When music is funny business

Raghav Meattle performing at the Hyderabad edition of the tour

Being a performance artiste isn't like keeping a diary or meditating, in the sense that it isn't a solitary vocation. Their listeners provide the oxygen for the careers of musicians. A stand-up comedian's lifeblood is his or her audience. A new play's prospects are killed if it's performed in an empty hall. And it's keeping all this in mind that singer Raghav Meattle and comedian Saurav Ghosh have embarked on a new tour, called Giggles and Rhythm, spread across Delhi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai. The idea is to take their respective art form directly to their fans, instead of the other way round.

The modus operandi involves selecting people they know, based on past interactions, from each of the five cities and organising a comedy show-cum-concert in their homes, which will be open to others on a first-come-first-served basis. The Mumbai leg is slated for this week, and Meattle tells us, "People who buy tickets will be sent an email about the exact address a few days in advance. Saurav will first warm up the audience with a half-hour show, helping strangers melt the ice. I will then perform a few songs from my album [2018's Songs from a Matchbox] and a few unreleased ones."

Saurav Mehta

He adds that the idea behind this initiative wasn't just to thank the audience with an intimate performance. An added incentive was to introduce his listeners to Mehta, and vice-versa, helping them grow each other's fan base in the process. Meattle says, "There are so many people who've watched Comicistaan [which Mehta was a part of] and others who've followed me in The Stage [a music reality show]. Some are only his fans, and some are mine. So, they will get to know a new performer and we'll hang out with them after the gig is over. It's going to be a quite a personal experience."

On July 26
At Address to be revealed after booking tickets
Log on to instamojo.com
Cost Rs 300

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates