1,200 invited. 2,100 going. 186 maybe.

That was the count on Stage42's Facebook page for the AIB show scheduled for March 21, in association with t2, at the Science City Auditorium, when news came that the gag gang of Tanmay Bhat, Gursimran Khamba, Ashish Shakya and Rohan Joshi had been gagged.

AIB has had to call off all its stand-up gigs, across India, in March. There is a silver lining in the free-speech cloud, yes, but it comes with no date.

"AIB is putting together a brand new show that they will be touring. Once the show is ready we'll be taking the show across the country, including Calcutta. We're, of course, upset that the Stage42 shows had to be cancelled, but we're really looking forward to their new shows. We have no doubt they'll be as good as every other show AIB has put out," Arjun Ravi, director of Only Much Louder (OML), the organiser of Stage42, told Metro.

AIB has already dangled the carrot for the yet-to-be-scheduled show in front of Calcutta, which often loves an irreverent laugh at anyone's expense, including its own. "We hope that the next time we come to Calcutta, you guys will turn up, louder and happier than ever before."

The stand-up collective's fans were informed about the cancellation of the March shows on Insider.in, the ticketing site for OML, on Monday. "We've spent the last month and a half dealing with you-know-what and we now need time to write up a kickass show that kicks the ass of 'The show that must not be named'," it said.

The commotion around AIB had started after the video of their roast, the All India Bakchod Knockout Championship featuring Karan Johar, Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor, was uploaded to YouTube on January 28. AIB took off the video, put out an explanation for the show's content and offered an unconditional apology, but a PIL filed by a law professor is still pending in Bombay High Court.

Monday's announcement on Insider.in left those like Raouf Gangjee, founder of the Kalkutta Komedians, hugely disappointed. "I had expected at least a few clever, ironical digs at politicians, which the latter would not have understood and probably have taken as compliments! I believe AIB should not just continue what it is doing but go further, if only because I would like to see those politicians feigning even greater outrage before going back behind their closed doors to watch porn and - dare I say it - AIB videos," Raouf railed.

For Nikhil Patwari, a Class XII student of Don Bosco Liluah who is writing his board examinations, the March 21 show would have been a rite of passage. "I would be 18 then, because my birthday is on March 17!" he told Metro.

Not that Nikhil hasn't watched AIB videos already. "I have been watching their videos for long and they really hit me," the teenager said.

Adhidev Mukerjee, 25, had been expecting "an amazing evening; a laugh riot and a good edgy comedy show" on March 21. He sees the circumstances that have forced the cancellation of the show as an infringement on his right to decide what to watch. "This is curbing the right to choose. You don't like it, don't watch it. Why stop others? I had tickets for the show and am now waiting for a refund," he rued.

All refunds, OML has assured, will be made over seven days.