Stand up isn't always funny

 Dave Chappelle last month had released a video on Youtube titled "Unforgiven".



This is the second one that I saw after his earlier one titled 8:46.



There was one thing common in both. 

It was a stand up routine but wasn't meant to be funny.

There's a misconception that every stand up comedy show has to be extremely funny all along. But that is dead wrong.

Stand up comedy should be funny - but should leave you with a thought you've never had before. It should be able to pull an "Inception" on you and plant a thought that makes you a different person. One that thinks a little differently than before.


I watched both of these and laughed very little - but both were so immensely engaging. 

Stand up comics are great narrators. Are amazing story tellers. And beautifully insightful.

We watch them for their stories - not just for their jokes. 

I like a more intellectual comic. Which is why I avoid most Indian comics who address the young millennials and yet relatively immature crowd. 


There's a big difference in the crowd that an international comic pulls and an established Indian one. The Indian audience is younger, less life experienced and relatively easy to please. Therefore the topics for the comics too are similar problems that these kids face or see. Premises ranging from long waits, banks, train rides, flights, airports. It has very little personal stories that make you think. Or ones that bear a strong point of view, both political or otherwise.


Vir Das to me in the only Indian comic who has the gift of being funny and interesting at once.


There's an interesting anecdote that Trevor Noah shares in an interview where he tells Dave that he is disappointed that no one laughed in his show  in the places he expected laughter.


Chappelle apparently told him that it's a good thing. Because you know that the audience had invested in you and are LISTENING to you. Making them laugh can be sorted by a few punchlines - but making them lean it and pay attention - that is tough.


Which is why these 2 videos were extremely special. They both make you lean forward and pay attention. You almost realize that this isn't going to be funny - but it's definitely going to make you rethink things. Make you re-evaluate your life and certain aspects of it. It will make you see the world differently. 


Dave Chappelle is a story teller par excellence. He has the ability to speak for hours and keep you hooked all through.

You'll hear stories from other comics of Chappelle pulling into a park with a microphone and speaker and just pulling in thousands of people - all unannounced.

He can walk into a comedy club at 12:30 am (in the wee hours of the morning) to a crowd that has laughed its heart out already from probably 8 pm, but he could just walk in - and keep them attentive till 4 am. 

That's his genius at work.


I wish I could entask him to present our next big PITCH DECK!




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