Stand-up comedian Rahul Subramanian defines rules he follows during his shows: ‘I don’t want to make anyone feel small’

Subramanian’s humour is drawn from his day-to-day observations, which makes him relatable to his audience. Having done a corporate job himself, his digs at 9-5 jobs are mostly hilarious. He stays away from discussing the world economy or the future of humanity as he believes these are not the things you discuss with people in the first meeting. Also, he “ensures to create an atmosphere for his audience in which they are comfortable to have a conversation with him.”

 

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But, he has a set of rules for himself, which he defined during an interaction with indianexpress.com. “Because crowd work is spontaneous, there are times when you will say things which you don’t mean. There are times when you will say things which are not correct. But if you will take 2 minutes to respond and think about it, you’d probably not say the same things, and you will be a wiser person. I try not to make fun of people’s accents. I will not make fun of how a person communicates; a slip of tongue is different, but your proficiency in a language will not be made fun of. For me, it’s important for people who have come for my show to have a great time, but I also have to ensure that the person I am talking to should have a great time. When they are comfortable they contribute more and that helps in making better jokes, and it all helps me and the show only. I don’t want to make anyone feel small,” Subramanian explained.

But, in his crowd work, there are times when his jokes do not land well. At such times, he ‘addresses’ the silence of the audience and ‘accepts’ that he has cracked a bad joke. “Comedy is about addressing the reality of that moment. When you are doing spontaneous comedy, they are chances of you cracking bad jokes,” he shared.

 

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The comedian further explained, “It happens a lot of times that a joke doesn’t land well during a live show. When you are doing crowd work, there will be times when you will not be funny in a one-hour show, but the idea is that you at least make it interesting. If the conversation is interesting then the funny will come. You should back yourself up by believe you’re funny. If you are not continuously going for jokes, only then you will allow the conversation to go ahead and only when the conversation goes ahead, it will become interesting.”

Subramanian is an MBA holder and he used to work for Mahindra & Mahindra before he entered the Indian comedy circuit. but ever since he has become a stand-up comic, competition is only growing. “There is definitely more competition now. Since there are so many comics, it is great for the industry, but as an individual, it has become tougher. When I started standup comedy, there was just one batch of stand-up comedians before me. It was a small group and we all knew each other. But the people who are coming now have a better level of humour. They are much funnier than us and you have to accept that,” the comedian said.

So, with the growing competition, does he miss his corporate job? The comedian is quick to answer in negation. He quipped, “I am so happy about not being in a corporate job, I was never cut for it. I am happy I am not there and even the companies are happy that I am not there.”

But Rahul Subramanian does have an alternative career plan in sight and that is, acting. The only problem is, nobody is approaching him. “I am not getting any offers only,” the comedian joked while adding, “If someone gives me a role, I will do it happily. But I am not passionate about it since I know I don’t have that kind of a range. I can fit into two or three kinds of roles only.”