Jaspreet Singh, aged 29, a stand-up comedian raised in Amritsar and later shifted to Delhi for a job, earlier in 2011. He worked in various multi-national companies for 7 long years before quitting and pursuing full-time stand-up comedy. Jaspreet has performed over 500 shows across 40 cities in 6 countries. Toured his first solo show for over a year and a half, working on the second show and touring soon. Since childhood, he was interested in comedy, stand-up happened to him much later in life. He believes, "Stand-up comedy is the most real and natural form of comedy, controversial, personal, one-man game and living this art is like a drug now."
BV: Do you write your own routines?
Jaspreet: Yes. Ideally, all stand-up comics write their own routines because standup is more of a personal art form- it has your voice, your stories, your style, your mannerisms, your quirks, and nobody can write that for you. It is not just a joke sometimes but something which is a personal story of yours and has an emotional connect. I personally can tell something with much more conviction and fun that I have experienced rather than something I have just heard. Globally, stand-up acts write their own material. I don't know if there are comics who have hired writers for that, but even if they do, they are never gonna admit that :) This is not TV where you need just jokes that any writer can write, this is live art form where you are the one-man game and people are watching you from a few feet away, so it has to be real and personal.
BV: Where do you get your material? What process do you use to develop your stand-up comedy material?
Jaspreet: Unfortunately am not a very good writer. I don't write daily. I don't have a fixed time or place to write. I just note down any idea that I have in my phone messages and take a screenshot. When I reach home, I see what I can do with it. But yes, mostly out of 20 screenshots, I am able to develop 2 or 3. Some things just seem funny when they happen but not when you tell them to others. I prefer writing late at night, mostly paper pen. Though some of my favorite lines that I have written just came to me randomly in the middle of something, like while driving, or while sleeping or while bathing. So the point is to instantly park on the side or wake up and take your phone, write a text and take a screenshot, otherwise, you will never remember. I try to dig deeper into the things I personally dislike or the ones that have an immediate effect on me.
BV: What happens if they don't laugh?
Jaspreet: Embarrassment, obviously :D You are just looking for a place to hide. It hurts even more when the joke has an elaborate act out and you are putting all your energy into it and you don't get a laugh. That's an embarrassing and fun zone to be in. Mostly comedians also laugh out when this happens, obviously not in the initial stage but once you are used to getting on stage frequently. You have to take that and move on to the next thing you brought. This is going to happen till the time you are getting up on stage.
BV: What's involved with getting stage time at an open mic?
Jaspreet: Initially when you start out, you have to find out which rooms, clubs, organizers, producers do open mic comedy gigs and reach out to them. The first spot sometimes takes a couple of months because no one knows you. A very basic problem is that newcomers always want to have entire theoretical knowledge of the circuit before even jumping into it. I guess I was also the same. Ideally what should be done is go to a couple of open mics, see how it practically functions, try getting in touch with organizers or other comedians, ask them how to get on stage, whom and how to reach out and that's it. Sometimes it might take time as few cities have limited rooms and much more comics, but that's the way to go. You can't just quit if you are not getting enough stage time.
BV: Challenges you have faced so far being a comic? How do you overcome them?
Jaspreet: Challenges of being a comic are mostly the same, there is no inspirational story of overcoming difficulties here :) You struggle to get on stage, you struggle to write and then you struggle to write better. You try getting a giggle, then you get used to it and want a laugh, then you get used to it and you want applause. When you get used to applause, suddenly people don't laugh. You want a tight 5 minutes, then 15 minutes, once you reach 30 you think you have made it but you really have not. Mostly the first 30 minutes of your career is really really bad but ours is a fairly new circuit so we are still figuring out. Any art form gives you nightmares because its a very public affair, each good or bad gig you have impacted you. Every night you perform badly is a really long night. Sometimes you get hecklers and you have no comeback, then you spend the entire night thinking of good comebacks that one day you will get a similar heckle :) Sometimes you have a comeback but that makes you look like an idiot or a bad human being and you can't sleep after that. The process itself is very funny.
BV: Have you ever just blanked on stage? Did you walk off, or just improvise something?
Jaspreet: Yes I did. Not because of material but I was booed off the stage. I was the opening act for a show in Chandigarh where there was a family of 12-14 people heckling me. I gave them a few comebacks, one of them was actually good but that hurt them. Then they starting defending each other as it was one big family. I should have stopped indulging as in a room of like 30 people, you cant do crowd work with a group of 14, that too a family. Though they were wrong. Then suddenly some other audience member asked me to get off stage and that they dint want to hear me. I walked off and did not even announce the main act. It was quite funny in retrospect but at that time I was really angry/embarrassed. Though that person said sorry to me voluntarily after the show honestly that was useless.
BV: Do you get a lot of hecklers during your stand up performance? How do you fend them off?
Jaspreet: In my ticketed solo shows, there are very few. Some people just say a one-off thing or a hoot which can just be countered by saying something very vague or just acknowledging it. Because the whole room is there to see you and obviously on your side, Its much more fun when you are new and in some random club in front of random people there for a drink. Then things sometimes get messy depending on the city you are in. I once started off the stand up open mic night and someone got offended at the first line I said as it was topical and political. They were drunk, and a group of 4 and in the mood to fight, so you cant fend them off and spoil the whole night. Other nights, you have comebacks. The more often you get on stage, the better you are doing on stage, the better comeback you have because you are in a positive state of mind and thinking very quickly. Sometimes just the spontaneity works. Even if it's an okayish comeback, people applaud as they are aware you thought of it just now.
BV: Would you like to share your Future plans?
Jaspreet: Right now I have started touring my second standup solo "Koi Load Nahi". Getting great responses and have already done 6-7 cities. Planning to take it to all major Indian cities plus abroad. Currently planning for UK and Australia. A slightly long term plan is to get into global comedy. The aim is to be better in writing and better on stage. Standup gives you a lot of other avenues like ads, podcasts, web series, etc and right now I just having fun with it and will see where it takes me.
