Evoking gales of laughter...

Desi Boy

Rajiv Satyal is the latest Desi import on the Bangalore stand-up comedy circuit.
Small and bespectacled, the former P&G marketer has made a name for himself as an opening act for well-known names on American comedy circuit like Dave Chappelle, Kevin Nealon, and Russell Peters.

Having become quite popular himself and known for his ‘clean wit and self-deprecating humour’, he is in the City to entertain Bangalore’s stand-up comedy buffs.
 “I’m originally from Ohio, which is a conservative place in America. So I relocated to Los Angeles for professional reasons since Ohio has not much of an entertainment arena to speak of,” he says.

Like most Indian comedians, Rajiv’s material is a mix of stereotypical desi jokes moving onto life in general and issues that interest and affect most people on a global level.
“Stereotypes cannot be broken down and obliterated simply because they exist for a very good reason. While it would be wrong to lump everyone in the same category just because they belong to a particular race, it still applies to most people from the same ethnic background. So it works,” he says.

A tad apprehensive about his first performance in India, Rajiv is nonetheless looking forward to what he says will be a challenging gig.

“It’s all about people getting the set up before they get the punch. Stand-up is so highly interactive that the performer needs to feed off the energy of the crowd and improvise a great deal.”

“I have to do what I am comfortable doing in order to build a rapport with my crowd. Even if my material is very different from a Bangalore based comedian doing jokes with a strong local flavour, I’m pretty confident that the audience will appreciate the pan global element,” he says. “Like most immigrants who are living the big American dream, Indians are one of the richest ethnic groups there. In fact, when asked to do a show for disadvantaged Indian American children, I wondered if that meant kids driving last year’s Lexus,” he laughs.

Rajiv makes his India debut on Wednesday at ‘The Collection’ UB City, before going on a tour of the country.