In a podcast with Aman Dhattarwal, Tanmay Bhat was asked about the Pros & Cons of Stand-up Comedy. He explains Stand-up in this way.
Pro-Insights with @Tanmay Bhat | How Tanmay thinks?
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Tanmay’s thoughts on Stand-up Comedy
Tanmay Bhat said that he used to love performing Stand-up Comedy. He said, “Stand-up Comedy used to be everything for me but now it’s not.”
He finds that if a person understands how to write a joke funnily, it’s his superpower. Because in this tech-advancing world, everything can be automated except creativity and writing.
He says that if a person can do a task with a joke, it’s far more interesting than doing it in any other way. He explains comedy like this “If I am streaming on Youtube if I can find & crack jokes on the spot, that makes it more interesting than any other way of streaming.” He finds the ability to write a joke more important than doing Stand-up.
Tanmay Bhat wrote jokes for radio, live theatre, movies, television, corporate shows and also Youtube videos. Stand-up comedy helps you in public speaking. If you can make jokes on the spot, then people like spending time with you.
Tanmay Bhat about Zakir Khan
Tanmay loves spending time with Zakir Khan. He says that Zakir Khan is the best storyteller he knows. They catch up at least once per month. Their conversations last for one hour. Tanmay says that he finds himself refreshed after speaking with Zakir Khan. That is a superpower to have.
If you can be interesting to the people who know you for many years, that’s a superpower, you have that energy to entertain others. If you are known as a comedian, you become a lot more approachable. Generally, having soft skills is underrated. But having soft skills helps you.
Cons of being a Stand-up Comedian
If you are only a Stand-up Comedian, unless you are at the top, wealth creation is hard. Tanmay thinks like this because a lot of content is now Youtube algorithm-dependent. There was a time when a comedian if he gets 2 million views on his Youtube videos, would sell at least 800 tickets. The comedian would be able to sell all the tickets of St. Andrew’s Auditorium.
Nowadays, it’s impossible. Because a comedian is a part of a multi-video consumption of the audience. If there is “Stand-up Comedy” in the Youtube Video title, you watch the video and many Stand-up videos get recommended. So, you watch them. So, a comedian is easily forgettable.
In today’s age, jokes are everywhere from Twitter to Instagram. Memes are everywhere. Opinions and stories are rare. Skills of storytelling are rare. This is why if you see the greatest specials in recent times like Hannah Gadsby: Nanette, Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King, Dave Chappelle etc… they are storytelling geniuses.
So, being just a comic is a downside. In fact, the greatest comedians in the West like Jerry Seinfeld is not just a comic, he also made a show. If you can write, that is a superpower more than just Stand-up. Stand-up has glamour.
Tanmay’s thoughts on Spring Depression
It feels good when the audience cheers you. Tanmay says that it gets old. Tanmay has done 6000 seaters in NSC Auditorium, Mumbai with each ticket costing ₹4000. He says that you can get to this high in your career. But at the end of the day, you have to go to the Hotel room alone. This phenomenon is called Spring Depression.
Rappers and Comedians experience Spring Depression. When you are on the road, touring 40 cities, it feels good when the audience cheers you up, when the audience wants to take autographs, selfies, etc… After the show when you go to the hotel and sit on the bed, you hear the sound of spring. “It’s the loudest sound in the most silent room possible“, Tanmay says. It gets very lonely and sad.
So, this aspect of comedian life, I didn’t like. In 2009, Tanmay performed 200 shows. “It was the worst year of my life. I was exhausted completely. I didn’t want to do anything after that. 2009 was an awful year, I don’t want to go back to it.”, said Tanmay.
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