really enjoy her comedy. I would say that gender does not matter in the comedy space at all,” said Saish, another attendee.
‘Cool city, great food…’
Speaking to CE, Shreeja said that she was absolutely thrilled to be in Hyderabad. “This is my third show here. A cool city, great food, and a very, very enthusiastic audience. I have no particular aim with my comedy but I like making people laugh at things they usually don’t laugh at…something right under their noses that they never saw. The whole idea behind Superiority Complex, well, it’s just that I can be arrogant on stage and yet somehow get away with the ‘I know better, don’t teach me’,” she added with a cheeky smile.
There was never a dull moment in Shreeja’s show and we could not possibly choose which joke was the best. Fresh and conversational, her innate flair for comedy seeps right into every wisecrack. Oh we laughed, laughed, and laughed…