Floating a new career

Chances of coming across a Naval Commander who is a stand-up comedian in his post-retirement career is certainly rare. But Manish K. Tyagi is one such person who specialized in humour at the age of 48, after a career spanning 23 years.

A busy bee who performs in various cities, Manish stopped by in Kochi to regale the navy officers with his jokes. In fact, his association with navy meant that he canceled a performance so that he could reach the Naval Officer’s Institute.

He gives credit to his daughter, who wanted him to become another Kapil Sharma, for motivating him to take up stand-up comedy seriously post retirement. Some of his friends too thought he had it in him to be a humourist.

“I am a corporate trainer and motivational speaker and I teach people to listen to their conscience. At one point I thought that if I cannot achieve a dream myself, how can I preach to others? Therefore, I slowly started doing stand-up comedy and to my surprise people started liking and laughing at my jokes.”

Manish who is now in his fifties, is of the opinion that understanding the audience is very important while performing. He, however, says that people like double meaning dialogues and sarcasm, which he tries to avoid when kids are present. There have also been times when people have got offended by his jokes.

“The set of jokes that I present at the Navy Institutes are the things that Naval Officers can very well relate to because it is altogether a different environment at the academy and finding humour amidst all that is very difficult. However, we never used to miss any opportunities,” says Manish, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Interestingly, he avoids calls and messages from women who approach him saying they would like to have a coffee with him. Manish says that he is a very private person when it comes to relationships and that life is far more serious than the stage.