From watching your favorite comedian live to watch them on a small screen while sprawled in your living room, the comedy industry has witnessed quite the change. In cities like Mumbai and Delhi, there would be a stand-up show almost every day. Young, budding comedians would perform their sets on open mics and take the audience by surprise but everything has come to an intermission with the lockdown restrictions of the government for the COVID 19 pandemic. While most sectors are slowly picking up pace, stand-up comedy shows still seem very farfetched. Most comedians have taken to the digital space and are finding means to connect with their audience, the vivacity, and magic of stand up, seem missing.

“We went from doing multiple shows in a week to not knowing when we will get a chance to get back on the stage. Earlier comedians used social media as an added means to connect with their audience but with shows canceled, it is more of a necessity” said entrepreneur cum comedian Adnan Nalwala.

“The content we create is for the audience, we thrive on their response but with most of the interaction happening online, the format of the video calling websites and rules of that platform needs to be considered too. But I would suggest don’t restrict your content to just that. Don’t just write because you need something to perform, write more content that feels good to you.”

Adnan Nalwala who is himself a successful businessman believes that even though being a comedian is a full-time commitment, comedians must also look at generating income through other avenues as well. Maybe spend some time on understanding the stock market and also look at conducting corporate training programs. “Many comedians were hit when their shows were canceled, there was a lot of uncertainty and still persists. Most comedians are good writers and they can use the ability to work for Ad agencies maybe even consider copywriting and some publication houses that need a funny perspective on things” he said.

Adnan believes in looking at this as a small hiatus from performing live and using this to connect to oneself. “Most of us were so busy that we had very little time to do anything else and very busy performing at different venues. Use this time to work on yourself. Invest in yourself.  Spend time exercising and healing your body. Jogging improves your memory and most comedians need it when they are performing for over 30 minutes on stage. Rejuvenate your mind by reading and absorbing information that would help you in the long run. Pick up a hobby, I started playing the maracas and it has helped me with a fun set too.  Look at this as a little interval and if you make good use of this time, the second half is going to look a lot better” said Adnan.

About the author- Adnan Nalwala