Papa kehte hain

This Sunday, funny man Papa CJ will be in town with his mixed bag of jokes that poke fun at everything under the sun

His style or his countless international gigs might not set him apart from the rest, but once Papa CJ gets on stage, there's no stopping him.
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Completing a decade in the world of stand-up comedy, Papa's jokes are universal. In an exclusive tete-a-tete with MiD DAY, Papa CJ talks about the world of stand-up comedy and more.



"The interesting thing about being a stand-up comedian is that people open up to you post the show. After all my shows I make it a point to socialise with the crowd, to feel their pulse.

But the sad part about it is that every time you open your mouth, people are expecting something funny," he says.

Pleasing Bangalore
Enquiring about what ticklesu00a0 Bangalore's funny bone, CJ believes that the only way to be alive and kicking in this industry is to keep reinventing oneself.

"You need to know what your crowd likes, if not at the outset, but at least through the course of the act. This is why I seldom stick to a script.

The audience likes to be involved and so I make sure Iu00a0 do that. Just imagine, how monotonous it would be to sit in the audience and laugh at something the comedian says for about 45 minutes," he maintains.

But has taking digs at the audinece ever backfired on him? "Oh yes, a few times. Butu00a0 handling such a situation well, without giving room for any kind of awkwardness is a trait that a comedian acquires over time.
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For example, performingu00a0 at this really rowdy pub in London has been my most difficult act till dates.

By the time they announced my entry, more than half the crowd was drunk, so first I had to get them to listen, then react and then involve them too," recalls CJ.

Cracking up first, then cracking the jokeAsk him about his best act and he contemplates for a while, before saying, "I have many favorites.

But the best ones are those where people can laugh at themselves and at everything they do. There was a gig in Punjab where I had to perform before a conservative family audience.
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And it was completely weird to begin with. But when they warmed up to me, it was great to see them laughing at jokes that I initially thought would offend them. What was funnier was that after the show, 60-year-olds came up to me and cracked dirty jokes, telling me to use them in my next act."

While CJ has performed in Bangalore many times before, he is quite excited about his upcoming show.

"Bangalore is absolutely receptive and I just love that. But I've performed at a niche comedy nights hosted a couple of years ago. Then I returned to perform for a chirpy young crowd at a pub.

The experiences wereu00a0 completely different and so it will be fun to see how this one shapes up," he explains.
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He leaves us with a joke that he wants to try on us, to see if it works well with people here, "For years we've been taught that a cow's pee heals many diseases and is good for health.

Now think about how one must have discovered this!" he signs off with a wink.

Where City Bar, UB City, Vittal Mallya Road
On September 18, 8 pm
Call 9972142369
For Rs 999 entry