Watch: This nervous stand-up comic plays at being awkward, Indian style
Rohan Desai plays a ‘paavam’ Indian kid hilariously.
An awkward person on stage may not be funny, but a stand-up comic pretending to be one could be.
In his latest performance, Indian stand-up comic Rohan Desai stutters through his notes on stage. The notes, with instructions like, “speak clearly into the microphone, and maintain eye contact”, combined with Desai’s stellar timing for awkwardness, has the audience in splits. Playing what can safely be called a “paavam” or an innocent, Desai maintains his performance through the entire length of his nine-minute act.
His notes have all the materials for a “traditional” stand-up piece – interact with the audience, insult someone, flirt with a girl – but the laughs are for a wholly different reason. Desai was performing in Melbourne, Australia.
The style isn’t new or unique to Desai. Anti-jokes or alternative comedy generates humour around subjects that are generally not viewed as funny. One of the best known proponents of this sort of humour was the American comedian Andy Kaufman.
Desai does bring an Indian element to this sort of comedy. Being a “paavam” is a especially popular condition in India, as Kenny Sebastian explains in his act below: