KOCHI: Standup comedian Rupen Paul says parents in India love you unconditionally only when you listen to them without asking any questions. “If you are extremely obedient and without any opinion, they are so proud of you,” says Rupen, who will be holding a comedy show, jointly with friends and fellow-comedians Kritharth Sreenivasan and Ajay Samson in Kochi on Saturday.
“It all started when I decided to become a standup comedian. I realised there were so many jokes I could make from conversations at home and my parents’ expectations of me. I think it was relatable with everyone,” he said.
Rupen kept making improvisations and teamed up with Kritharthi and Samson. Soon, they decided to focus on jokes on how Indian kids stay too long at home with their parents. “I think we do that, because it benefits both parties mutually. For the youth, staying at home is a means of saving up on rent. For the parents, it is their hope that children will take care of them in their old age,” said Rupen.
The show titled, ‘Stay Rent Free, Stay Foolish’ is a dig at the Indian system, especially prevalent in middle-class families who live with two different dreams -- one of the child’s and the other of the parents.
When the trio performed this show in Bangalore, it was met with a thunderous applause. “The kids brought their parents along with them. And as we were making jokes, the children kept glancing at their parents as if to say, ‘See you tell this to me, all the time too!’. It was fun. Parents will love this humour too,” he said.
Rupen, Kritharthi and Samson are all youngsters, born and brought up in Chennai and Bangalore. “Apart from comedy which brought us together, it was our mutual upbringing that made us decide on this theme,” he said.All three will spend thirty minutes each sharing jokes from their own personal experiences. “The dialogues could be as simple as ‘go get your vegetables’ or ‘it’s 6 am already, wake up’ or ‘where is your marks card’, but they are all a common experience,” said the comedians, who are all engineers.
Rupen says, almost every standup comedian has made a dig at parents at one point of their career, but it is probably, the first time, a full show is being dedicated to them.
The show will be held at Chai Cofi at 7.30 pm.