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Funny Business - In Conversation with Comedian Radhika Vaz
Hello and happy Friday, everyone. Looks like my Friday is going to be starting out. On a lighter note, because I have here with me, Radhika Vass, who undeniably is one of the funniest people in the country today. And I can't tell you how excited I am to be having a conversation with her on Swell about her shows, her comedy roots and the challenges of her creative life
radhika vaz
@RadVazComedy · 2:44
Hello. Hi, everyone. I guess whoever's listening, this is Radhika. And, you know, I think a lot of comedians or people in in the entertainment industry in general, it's a double edged sword. So you want the attention because how else you're going to make a living? But at the same time, for many of us, that attention is kind of anxiety inducing
Thank you so much for that, Radhika. So my next question is this. As a bold, angry woman who takes to the stage to make people laugh, your pointed barbs and jokes, I'm sure must have made you some fast friends and some even faster enemies. And you might have been at the receiving end of a lot of outreach. So how have you been dealing with this
radhika vaz
@RadVazComedy · 3:04
These are jokes. You don't have to listen to them. But if you're listening to them, you're watching them, you're reading them, and then you're upset about them. And you take the trouble out of your day to come at me on social media, which is the only place you can reach me. I would say you're not the smartest person. Like, you're not the sharpest tool in the shed. And it's okay
So radical. The comedy arena in India has always been a volatile zone. And my next question is about the precarious situation that comedians find themselves in today and in the context of some very recent incidents that have taken inspired in the country. How safe is it for comedians to have strong opinions
radhika vaz
@RadVazComedy · 2:35
Well, I don't think it's just comedians who are in any sort of grave danger, comparatively speaking. I mean, there are far more dangerous jobs, and journalists have been facing some of the issues for the longest time. So freedom of speech does not have a good reputation in India. We don't really believe in actual freedom of speech, even within the most Liberal families
Thank you for that. I remember actor comedian Sarah Silverman somewhere saying that it is, so to speak, healthy for a comedian to be offensive and travel the edge of racism, sexism, etc. She says that by doing this, is she's actually working through things that we all have in us, whether we admit to it or not. Do you agree with her? I would love to have your take on this
radhika vaz
@RadVazComedy · 3:18
I don't know what the line is for you, for what you're trying to do with your craft. So I think for me personally, if it makes me laugh or I'm absolutely sure I haven't heard it expressed that way, even if it doesn't make me laugh. So if it makes me laugh, then it's fine. I'm talking about my own comedy. So it's something I want to put out there, and I think it's risky
I think this interaction would be incomplete if I weren't to ask you about Shrugs and Fats, your awardwinning short Web series. Now, blending slapstick with cultural commentary is rare and obviously very difficult to pull off, especially when each episode is super short. So how do you manage to strike that? How did you manage to strike that balance? And also, here's a trick question for you. Can you tell us your personal favorite episode from the series and tell us why you love it so much
radhika vaz
@RadVazComedy · 3:59
We sort of had an idea in our head about who these characters were as individuals, and then the interactions between them just seemed to lend itself really well, to a sort of, slapsticky, physical comedy kind of routine which luckily we enjoy doing and so it all sort of came together
Thank you so much Radhika, for this fun conversation. I'm sure there would be questions coming up from the community as well. I do hope you'll be able to take on a few of them and keep this amazing conversation going. We do hope to see a lot more of you on. Swell. Thanks again and have a great day
Sreeja V
@Wordsmith · 0:14
Hi Radhika. India is seeing a lot of young comedians coming to the fore. A lot of youngsters are exploring stand up comedy. What would be your word of advice as a veteran to these youngsters
Karan Dev
@Karan.Dev · 1:18
Hey, Radhika, thank you for this amazing conversation. It's great to have you on. Swell. And I'm really enjoying listening to you. I have a question with regard to how you battle criticism. There is one aspect, which is the criticism that you you get from people outside of you. And I heard you say that people in your family especially tell you that you shouldn't be speaking your mind all the time and you disagree with them
Gaurav Chauhan
@Gaurav1106 · 0:44
Is the audience of both India and Pakistan able to relate better or the exact audience which we are trying to relate with? And the second is, who is your favorite comedian who's not from India? Thank you. It's
radhika vaz
@RadVazComedy · 0:59
See what the joke sounds like when you actually say it out loud in front of complete strangers and not your two best friends who think you're the funniest person in the world and go from there and do it like just do it. Don't wait for encouragement from anyone else of anyone else to tell you anything. It's up to you. Write the joke. Find an open mic. Perform it. Improve it. Write another joke. Move on
radhika vaz
@RadVazComedy · 1:47
But then I have to sort of just remind myself that it's part of what I signed up for. And I shouldn't expect everyone to like everything I do. It's taken a few years for me to really sort of settle into okay, throw something out there. And don't worry too much about the response. Don't be checking every negative comment. Don't feel like you have to respond to every negative. Jackass who's like, why are you saying this?
radhika vaz
@RadVazComedy · 1:33
I don't know who's going to see it and have I no idea how it's really going to come off, especially when you put something on a website. So that project really came out of a disgust with the way everybody, not just Westerners views, women who choose to cover. And even though I'm not one of those women, I am a woman. And it annoys me that there are these opinions all the time. Should be she allowed to cover her head
radhika vaz
@RadVazComedy · 1:41
Okay. This is a follow up answer to Gaurav's question. Or rather the second part of his question was, who am I trying to impact with the Sugar and Fat series about two hijabi women? I wasn't really trying to necessarily impact people, but I think it was a bit surprising to me that I lived in New York at the time and there were no comedy shows or any kind of shows really that had hijabi characters in it