Femina India – August 09, 2019

(Jacob Rumans) #1

THEBIGSTORY


MR CHIDE


henI waseight,
I startedata newschool.
Naturally,nobodylikes
beingthenewkid,so
I usedcomedyasa defencemechanism.
Asanytypicalbackbencher,I realised
thatcrackingjokeswasa goodwayto
fitin.Ofcourse,backthen,I didn’thave
a routine(I didn’tknowwhata routine
was),somyhumourwassituational.
Myfriendsoftenputmeonthespot
saying,‘Raunaq,you’rethefunnykid.
Whydon’tyoutellusa joke?’While
I didn’thavejokesinmybackpocket,
I realisedthatI should!That’swhen
I developeda routine,sotosay.The
jokes had to be relevant, so they usually
featured impressions of teachers and
other classmates.
While I was quite the entertainer in
school, at home, I didn’t stand a chance
considering I lived in a joint family.
My older sister was an over-achiever,
and there were plenty of cousins to be
pitted against. I accepted my fate, but
decided to do it with a smile! Take this
one instance, post my grandfather’s
death–us male family members had our
heads tonsured as a sign of respect. But
I had a patch of hair at the crown left
untouched, so I was walking around
catching Wi-Fi signals. What’s crazier
is that my grandfather had a bald
patch at the exact same spot, so
if anything, this act was highly
disrespectful to him. When I pointed

thisout,myfamilywasobviously
displeased.It tookthema whiletoget
usedtomebeingthewayI am.
In 10th grade, I signed up for
extempore, seeing it as my last chance to
entertain. So for my first stand-up act in
front of a live audience, I just parodied
what the other participants were doing.
Every student in the audience was
tearing up with laughter, and I basked
in it. I was summoned by my English
teacher the following day, for what
I assumed was going to be a serious talk,
but it turned out, she was impressed
with my ability to have the audience in
splits for the whole four minutes of my
performance. In fact, she introduced
me to stand-up comedy. I watched some
YouTube videos and was amazed to see
people doing this professionally. It was
something I had to try.
My comedy is based on my
observations; yes, I realise that not

everyone is going to appreciate my
observational humour. And no, I won’t
change my style because it’s taught
me a whole lot, despite almost getting
attacked once for putting my foot in my
mouth on a political topic.
As a stand-up comedian, I’ve had
to overcome a lot, my self-doubt and
insecurities being my biggest hurdles.
After almost nine years of performing
on stage, I have come to realise that
I first need to read my audience, before
attempting to make people laugh. What
I will leave aspiring comedians with
is this—find your voice, develop your
style, and you will find your audience.
I still have my bad days, but as they say,
bad shows are good teachers!
—As told to Kalwyna Rathod

RAUNAQ Rajani


While I was quite
the entertainer
in school, at home,
I didn’t stand
a chance, considering
I lived in
a joint family.

&


DR HECKLE


HIS FORAY INTO COMEDY
STARTED WITH BEING THE
CLASS CLOWN, A TRULY
UNDER-APPRECIATED
TALENT

PHOTOGRAPH: LABEL
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