A Guide to India's amazing Comedy Scene

A few decades ago, Indian comedy was known for slapstick theatrics and Bollywood cameos – and that's when it wasn't left to Westerners charging the moon for bits on snakecharmers and yoga. This all started to change when Canadian stand-up Russell Peters, whose father was from Bombay, exploded onto the global comedy scene. With a kind of observational comedy about communities people knew and were part of, Peters' success paved the way for a population of 1.2 billion to discover what tickled them the most – the opportunity to laugh at themselves.

Drunken wit met open mics at artsy cafes and today dedicated spaces like The Canvas Laugh Club (Mumbai) and That Comedy Club (Bangalore) stand testament to the popularity of stand-up. Then, the dawn of the internet paved the way for a new era of homegrown and innovative talent. In many parts of the world YouTube accentuated already-burgeoning comedy scenes; in India, it birthed a new era of performance art.

This new breed of comics, unafraid to break the rules and willing to brave censorship and controversy now take the stage – proud to be part of an increasingly collaborative circuit, and well aware they’re creating history.

All India Bakchod (Rohan Joshi, Ashish Shakya, Gursimran Khamba and Tanmay Bhat)

Pioneers on the Indian circuit, All India Bakchod best translates as 'senseless fucks'. The quartet have fast gained a reputation for experimenting with new formats, burning their fingers organising the country’s first roast. The widely-publicised, nationally-televised event saw most of Bollywood in shocked attendance after the roast's sarcasm was lost on many.

Afterwards the government even issued a ban on its offensive content. This naturally guaranteed its wildfire success. Their online content tends to include scandals in the current news cycle and the hit web-series The Better Life Foundation, an exercise in cinéma vérité.

Them Boxer Shorts (Naveen Richard, Mani Prasad, Aravind Anil Kumar, and Rahul Hota)

Also settling into the genre of comedic bromance is Them Boxer Shorts, an all-male collective which aptly hails from, um, down south. While taking the piss out of each other is their area of expertise, they are also the creators of the unnuanced Indians Vs White People – Ordering Pizza and Everybody Loves a Stereotype.

The reference to drawers in their name is a clue that subtlty isn't their comedic style.

Anuvab Pal

In contrast, veteran comic Anuvab Pal keeps it classy, going by the motto: 'In India, reality is usually funnier than anything you can make up.' An old hand in a new generation of funnyfolk, Pal has made his seniority in the comedy industry a calling card. With Alive at 40, his latest gig, his simmering mid-life crisis meets Snapchat and new-age yoga to delightful ends. 

Pal’s material features digs at the British Raj and the ironies of modern life; it's delivered in proper English — by dint of his Bengali upbringing and colonially-hungover family — and occasionally escalates to full blown Hindi gaalis (curses).

Abish Mathew

Where Pal is befuddled about the changing rules of engagement, Noida-born Malayali comedian Abish Mathew has it all figured out. The comic is chock-full of cliched jokes about growing up Catholic and never getting laid; you’ll get your money’s worth if you catch an episode of his interactive talk show Son of Abish.

Sumukhi Suresh

Best known for character comedy, parodies and improv, Sumukhi Suresh sees opportunity where the average person sees only hyperbole. She often plays the parts of women-in-angst to rib-tickling extremes. From the feisty Anu Aunty to the doormat Mrs. Sharma, Suresh’s comedy requires bracing yourself for something more fortified than a run-of-the-mill routine.

Vir Das

If you’ve got a hankering for palatable intellect, Vir Das serves up quick wit and good old silliness with Weirdass Comedy. This is his own comedy consultancy that also organises an annual comedy festival. Whether he’s pontificating on the potty with the Vir Das' Potcasts, performing live or rewriting the plotline to Game of Thrones (with his musical comedy band Alien Chutney), Das is well worth your money. 

Kanan Gill and Biswa Kalyan Rath

With his winning smile and award-winning sets, Kanan Gill embodies what many in the subcontinent would term the 'chocolate boy' of Indian comedy. His sexy-and-he-knows-it stand-up leaves little space for modesty. Gill frequently stops to laugh at his own jokes — but the bellicose balderdash works wonders for the extraverted Punjabi persona he occupies on (and off) stage. Gill YouTubed his way into the spotlight with slice-of-life vox pops and informal sketches that went viral. He's best known for Pretentious Movie Reviews, his collaboration with comedian Biswa Kalyan Rath, where the duo took to the web to critique deliciously dreadful yesteryear cinema.

For Rath, self-deprecation marries low self-esteem, while having a torrid affair with pessimism on the side. The engineer-turned-comic is best enjoyed by those with an acquired taste for dry humour. His Hinglish sets involve mimicry and ad libbing, both featured in his latest, Biswa Mast Admi (Biswa Fun Guy).

East India Comedy (Sorabh Pant, Kunal Rao, Sepan Verma, Sahil Shah, Atul Khatri, Angad Singh Ranyal and Azeem Banatwalla)

All seven members of East India Comedy are superb standalone comedians. Together, they are an eclectic mix spanning age groups from teenage to Jurassic. Their most popular routines include a musical take on The Great Indian Wedding and a bit on complaints about sex education in India.

Kenny Sebastian

Look no further than Kenny Sebastian for easy, laidback laughs. He'll tell you what his dad does at restaurants, whip out his guitar to serenade you with some Enrique and draw you in with relatable bits on middle-class family life. With roots in vaudeville (his Enrique is spot on), Sebastian performs improv and stand-up with a no-airs, conversational style. It's best demonstrated in his latest stream-of-consciousness performance Chai Time With Kenny. The show features audience participation, rolling pins, dishwashing liquid and plenty of biscuits to go with the tea.

Aditi Mittal

If you’re on the market for something a little stronger, think Aditi Mittal. She can size you up and then take you the hell down. She recently headlined in Britain with the BBC’s A Beginners Guide to India, explaining how much Indians love British people: 'the last time we had some we kept them for 200 years’.

Mittal is becoming a popular name around the world; back home she operates in a space where female artists are vocal about disliking the ‘woman tag’, preferring instead to being categorised as comics al dente. In contrast, Mittal’s material is often a straight up shot of oestrogen. She takes on the vaginal tightening industry, tells you what she wasn’t allowed to say about sanitary napkins and discusses bra shopping in India. She seems to savour every sordid detail just as much as her riveted audiences.