Wearing many hats

When standup artiste Vamsidhar Bhogaraju is not reading ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ or watching ‘South Park’, he is making people laugh on and off stage.

An ‘original package’, the City-based comedian is full of interesting stories intertwined with jokes. He is known for performing alongside popular internationals comics such as Dan Nainan, Justin Hamilton, Ronny Chieng, Nish Kumar and ‘ElbowSkin’.

He has worked a variety of jobs, including that of a lingerie salesman. He has also travelled all over India by train as a marketing executive, which is when he picked up material for scripts. Vamsi was one of the finalist in ‘Punchline Bangalore’ and also emerged as the winner of the Bangalore edition of ‘RAW Comedy’, organised by Melbourne International Comedy Festival. He has been doing standup professionally for a year now and gets candid about his journey with Anushka Sivakumar.

The funniest thing that happened to you?

I quit my job in the lingerie industry and decided to pursue standup comedy.

Does the competition in the standup scene scare you?

Not at all! Everyone has their own style and their own voice. Actually, I feel that there aren’t enough standup comedians in the circuit currently.

Is there a certain pattern you follow while writing your material?

I tend to stick to personal stories and weave in jokes around them. I’m someone known to have a lot of love for callbacks. According to Wikipedia, a callback is a joke that refers to one previously told in the set. The second joke is often presented in a different context than the one which was used in the initial joke.

Your worst show...

A 70-year-old interrupted me constantly when I was on stage. He actually came up on stage and had a conversation with me when I was in the middle of my set.

If most people walk out in between your show?

I’d wake up and shake off the nightmare. On a serious note, I’ll continue to perform for those who are still interested and try to ensure that they don’t walk out too.

The weirdest audience reaction?

I guess that would be when most people walk out in between my show. (And that’s a ‘call back’!).

Is standup comedy the new engineering or the new DSLR?

It’s what engineers and photographers are now coming to watch...
If not a comedian...

A filmmaker. I love telling stories. I also run a film production house.

Three things you would wish for if you were stranded on an island?
Nothing. It’ll be a dream come true!

How do you think the world will end?

No idea! But looking at the rate at which we are ruining our planet, it’s going to be extremely painful for sure.

Best male comic.

Make that two; Jim Jefferies and Sundeep Rao.

Advice to younger comedians.

Just keep at it.