ONE of India’s rising voices in the stand-up comedy scene, Karthik Kumar is not afraid to poke the hornet’s nest.
His latest show, Aansplaining, sets out to interrogate gender relations, the complexities of modern-day relationships, and male privilege. The Chennai-based comedian performed the set in Malaysia for the first time last week.
Aansplaining is Karthik's fourth comedy production. He has toured extensively over the world having performed in more than 500 shows across India, the USA, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Singapore with his previous specials.
He is no stranger to the film industry with major blockbuster credits to his name like ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’ which premiered earlier this year.
The Indian actor-turned-stand-up comic has been featured on Amazon Prime through his shows ‘Bloody Chutney’ and ‘Trollerance’.
Co-founder of Evam, a performing arts organisation, Karthik is a versatile talent and has moved from theater to films and standup.
In an interview with The Vibes, he described his love for stand-up despite being an accomplished actor in India, navigating different artistic mediums and staying true to his voice.
The Vibes (TV): How did you find your start in stand-up? And how has it been for you over the years?
Karthik Kumar (KK): I started in stand-up comedy, after moving from theatre. I was a theatre director and actor, and I wrote as well. Comedy, much like theatre, meant I could direct, write and perform at the same time, except I did not need anybody else's support.
Stand-up became an outlet for personal storytelling and sharing my perspectives and opinions in the form. My experience as an actor, as a writer, and as a director, all came together in the form of presenting perspectives, opinions, and thoughts.
That was how I started out as a stand-up comic.
TV: How does Aansplaining differ from the previous shows you have done? Was this a product of the lockdown and pandemic? What was the genesis of this show?
KK: Aansplanning is different from my other shows because it talks about a very important theme. It started off from a very personal space, because during the lockdown period, all of us as artists felt like we don't have work anymore, or rather any life left in our work.
When that fear hit me, I think for the first time I questioned my identity, and what is my identity, if it's not my work.
And I think that is a very masculine, gender-specific way of looking at things because men are made to feel useless if they do not do something useful in their lives, or if they are unable to make money and provide for themselves and their families.
That led me to attempt to define or understand the process of how gender roles are created in society. Where does all this come from? Why do we treat the various genders differently in our society, and where does this inequality lead to?
What is the privilege I enjoy today as a man that I have been unaware of so far? I started unraveling the concept of gender in society and in our upbringing which led to the genesis of this show.
Understanding masculinity and understanding the privilege given to a man compared to that of any other gender in society.
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TV: How much of your material do you change or adapt to fit Malaysian audiences? What kind of preparations do you take when performing your material, that was written for audiences in India, overseas?
KK: How do I fit into a Malaysian audience? I don't think this is a very personal or specific piece of work in the sense that the themes I explore are about toxic masculinity and patriarchy and those cross boundaries and relate to many different cultures, especially in Asia.
You know, it's kind of culturally tuned to our respective religions too and therefore there is a certain upbringing that is familiar all across Asian cultures so therefore I don't think Malaysians, especially the Malaysian Tamil population will find it difficult to understand the show.
It is easy to relate to and I'm not making any particular effort to tune it for Malaysian audiences. I think it's already tuned to a certain Malaysian Tamil audience as such.
TV: Could you describe what the stand-up scene is like back home? Are issues like political correctness and censorship affecting the landscape in India as it is in the West and in Malaysia? What are your views on political correctness?
KK: I think it's the responsibility of comedians to be politically incorrect. Political correctness never brings out laughter. At the same time, I don't think it is the job of a comedian to present a political opinion.
But rather it is to make fun of the emperor. Whoever the emperor is or whoever is in power, we need to make fun of that power, to make fun of the notion of power, and the politics of power is the job of the clown.
TV: You have made a name for yourself in acting and directing, apart from being a stand-up comic. What do you find in stand-up that you don’t get working in other mediums?
KK: I think in stand-up comedy, I am able to present opinions and thoughts from a first-person account. In my capacity as an actor or a director, I put that into stories, and I give it to different characters per se.
But as a comic, I have no way to hide my opinion or my thought process. It is a very honest art form. It is a deeply mystic art. The only dishonesty is maybe to make you laugh, right?
I think we're trying to be as honest as possible because it's difficult to present something in your material that you don't inherently believe in or stand by. – The Vibes, November 13, 2022
