In a world that never misses placing its expectations and ideals on women’s shoulders, one comedienne chose to stand up for herself — with stand-up comedy. It wasn’t easy, but over 15 years, this army kid rose through the ranks, becoming the first Indian comic to perform at the prestigious Melbourne Comedy Festival. Today, Neeti Palta is one of India’s best comics. A self-professed tomboy with a penchant for tongue-in-cheek comedy that provokes introspection, Neeti candidly speaks to CE about her performance at The Comedy Theatre, her journey, and more.
Excerpts
How was your experience performing in Hyderabad?
My father was in the army and was actually posted twice in Secunderabad, so I attended school there and have many fond memories. Performing here was absolutely wonderful! It was such a mix of audiences, you know? The city has really become a melting pot. And the food here is amazing — I like chicken kebabs but in Hyderabad, I swoop in for the galouti kebabs…yummy.
How did you get interested in comedy?
Growing up, my dad had a brilliant sense of humour, always throwing one-liners around. My older brother and I would fight a lot; since he was bigger and physically stronger, my defence became my humour. (laughs)
I worked in advertising and also wrote for Sesame Street, which we brought to India. Once, Canadian comedian Colin Mochrie and American comedian Brad Sherwood had come to India for their show. For every round of comedy, they needed volunteers and I enthusiastically kept raising my hand. They finally picked me for one round, and I was supposed to make sound effects for Brad’s actions. At one point — I don’t know what happened to me — I went all out and it was an absolute riot. Just as I was leaving the stage, Brad told me, ‘You should really try your hand at comedy; you seem to have a flair for it.’ Coincidentally, one of the attendees actually ran open mics in New Delhi, and asked me to come check the scene out. One week later, I did my first open mic. This was almost 15 years ago.
But my father saw it as a regression in my career. He initially didn’t understand stand-up comedy. See, traditionally speaking, in India, women have been laughed at rather than laughed with. So, I would hide and go for the open mics. But one time I invited them, and they loved watching me on stage. My mom now maintains a scrapbook of all my press clippings!
How has Indian comedy evolved?
In the initial years, stand-up comedy was more metropolitan, more English, at least from what I have seen. Over a period of time, comedy became more popular, and comedians from small towns started to enter the scene, popularising Hindi comedy. Their unique experiences made comedy so interesting.
When I started out, comedy was not seen as a ‘profession’. Today, you can make a living doing it, and people don’t look at you like you’re joking when you say you’re a comedian. (laughs) But it has also become commercialised and algorithm-driven. The world has happened to comedy.
What is your comic style?
Tongue-in-cheek comedy. But regardless of the topic, there’s always some sort of social messaging.
I put out a video on intolerance — though I was advised not to — because I couldn’t process what was happening to my country. As an army kid, you don’t think division, you think India. It’s good to love your roots and culture — but culture, by definition, grows by imbibing other things.
I’ve been a tomboy all my life, and my jokes have been criticised by some as ‘male-bashing’. But I had this angst, you know? Towards all the bias I had faced throughout my life as a woman. So, I took all that and put it into my comedy.
How was your experience judging Comicstaan Season 2 and 3?
It was a weird experience because I laugh instinctively. If a comic delivered a unique punchline, I would laugh loudly and clap. If you watch Comicstaan, you will hear one steady laughter, and that’s all me. (laughs) And then I remembered I was a judge and mentored the comics, which took a lot of work for me.
Do you think everyone has an innate sense of humour to be a comedian?
Everyone’s built differently — some have a wicked sense of humour, others are sarcastic, and there are those who just, well, struggle. My message to budding comedians is to own yourself, work on your comedy, and find your voice.