Shreya Priyam Roy on her comedic journey, inspirations, and using humor to spark change

In a candid conversation with CE after her show at The Comedy Theatre in Gachibowli, Shreya speaks about her comedic style, inspirations, and more.
Shreya Priyam Roy
Shreya Priyam Roy
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3 min read

HYDERABAD: When she walks onto stage and cracks that joke, you forget you are sitting in a dimly lit hall after your 9 to 5 — suddenly, you are transported to the archetypal middle class family living room, and she feels like your sister or friend busily bantering in Hinglish about everything from A to Z.

If you are having a bad day, Shreya Priyam Roy’s jokes will wipe that upside-down smile off right away and make you roll off your seat laughing. In a candid conversation with CE after her show at The Comedy Theatre in Gachibowli, Shreya speaks about her comedic style, inspirations, and more.

What are your thoughts on Hyderabad?

I love the vibe here and the audience is fun too — they are more welcoming, receptive of the jokes, and understand comedy much better. This is one of my favourite cities to perform in. And although I’m not a hardcore non-vegetarian, Hyderabadi biryani is just amazing!

How did you get into comedy?

For a long time, I actually didn’t know that comedy was a profession; there were no examples around me when I was growing up in Patna. I wanted to be a painter and well, UPSC was one of the options too.

When I was in college, I saw a few comedy videos on YouTube and thought that it was really nice that people were performing and making others laugh. There was this comedy competition in college and the prize money was `1,000. And though I didn’t win, the experience evoked an interest in me to try my hand at comedy.

After a while, Comicstaan happened — it was a great experience that helped me learn and explore a lot as a performer. Before Comicstaan, I restricted myself in both my writing and performance. But in Comicstaan, we focused on a different genre every week, and each of these genres had a different mentor who taught us something new. And here I am, on my comedy journey, but my father still tells me to attempt UPSC. I shrug it off with my jokes! (laughs)

How would you define your comedic style?

I would define my comedic style as a mix of observational and anecdotal — whatever happens in my life, I turn it into a joke.

How has your experience been as a woman in the comedy scene?

Initially, I didn’t know that there were women comedians; like I said, there were no examples in front of me. But over time, I started seeing talented women like Prashasti Singh, Urooj Ashfaq, and Shreeja Chaturvedi on stage and that’s what pushed me to get into comedy. The comedy space in India is very inclusive — no one thinks in terms of gender. We are all just comedians.

Who are your inspirations?

Apart from the Indian female comics I mentioned, I have mainly two western inspirations — Michelle Wolf and James Acaster. I’ve been following their journey since I started my comedy career and have seen how they’ve also grown into better artistes.

What is the aim of your comedy?

My aim is selfish in the sense that I want to be successful and earn a name. But at the same time, I am considerate with the jokes I make because it should not have a negative impact on society. Instead, I want to write jokes that makes society reflect on things.

For example, I wrote a piece on gold diggers and through the jokes, I tried conveying how women are labelled gold diggers while men are never labelled that way. Even if I joke about UPSC, the underlying reality is how so many people spend so much time studying, with no clue if they will make it or not! I am also writing a few jokes on self-defence and all the methods out there, be it learning taekwondo or using a pepper spray. Jokes — but the sort of ones that raise awareness among people.

These thoughts don’t just come out of the blue — when I write, that gives me an opportunity to reflect on these realities too.

If not a comedian, what would you be?

A school teacher or college professor.

What has comedy taught you about life?

Don’t take anything seriously! (laughs)

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