Lola Kutty is back on TV. But this time as Anu Menon, her real self. She is leading a team of upcoming comediennes in Queens vs Kings, a battle between the sexes to raise a laugh. Facing them is a team of male stand-up comics led by Varun Thakur, the founder of SnG Comedy. The show beams on Mondays at 9pm on TLC and TLC’s YouTube channel, Rise by TLC.

What is Queens vs Kings about?

It is a game show between boys and girls. I am the captain of the girls’ team and Varun (Thakur) is leading the boys. We have three members in each team. I have Supriya Joshi, Kaavya Bector and Saadiya Ali and he has Utsav (Chakraborty), Kumar (Varun) and Sidhart (Dudeja). Each episode is based on an ‘ism’, like professionalism or romanticism. We choose one person who stands up on that topic and then we have fun games. The winner is decided by Rahul Subramaniam, the host. It was good fun and the 18 hours went by far quicker.

You mean 18 hours a week?

No, no, 18 hours a day! Then we needed a week to recover.

Is it more difficult to make the audience laugh at a woman?

There are fundamental differences in the way a boy and a girl are raised. Girls are raised to behave properly, sit properly, told not to be loud and brash. We feel the pressure of decorum even at school level. I have a five-year-old son. At their playschool, when they perform on stage, the girls work on time, they know their lines.… The boys are quite the kaamchor! (Laughs) I think boys are used to playing the clown or being naughtier growing up. 

Now there is a lot more breaking out and audiences are also more open to listening to a woman stand-up talk about a variety of issues. Of course, there are a lot of preconceived notions, like women talk only about their body parts. Each female stand-up is as different from another as her male counterparts are from each other. And if someone wants to talk about her body parts, that’s her prerogative. One need not go through an experience to find a joke funny. If I crack jokes about my son, do I have to bother if that will alienate people without kids? Go, hang it! 

Yes, women do feel the pressure of certain stereotyping. You have to hear things like aurat hone ke naate, like ‘It is not ladylike’ and ‘Who will marry you if you say such things in public?’ You can’t change years of patriarchy overnight! We undersell a good joke while a man can oversell even a mediocre joke, just with his degree of confidence. 

Is this why there are so few women comics?

That’s the case the world over in most fields. And that’s okay. The heartening thing is now more women are coming up. 

What was the stand-up scene like when you joined Channel [V]?

There was no stand-up comedy per se. Vir Das and Papa CJ were doing a bit. I give a lot of credit to Vir for promoting the scene — organising open mics, amateur nights, letting people have a go at cracking jokes in front of strangers. Now we are at a stage where comedy festivals are happening and comedians are coming to India. It’s amazing that India has created its own comedy scene. You have English, regional and Hinglish comedy. Each comedian has his own audience. There’s so much more competition.

How difficult was it for you to break out of the Lola Kutty identity?

Honestly, it’s not a bridge I can cross alone. The audience also has to. Some people are disappointed that I am not Lola Kutty and there are no Malayali jokes. Others say, ‘We prefer Lola but you rock’. I have always wondered if that is a good thing or a bad thing. People have even come up and said, ‘You actually look pretty!’ There’s such a thin line between compliment and insult! The best analogy came from someone who tweeted me that no matter how cool Bruce Wayne is, Batman will always be cooler. 

Would a stand-up comedian prefer to have a persona to slip into on stage?

Well, Lola was never my on-stage persona. It was a character as whom I interviewed Bollywood celebrities on the Channel [V] talk show. And it would be annoying to watch her for one hour. I have always done stand-up as myself. Yes, it breaks the illusion of seeing me as me. 

How long have you been doing stand-up?

I have been doing it on and off. My husband works on a ship and my son was small. This job entails a lot of travel. But the last one year I could do it seriously as he was home more and my son is older now. 

Between theatre and stand-up, which is more challenging? 

You can’t compare the two because in theatre I am playing a character. Even Lola was one — a gawky spinster from a conservative Malayali background who wants to be cool. In fact, initially my biggest challenge was how to be me. A stand-up is the closest version of your own character. Yet you can never completely be yourself. It is who you are projecting yourself to be at that point of time. My greatest joy is being on stage, in whatever capacity.

Isn’t a stand-up comedian’s job more lonely?

If it is a festival, then there are other comedians too. It is the travelling that one does solo. But, you know, I come from a big, loud Gujarati family. So I enjoy a bit of alone time (giggles).

Does being fuller make it easier for women comics to gain acceptance? Look at Bharti Singh. 

There’s no right physical type for comedy. But if you look perfect and have this perfect life, it does not make for good comedy. All stand-ups wear their flaws on their sleeves. But to play a character, one needs a look. I can’t play Lola Kutty as Anu.

With this show coming on national television, would you say English stand-up comedy has gone mainstream?

The laughter challenge shows have been on air for many years on Hindi GECs. But English stand-up was niche. However, on TV, a lot of things are censored. It’s a diluted version of what you want to say. That’s why so many people have gone to the Net. How does one do an episode on nepotism without taking any names? Which is why Amazon, Netflix are taking over as there is a lot more freedom. 

In a country like India where everyone is taking offence, how difficult is the stand-up comic’s job?

People are giving comedians so much responsibility in terms of being the sane liberal voice in a country where so many things are going wrong. They have become some sort of political spokespeople, unbeknownst to them. But that’s not the comic’s responsibility. The throne that people are putting comedians on is too much, yaar. You should expect that from your leaders, not comedians! And their opinion is not gospel! 

These days people are just waiting to take offence. It’s become a national pastime. A day could be set aside for a festival when everyone trolls everyone else!  The anonymity of social media gives you the licence to spew hatred. Luckily, my kind of comedy is not political, not out of fear for my life, but because I am not inclined that way. My comedy comes from my life. But people have to understand that these are jokes, not something that the comedian believes in. 

How does your family react to your jokes? Do you give them advance notice?

I give my Gujju in-laws a 30 per cent cut for all the Gujju jokes I make. So they are happy! (Laughs) I have cool family members. 

Sudeshna Banerjee