City-based stand-up comedy man Naveen Richard is at it again— he chats with us about his television debut with Challenge Accepted, India’s first social experiment and how the business of comedy is a serious one after all. Absolutely elated about being the only Bengaluru-based artiste on the show, Naveen tells us how it all started, “I began with stand-up about four years ago. I was into theatre before jumping into stand-up comedy and have been performing since,” says the 25-year-old, who will be competing against four other seasoned comedians — Deep Chhabria, Utsav Chakraborty, Cyril D’Abs and Dhruv Deshpande in Challenge Accepted on Comedy Central, hosted by Cyrus Sahukar. “I remember growing up watching back-to-back shows. It was the only source of entertainment back then. Comedy always interested me; I’ve always wanted to be a part of something like this,” he adds.
While the show marks his full-fledged debut on television, the young comedian mentions a cameo appearance in Living Room last year, “It was the first Indian sketch show. My friend Kenny Sebastian was a part of it, so he got all his comedian friends from the city on board. I was on two episodes.” With a formal degree in law, Naveen spends most time of his day dabbling between writing and music. “During the day, I write TV scripts, work on sketches. Nobody has stand-up as a full time job. All comedians are professionals who do gigs or acts in the evenings. They only have a couple of hours in the day,” he says.
Speaking about the burgeoning culture of stand-up Naveen adds that comedy is serious business that the city’s folks are sitting up and taking notice of. “There’s undoubtedly been a boom in the stand-up space, particularly over the last two years. I think the audience here is a brilliant lot but I’ve observed that the slightest of things can trigger people to take offence. I see people get mad at comedians or snap at them in a fit of pique. And I’m not talking about us comedians touching topics like religion or politics. Even the silliest of things can be turned against the guy. I think that’s something that needs to change,” says Naveen.
Unlike most artistes who look at television as a gradual transition, Naveen thinks otherwise, “I’d like to call myself a full-time comedian. TV shows offer visibility and it’s a different ball game altogether. While most people feel it’s growing out of fashion, I think TV shows hold a special old-school charm. But I do not see a transition of sorts. I’ll continue to do stand-up gigs and comedy plays.”
