A Dalit comedians' collective sheds light on marginalised communities with new open mic series

(From left) Ravi Gaikwad; Akshay Dehlvi, an amateur comedian performs at the first open mic; Ankur Tangade at a previous show

City-based comedian Ravi Gaikwad remembers dropping out of an engineering course at a renowned institute in Mumbai following snide casteist comments from his peers. "I didn't tell my parents about it. I didn't know how to," he recalls. Three years later now, he retells the story at stand-up comedy shows to a mix of roaring laughter, hesitant chuckles, and admittedly, a fair share of disapproval. Blue Material, a collective of comedians from the Dalit community co-founded by Gaikwad, has many such stories coloured in irony to tell. This weekend, they open the stage to the city with an open mic series.

"Starting a discussion around caste is like convincing a child to finish the greens on their plate. You know It's good for you, yet, it's almost always frowned upon. Through our collective, we're making the greens more palatable. Using humour, you can slip in some important conversations in your jokes that people will gladly consume," laughs Gaikwad, who finds inspiration in African-American comedians such as Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, and Jerrod Carmichael. "After dropping out, I binge-watched stand-up comedy videos coming out of the black community. It mirrored my life experiences to a great extent," he reveals.

The audience at the compact Bandra venue

For co-founder Ankur Tangade, this isn't her first rodeo. "I came out as queer before I came out as Dalit. The latter was considerably harder. The initial response from those closest to me was that of surprise. ‘But you don't look Dalit,' some of them would point out. I never understood what that meant," she reveals. Just a few years ago, Tangade would have taken to the comment well. "I spent a fair chunk of my initial days trying to fit in. Writing generic jokes that the privileged audiences would enjoy made me feel included. But while other comics would proudly flaunt their identities and title their sets ‘Marwari weddings' or ‘Pooja shenanigans at home', I was busy hiding my Dalit identity."

For many like Tangade, the open mic will offer a judgement-free and inclusive environment. "The series marks our foray into taking comedians from other marginalised groups like the trans community under our wings. "One of the earliest conversations we had was whether we wanted to be a group of comedians doing Dalit comedy, or a group of Dalit comedians doing comedy. We chose the latter. At our open mics, you don't have to talk about your struggles. It's your voice and you get to decide what to do with it. Along the way, we recognised that the divisions within the marginalised communities was holding us back. The goal now is to pull others like us up," Gaikwad explains.

While the audiences seem to have warmed up to the idea, reflected in the healthy mix of Bahujan and upper-caste spectators at most shows, we learn that the problem runs deeper. "The stand-up comedy fraternity has mixed views about us. A few A-listers have shown their displeasure, claiming that our material only works because of the shock value. Once, at a gathering, a popular comedian joked, ‘Ab comedy mein bhi reservation hoga'. Unfortunately, the comment was met with laughter," recalls Tangade. Gaikwad adds, "Caste remains a taboo in the industry that we work in. We have been dropped out of multiple brand sponsorships in the past, citing the controversial nature of our work."

Nonetheless, the collective persists. Following the open mic series, which will continue to be held every Saturday, the comedians are now working on writing sketch comedy shows and digital content. "Blue comedy is much more than a genre or a theme. With stand-up comedy, we have merely scratched the surface. There exist immensely talented individuals in the fields of writing, acting, and production as well. We are excited to see what the future holds for us," the duo signs off.

On Every Saturday
At Dorangos, near Learners Academy, St Andrews Road, Bandra West.
Log on to @bluematerialgigs (for registrations)
Entry Rs 99 onwards (audience)