Comedy comes from deep pain, says stand-up comedian Supriya Joshi

For Supriya Joshi, stand-up comedy wasn’t a planned career move, it happened by chance. “I was working at AIB in 2017 and had no plans to do stand-up. I didn’t even think I’d be good at it, but a colleague insisted I perform at AIB’s first big open mic and that’s how it all began,” she recounts, adding, “There were over 70 people and I was extremely nervous. Then came the first laugh. Something just switched on inside me. I thought, okay, maybe this is what I’m meant to do and I’m very happy it happened.”

Supriya, also known as Supaarwoman, who recently performed at Brown Girls Stand-Up in collaboration with Australia-based stand-up artists, says, “Collaborating with female comedians from Australia was exciting. We’re all Indian, but our perspectives and styles are very different. Context changes culturally, but the core idea remains the same. If you can turn something into a joke, people will laugh.”

Speaking about women in comedy, she says, “Stand-up in India is still new compared to other countries. So it takes time for women to integrate into these spaces. When I started, there were far fewer women on the circuit. Now there are more and it will keep getting more balanced with time. Stand-up as a career isn’t financially viable in the beginning; you won’t make any money. So I advise people not to quit their day job. Keep working, do shows, put out content — only quit when income becomes steady.” She adds, “I believe that comedy comes from deep pain; stand-up comedians are looking into their darkest side and joke about it, which makes us more relatable to each other.”

‘Every stand-up comedian is pushing boundaries in their own way’Backlash and controversy, she admits, are realities comedians can’t ignore. “I believe in self-preservation,” she says. “There are things I won’t talk about, but there are many other things I want to say, so I focus on those. Every stand-up comedian in their own way is pushing the boundaries a little bit, and eventually, I think we will be more open to what people have to say.”
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