‘This is EIC Outrage, where we talk about issues … and hope to not get assassinated’. That’s how comedian Sapan Verma chose to introduce one episode of his popular Outrage East India Comedy YouTube series.
India’s comedy scene is currently enjoying a moment; it’s a space of seemingly unpoliced free expression within a conservative culture and an environment of tightening media censorship. Stand-up comedy is where many of the sharpest Indian voices are commenting on social issues as they find humour in subjects as diverse as Bollywood, terrorism, Tinder, feminism, international cricket, youth suicide and Game of Thrones.
As part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, some of the brightest stars of Indian comedy, including Daniel Fernandes, Neeti Palta and Sapan Verma, are coming to Australia. In this panel discussion, the three will talk stand-up, censorship and how comedy might change the world. Hosted by Bhakthi Puvanenthiran.
Featuring
Sapan Verma
Sapan Verma is one of India’s most popular and experienced stand up comedians. He's a co-founder of The East India Comedy, India’s leading comedy collective which has more than half a million followers and 80 million views on YouTube.
Sapan is also the first Indian comedian to release a special on Amazon Prime Video, Obsessive Comedic Disorder. In 2016, he performed to a crowd of 80,000 people at the Global Citizen Festival India where he opened for Jay Z and Coldplay. Sapan has done over 800 live shows in the last five years – not just all across India, but also in New York, Paris, Tokyo, Barcelona, Dubai, Singapore and China.
Daniel Fernandes
Daniel Fernandes is one of India’s leading English stand-up comedians. He’s a regular at comedy venues across the country, and has performed internationally at comedy festivals in the Netherlands (Utrecht International Comedy Festival), Singapore (Singapore Fringe), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur International Comedy Festival) and Australia.
He headlined Comedy Zone Asia at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2016, where he also performed his solo show Daniel Fernandes – Unoffended. His TV credits include ABC TV’s Comedy Up Late and Comedy Central Asia’s Stand-Up Asia.
Daniel’s material is a mix of observational, political and dark humour with a dash of social commentary. His self-titled YouTube channel, currently at 7.5 million views, has been a huge hit with fans in India and abroad – particularly for his most controversial material. Some of his most popular videos feature stand-up on topics like student suicide, marital rape, the Charlie Hebdo attacks, capital punishment, the Syrian crisis and the US presidential elections.
When he’s not on stage, Daniel also runs a comedy production company called Microphone Entertainment, which curates and produces live comedy at clubs and comedy festivals in India.
Daniel Headlined Comedy Zone Asia at the 2016 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and is heading out on the Festival’s Roadshow post-festival in 2017.
Neeti Palta
Neeti brings to India's English language stand-up comedy scene what it sorely lacks – a female perspective. She presents her unique point of view on a variety of subjects: from the life of a woman in India and Indian idiosyncrasies to daily irritants and current affairs, all while indulging in a spot of poking fun at men.
She has a background in writing, and her first full-blown Bollywood screenplay, O Teri, was released in 2014.
Neeti won the inaugural RAW Comedy India competition, and performed as a special guest at the 2013 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Bhakthi Puvanenthiran
Bhakthi Puvanenthirani is the Entertainment Editor at the ABC. Previously the Editor of ABC Everyday and Managing Editor of Crikey, a journalist and editor at The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, she has also co-hosted ...