Having completed his Mechanical Engineering from IIT-Delhi, stand-up comedian Amit Tandon initially worked in the corporate sector and later set up his own HR consulting firm (Empyrean Partners) in Delhi. And then, he gave it all up to pursue his passion, comedy. “I started standup comedy as a hobby my first open mic was at M Block market, Greater Kailash (in 2010), where I got some ‘pity laughs’. But I also made some good friends who kept encouraging me,” he says, adding, “Being on stage is a magical experience. The fact that I can share my opinion and make at least some people laugh is quite empowering.” After four years of doing stand-up, the highly ambitious Tandon forayed into TV (in 2014) with CEO’s Got Talent on CNBC TV18. He didn’t win the title, but got noticed. In 2019, he launched a Netflix comedy special, Family Tandoncies, which earned rave reviews.
In April, when the second wave hit, Tandon began 30-minute free online sessions for thousands of quarantined people to “lift their spirits”. Primed with clean humour and no double entendre, Tandon’s stand-up acts are loved by the masses. “Comedy is 80 per cent reality, and 20 per cent exaggeration. Most of the things I talk about are my reallife experiences. I usually run my script with a few of my friends before a show to ensure I don’t hurt someone’s sensibilities in public.” Tandon’s latest project, a podcast on Spotify, Andar Ki Baat, sees him bring to the fore common people from different walks of life.
Excerpts:
Tell us more about Andar Ki Baat.
It talks about trade secrets of different professions. How we perceive a profession is very different from what it actually entails. Only insiders know and can explain certain trade secrets and fun facts around each profession. For example, a doctor who is a radiologist gets questioned on various diseases from pregnancy to cancer from everyone in the family; so, how does he handle this?
It’s a 26-episode series, with one release per week; six episodes have been released so far. We have done an episode with a cabin crew member of an airline wherein she tells us what people do to get free liquor bottles, how some get drunk and how the crew handles them; how celebrities behave when they board a plane, etc. In another episode, a gym fitness instructor talks about the weird proposals he gets, thanks to his fit body. Here, I am interviewing only common people, no celebrities.
Your take on rampant use of cuss words in comedy.
I don’t see a problem in using cuss words, and there is an audience for it. But, there is a way to use these words. A cuss word can be a part of a larger story, not the whole story. In the beginning, I also used these words, because that’s how I talk with my friends. But when I started performing for bigger numbers which included elderly and children I somehow couldn’t utter a cuss word. My joint-family upbringing came in the way, and I had to change my script impromptu, which is not an easy thing. So, I decided to not use these words at all to remain stressfree on stage. Over a period of time, I realised clean comedy connects with a lot more people.
A comedian who inspires you the most.
Johnny Lever is most inspiring; the way he has evolved over the years is amazing. I love watching shows of Bassi, Zakir, Biswa Kalyan Rath, Anirban Das Gupta, and Gaurav Kapoor and Gaurav Gupta — the two colloquial Delhi comedians.
What other projects are you involved in?
There are a couple web-series in the pipeline. One of which I have written with ex-AIB Gursimran Khamba, is likely to be telecast later this month or in August on SonyLiv. I am also writing a movie script.