BhargavRamakrishnan also known as Baggy, a stand-up comedian and Aravind SA have launched a new comedy club called The Spotted Hyena in a popular mall in the city. The launch festival started on August 15 and will go on till August 19 and will feature 30+ comedians.
“The idea with The Spotted Hyena is to create a space in Chennai for comedy and the performing arts, where artists can jam, trial new material, experiment with new formats, perform regularly, shoot and just constantly try and push the boundary” says, Baggy, Co-Founder, Half Boiled Inc.
The show also has a new concept called “True Tinder Tail” where comics from Mumbai, who are married to each other met on Tinder, will share their story and will talk about dating in modern times.
“There is so much there that you don’t know about stand-up comedy yet and there is so much there that you can learn. When you look at the stand-up comedy internationally India as such has not even reached one percent of their skill level as a community. So, for the upcoming stand-up comedians I think these four days are the best time to get and to make use of this” says. Aravind SA.
The festival will see comedians from across the country, like Sorabh Pant, Punya Arora, Kenny Sebastian and UroojAshfaq.
“What an artist always wants to do is express like if you have an idea and what shape the idea takes and a stand up set is an that it can take like a play, monologue it can be anything. Having a space that enables or builds around the ecosystem that jam and the creative content that is created and that have to be put in front of an audience and the response you get. There is no better teacher than a stage time”, says Baggy.
He also mentions that there should be a culture build around stand as an art form and the spotted Hyena is an ecosystem or a platform for such a culture to grow. With the launch of the Spotted Hyena, Chennaities can look further to adding another exciting weekend entertainment destination with an impressive lineup and surprise visits by some of the most popular names in the industry. After the festival, Bhargav and Aravind SA have also planned shows every weekend, after which they hope to have three to four shows a week.
“Stand-up comedy is done by the people who come up with a content of their observations and personal experiences were one can always relate or connect to something like that. If there is a comic from your city or your neighborhood then there is going be a comic from whose voice you are going to identify and the you will enjoy it as there is going to be a lot of relatability from the comedy that you have also felt”, explained Baggy.
