She was first seen in a reality show for upcoming comics in India, and since then, there has been no looking back. Mumbai-born Aishwarya Mohanraj has a new comedy set that was released on August 7, and TNM caught up with her on Thursday to understand her journey since Comicstaan, her process of writing comedy and how she has been spending time during the lockdown.
Your new stand-up act released on August 7. Can you tell us a little about that?
It is a 10-minute set and the topic is basically ‘How To Win A Breakup’ — that is the title. But I think it is just clickbaity, I don't really talk about that. That's probably the first two minutes of my set, which eventually leads to just me joining a gym, trying to get a 'revenge bod,' and my whole process of joining it, going through it, probably giving up, and yeah, that's what the show is. I am very excited about it coming out.
We saw you in Comicstaan first, can you tell us about your journey since then? And how much of your comedy do you draw from personal experiences?
Okay, so I am a Bombay (Mumbai) girl through and through, born and raised. And about my comedy and how much of it is from my personal life, I'd say 90% of it. Because mostly what I talk about are my experiences. And even if I have to do an observational set, it will come from some experience that I have gone through and then probably make observations about it. It's mostly drawn from my personal experiences only.
About Comicstaan, since then, touchwood, I can't complain. I quite like how my career has turned out because I never had to go back to my corporate job. I have been lucky enough to get writing assignments, which I'm doing till date, but I get to do stand-up on a regular basis — I got to do it on a regular basis while we could — and it's nothing short of a fairy tale, now that you make me think, I am like itta sahi tha kya (was it that good?) It has been pretty good, no complaints.
Can you share with us your process and how you write your comedy?
Most of it is drawn from my personal experiences. So if there is an incident, which probably I found funny at that point, I've tried to make that into a set. So for example, the set that I released on YouTube is about my first relationship. Then there's another set about how I quit my job to do Comicstaan. Now, the set that I'm going to release is about how my mom found my pregnancy test. Honestly, all of these things are incidents which have happened in my life, which probably at that moment, you don't think it's funny, but later when you introspect, you're just like, man, this is a goldmine and nobody else is probably talking about it. And because it's such a personal experience — everyone has had a first relationship, but my thing with that person and how it evolved, even though it might seem relatable — it's still unique.
My process is just all of these things which I think about, if I decide to make it into a session, then I try it out at open mics, first I just tell the story twice. Even the story that is going to be told in this set, I just said it in the open mic twice. My whole thing about joining a gym — without any punchlines or anything, I just told the story like I would tell a friend. If I feel that the premise has any weight in it, that the audience's connecting to it, then I sit to write it, that I will add punch lines, I'll make it crisper, tighter and more ‘jokey.’ And then after trying for six months, you probably have a set.
How have you been spending the lockdown? We see your Instagram posts and videos but is there something you’ve been writing or working on?
I've been writing for a couple of things, on a professional front, the writing is keeping me occupied. And then I feel putting up videos and Instagram content is also work only. Because you think of something, then you have to try to ideate it, create it. Sometimes it's just a lot of shooting and then you think, is it worth it, do I have to make a video. But in the lockdown, because I have so much time and space now, I have obviously made complete use of it and I've just been putting out content, every day pretty much. If I don’t put a post then I put a story or a reel. It is just a constant process of creating content, which is never-ending.
I guess that is also important, to be connected to your audience through any medium possible…
Yeah, hundred per cent. My audience has also grown in this lockdown considerably. Because I am putting up that amount of content. If one day it does not work, the next day it does. And I also released my YouTube video, which did fairly well. Now, hopefully, the Amazon show does well and I get more people who follow (laughs).
Performance spaces have been shut for some four months now. How are you coping?
Look the thing is, nothing can compare to a live stand-up. Doing Zoom shows and all is a good alternative to still stay connected to stand-up and the entire thing of saying your jokes aloud to an audience. But the whole thrill of getting on stage and interacting with a live audience is something very different. Because you actually get a response. You can see it and it's not in a box on your laptop. I have been doing Zoom shows, I'm doing Zoom shows with my friends. And it's great but nothing can replace the stage. I miss this stage so much sometimes, especially after doing a Zoom show where you’re just thinking, what has happened to life - where I am sitting on a pillow, I'm adjusting my table, adjusting lighting...ah no, I don't like it.
Is the audience reaction different when it is a virtual show versus one with a live audience? Do you have to modify your content as well?
My content, because it's very personal, I don't change it. But my audience interaction definitely changes. Earlier, I would just really talk to an audience member. Here what happens is that people are at their homes, they sit in baniyans, they’re eating, or lying down, there is no decorum. So you unintentionally also end up talking about those things, like ‘what sir, please sit properly, I am not dancing, show little respect’ (laughs) So my whole audience interaction has definitely changed. Now I say things like ‘oh a dog is barking behind you,’ ‘please don’t talk from the bathroom,’ etc. How can you say such things on stage, you never need to, but I guess my audience interaction has definitely changed.
Every woman in comedy is asked about being a woman in comedy. (Hell, yes.) But I want to finally know is it true? Is comedy separate for men and women? Is there some comedy that only men can or only women can do or is it just all a perception?
See, the thing is, when women talk about a bra, periods, etc — these are things which are our things, if you could wear a bra then you would also joke about a bra. If you don’t wear toh how is that my fault? I have 10,000 things which I can talk about bras and periods, which is why there are 10,000 sets about it. Now if there was something very specific to men, which only men can talk about, like getting hit in the nuts or something, then well you will talk about that right, how can I do so? That is your experience. I would probably make some joke about it but I would never have insight about it. A man can also talk about it, it’s not a taboo topic for him.You can talk about it but your insight would be very male perspective. I mean, it'd be great to see a guy talk about it because I'm sure that he would get some other perspective, which we were not aware of.
What about the industry? Is there something that you have experienced about the perception that being a woman in comedy is something different?
Within the industry, I have never faced any bias. Other than like, you know, when I interact with people and they address you as a female comic. But within the industry, nobody does that. I've heard people getting introduced as the next up we have a female comic, Agrima or whoever, and you just think, Why? Why say ‘female comic’ before the name? You could have just said ‘Next up, we have XYZ’. You don't need to add the connotation, but I have never experienced it. This is something which I've heard happening, and I'm pretty sure it's been addressed. And then the person doesn't do it in the future. So yeah, it's a constant learning-unlearning thing.
Speaking of Agrima, we recently saw her facing threats and somehow that led to doxxing and threats against many other fellow comics who stood in her support. Does India really have a space for comedy-comedy? And what kind of comedy do you think people want to consume?
After this happened everything just became difficult. I think everyone's taken a step back and is thinking ‘is it even okay to put out anything’ because you don't know. Like you do a joke about bullets, about DJs, about anything and people can get back at you with whatever offends them. It's difficult to talk about anything because the troll thing is just so convoluted and so high. It's beyond us, it's a network. It's no longer individuals. People are sitting and (doing this) and this is their job, to find out who has done what. Who has tweeted what and who has said what, make archives of everything, of six-year-old tweets...this entire process is scary, the kind of information they have on us and what they can use against us. I don't know how easy it is going to be in the future, but I know for a fact that we're not going to succumb to it. We're going to try and do as much as we can, till the time they come out with a law saying we are banning stand-up comedy. Then I feel like it's no longer grey, it's just black and white.
Aishwarya’s is one of the 14 stand-up acts releasing on Amazon Prime Video on August 7. The line-up also includes Sapan Verma, Urooj Ashfaq, Nishant Tanwar, Anubhav Bassi, Rahul Dua, Nishant Suri, Shreeja Chaturvedi, Rahul Subramaniam, Sumukhi Suresh, Neeti Palta, Karthik Kumar, Sumit Saurav and Gaurav Kapoor.