Stand-up comedian Rahul Dua on his experience of performing in Vizag

They say comedy is a tough profession. Making people laugh is indeed a difficult task, and achieving it single-handedly needs some serious talent. Such is the field of stand-up comedy. With comics like Raju Srivastav and Kapil Sharma pioneering the comedy scene, stand-up comedy has been practised in India for quite some while now. Since then, many talented comics have emerged from across the nation. One such stand-up comedian, Rahul Dua who shot to fame after participating in Amazon Prime Video’s Comicstaan, performed in Vizag on 21 February at Four Points Sheraton. He performed his set called ‘Oh Hello!’ and is currently touring India spreading laughter. Dhanya Kanth of Yo! Vizag got conversing with Rahul Dua to get an insight into his experience in Vizag.

With your set primarily performed in Hindi, do you find any difference in dynamic with the audience in South India compared to that in North?

Initially, when I started touring South India, I expected my jokes to resonate with the North Indian settlement here. Keeping aside the metropolitan cities of Hyderabad and Bangalore, which are inhabited by people from different regions of the country, cities like Vizag and Vijayawada have left me pleasantly surprised. With the local crowd resonating so well with my content, I’ve come to realise that comedy transcends all boundaries of language. If the joke is good, it will travel.

This has been your second stand-up comedy show in Vizag. Tell us a bit about your experience

I must agree, this has been the best show so far. With the audience reciprocating to the subtle throwaway lines of my set, it was the most overwhelming response I’ve received. It was in October 2019 when I started touring with ‘Oh Hello!’. Vizag was one of the few cities I could manage to perform before the pandemic hit. In fact, it was the same venue I performed at last time around as well. Only this time, we came bigger and how! I also appreciate how the promoters and organisers have come through with logistics and other arrangements. Such shows tend to leave a hangover that stays for a couple of days.

Finally, what are the three things that you liked about Vizag?

The first would be the beach!, Vizag has such a beautiful coast, it’s amazing. I also like the general vibe of the town. It’s very relaxed and chill. Not to position it as a retirement city, but it does have a peaceful and lively atmosphere to it. Finally the audience. I wish I could take this audience back to Delhi for my next big project.

Shedding light on the event locally, Aditya Varma, from Amaravati Comedy Club (ACC), which organised the show, shares, “With this tremendous response from the city, we intend to conduct many such shows in Vizag in the coming future.”