‘Indiansyncrasies’ at their best

Comedy is a serious business for Uma Thakar, as she readies for her first solo act

BY PREETI JABBAL

Some storytellers are just engaging, some are frightening, some are horrible, and some are hilarious. For Indian stand-up comedian Uma Thakar, generating laughter is a hobby that is fast becoming a habit. It all started less than a year ago when she attended a Toastmaster’s workshop. An exaggerated enactment of the nuns at her Catholic school got her ample laughs and set Uma on the path to explore funny bones: both her own and that of others. A few more tentative attempts later and with the encouragement of her mentors at the workshop, Uma created her own show calling it the Uma Huma Show. Since then, Uma has been posting her comedy spots on YouTube and has an active blog titled The Surreal Diary of an Indian Woman Uma is scheduled to perform her first solo act at the Loop Bar, Melbourne on October 16.

To quote Ed Wynn, ‘A comic says funny things; a comedian says things funny’. His words best describe the combination of verbal content, acting ability and persona required to make a career out of making people laugh. Punching out fast and furious oneliners and keeping crowds of all ages and persuasions laughing is easier said than done. According to Uma, “The toughest thing about comedy is getting laughs consistently. It is a very big challenge to connect with the audience and keep the laughs going.” But it is this challenge that has inspired and motivated freelance journalist Uma to foray into the entertaining field of stand-up comedy.

Her background in creative writing and media also helped Uma come up with irreverent topics like her take on popular works (Slumdog

Two Dollaraire and Bollywood Shakespeare), football injuries, Kamasutra, Indian speed dating and her upcoming debut solo act, a hot ‘n’ spicy curry with wannabe Masterchef Rita

“I have always enjoyed comedy,” said Uma while explaining just how she embarked on the tough road of being a stand-up comedian.

“I did some workshops in comic lounge and at Toastmasters, and received a fairly good reaction to my initial attempts at humour.

I persevered, drafted and redrafted material several times over till I felt I was ready to give my first solo act,” revealed Uma. Her background in creative writing and media also helped Uma come up with irreverent topics like her take on popular works (Slumdog

Two Dollaraire and Bollywood Shakespeare), football injuries, Kamasutra, Indian speed dating and her upcoming debut solo act, a hot ‘n’ spicy curry with wannabe Masterchef Rita.

Although performing for laughs, Uma also explores pervasive Indian stereotypes. Her material and characters stem from her Indian upbringing and experiences of living in Australia. Uma often throws political correctness aside to create characters like her imaginary cousin Rita with a strong Indian accent or the Catholic nun from her school who wondered if Shakespeare could be Indian.

“People like to see me laughing at myself. The trick lies in not taking yourself too seriously and I generally get a good reaction to my Indiansyncrasies.”

When asked if her work is influenced by iconic comedian Russell Peters, Uma replied, “Every comedian from an Indian background has been influenced in some way or the other by Russell Peters. So am I, but everyone has to find out what works for them and I am in the process of doing that for myself.”

“Comedy subjects can stem out of simple things, telemarketing, road rage, public transport… there’s humour in everything,” said Uma when asked how she picks her subjects. “There is no particular age group or nationality that forms my target audience. All types of people, for example community members, senior citizens, people from Sri Lanka etc., anybody can be my audience,” she added.

Uma has done small parts in the Comic Lounge and last year’s St. Kilda’s Laughs Festival. According to Uma, her blogs and posts on the Internet have also generated interest from all parts of the world.

What do you do if the act bombs and there are no laughs? “It is terrifying when that happens,” confessed Uma. “But I have understood, from experience, that people don’t always laugh out loud, they may just smile. You have to remember it is not always about you, and continue.”

Then there is the very real threat of being heckled. One of Uma’s toughest audiences was a retirement village. She performed there and no one laughed. Judging by the lack of reaction she assumed they were too polite to heckle her. After the performance when Uma got chatting with some of the audience, they told her how they loved her Shakespeare comedy and the Bollywood material.

“But how come no one laughed during the show?” asked Uma to which the elderly lady replied, “Oh that’s just the way we are. We tend to smile inside.”

Experiences like these and a mix of reality and imagination have shaped Uma’s humour, and she is prepared to share it with the world.

It’s early days yet for Uma and she is still to hone her craft, so it will be hard to tell whether her jokes will have people rolling in stitches, or if it will fall flat with more misses than hits. Irrespective of whether she is a guffaw away from stardom or a groan away from ignominy, it takes some intestinal fortitude, aka serious guts, to stand up in front of an audience and tackle comedy. Kudos to one brave, funny Indian woman!