Witty Women

When it comes to a sense of humour, they are second to none

- Suhani Singh

Bras, of varying sizes, strung together like fairy lights. Risque games, the kind you’d find at a bacholerette party, like bra pong and a dirty talk phone service. Counters selling vibrators and one where you try throwing razors and wax strips into a bin. It isn’t your average evening at Brewbot, a bar and restaurant in Mumbai. Men have been barred tonight, with the exception of staff, keeping the hundred-odd loud girls merry with an endless supply of drinks. The venue is refurbished for comedienne Sumukhi Suresh’s stand-up special, Disgust Me. Over an hour, Suresh, 29, draws laughs and ‘ewws’ as she recalls her most revolting habits (eating nose poop) and embarrassing episodes (bedwetting as an adult).

Suresh, who has figured in online sketches and the mockumentary web series Better Life Foundation, is among the many funny women livening up India’s burgeoning comedy scene. They have long been part of the comedy circuit, with Radhika Vaz, Vasu Primalani, Neeti Palta and Aditi Mittal performing for over five years. But it’s only in the past year, says stand-up comic, improviser and producer of comedy shows, Jeeya Sethi, that the scene has “picked up like mad”. And her company Ratatouille, which she set up in 2016, has played a part: in getting stage time for herself and newcomers like her.

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN... AND BE FUNNY

No longer is it rare to see a woman comic in a line-up. “Stand-up is about perseverance more than talent,” says Punit Pania, stand-up comic and founder of the Chalta Hai Comedy production company. “It has to be done live. You have to fail embarrassingly to get better. Only by performing more can you get better.”