It was the most unlikely setting for a comic show. Flanked by rows and rows of Bohemian clothes was the city’s newest and probably now the most famous stand-up comic Niveditha Prakasam — she had her audience in splits with her jokes and general observations of life. At the launch of the lifestyle store Vajor at Palladium in Velachery, Prakasam found her next stage. A regular on the city’s open mic circuit, and more recently, the winner of TLC’s Queens of Comedy, the young comedian discovers that comedy finds a spot even in the most unlikeliest of venues.
The comedian, who holds a day job as an editor at a self-publishing company in the city, found her moment in the spotlight when she won Queens of Comedy. “I definitely didn’t expect to get in, forget win. I’d happened to learn about the show on the internet on the very last day. And since I don’t usually record my shows, I ended up having to shoot a new video to enter the auditions and posted it at the very last minute. To my surprise I got selected. But the other seven girls on the show were so talented. So it was a huge surprise when I won,” she smiles.
Prakasam, who continued working on her day job even while on the show, believes, it’s what made all the difference.
“It was a packed schedule. I was working remotely, doing my open mic sessions and was on the show too. So I guess that helped as I didn’t obsess over what I’d do on the show. I’m usually a very competitive person, but on Queens of Comedy I was the least competitive.”
She says that she was primarily looking for exposure and had a lot to learn from the slew of workshops held by well-known stand-up comics. But how has life changed for this Chennai youngster, since the show? “Funnily, my life in Chennai has stayed the same. I have comedian friends here, so they make fun of me once in a while when I go for Open Mics. They usually tell the audience, ‘Oh the Queen of comedy is here; you may not know her, but people in Mumbai do.’ When I go to Mumbai it’s a different story altogether. People there recognise me and walk up to me in the mall and say they watched me on TV,” she says, adding, that while she does enjoy the attention, it is the social media aspect that scares her.
“I’m on most social platforms, but I’m the most inactive person on them. In fact, my parents get on the Internet a lot more than I do. But that’s set to change this year, given the career I’ve chosen.”
While she waits for her show on TLC to take off (it was part of the deal for the winner of the show), Prakasam is focussing on practising her art by doing shows here in Chennai. “Maybe in the future, say 10 years from now, I’d like to have a talk show of my own. I love talk shows; especially American ones,” says the comedian, who grew up on a staple of comedy shows such as Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Jim Carrey films.
Quiz her on what inspires her brand of comedy and she says, “I guess it’s life in general. That’s where most of us get our material from. Observations of life around us and presenting it in an exaggerated manner. For instance, I’ve done shows on government buses that I’ve travelled by all my life. There’s so much that happens on them. And currently, I’m experimenting with all kinds of comedy before I decide to focus on one.”
“My taste also evolved from the stand-up comics I began watching when the Internet happened. I started off with Russell Peters and went through the entire gamut of American and British stand-up comedy scene. Indian stand up comedy on the other hand is still very new. For instance, I like people that you probably haven’t seen yet, as they’re still waiting to burst onto the scene. But they do have great style. It’s an interesting time for Indian comics,” she says.