“I don’t do comedy with a message. I don’t think I’m intelligent enough to give messages – that’s what news channels are for.” Two minutes into our interview, and comedian Rahul Subramanian is already cracking jokes. They come naturally, flashes of his everyday life making appearances in his sketches. He’ll be showcasing the funniest threads – well, according to him, that is – at his upcoming show, Kal Main Udega, entertaining Chennai audiences with a Hindi-English set.
“I’m a Mumbai-bred Tamilian, and with a name like Rahul Subramanian, it’s no wonder people get confused,” he laughs. It’s a situation he’s touched on in his last three years as a stand-up comedian; but ask him about how he plans a show and you’re met with, well, another bout of laughter. “I don’t!” he exclaims, adding that he chooses to take the stage and play off the audience from show to show.
Keeping in touch
A qualified engineer and MBA graduate, Subramanian’s pretty successful second career as a comedian has made him a familiar face on the stand-up circuit. He’s also a familiar face in a handful of All-India Bakchod videos, not to mention a regular at Mumbai’s open-mic nights. And with his content available on YouTube under the label ‘Random Chikibum,’ a collective founded by Rahul and fellow engineer/MBA-comedian Kumar Varun, he’s no stranger to the Chennai crowds. “We’re all really accessible as performers now, thanks to social media (he has over 1,56,000 followers on Facebook, and 12,600 on Twitter) and it allows the audience to really pick and choose who they like to watch.”
He calls the variety of opportunities “exciting” but ask him what he enjoys the most and the answer is instantaneous. “Stand-up for sure. Making videos is a great way to collaborate with friends, but with stand-up, I get to decide what I say and how I want to convey it. That’s unbelievably fulfilling.”
City connect
Subramanian says that each show is different, and each city, special. But any mention of Chennai elicits memories of summer vacations, meandering through the city with only the use of his broken Tamil that he says is “still as broken as ever,” though the city audiences don’t seem to mind.
“I had my toughest show here – half my audience spoke a mix of English and Hindi. The other half spoke Tamil. So I spent most of the show translating back and forth: I think people just found my Tamil funnier than the jokes themselves.” Despite the slight language mishap, he says his ‘Hinglish’ show is meant for everyone, a night that lets people sit back and have a good time. “The silliest of things can make me laugh, so as long as people will let me, I just want to make them laugh too.”
Evam Standup Tamasha presents Rahul Subramanian’s Hindi-English Kal Main Udega at the Museum Theatre, Egmore, on Sunday at 7 pm. For tickets, visit bookmyshow.com. 9840612333