LETTY MARIAM ABRAHAM letty. abraham@ mid- day. com How do you rope in five celebrities from different walks of life and convince them to give a go at stand- up comedy uninhibitedly? Itu2019s easier said than done, believes Sapan Verma, who spent four years on his brainchild, One Mic Stand, graduated from the storyboard to an Amazon Prime Video offering. u201c I donu2019t think the comedy scene was evolved enough to pull off a show like One Mic Stand. We didnu2019t have [ lavish] budgets on the Internet, [ until a few years ago],u201d he explains.
With Shashi Tharoor, Taapsee Pannu, Richa Chadha, Bhuvan Bam and Vishal Dadlani as part of the line- up, the stand- up comic pulled off a casting coup with the maiden edition. Mention that Tharoor was a revelation on the show, and Verma says the politicianu2019s willingness to try his hand at comedy took him by surprise. u201c While I had known [ the other participants] from before, I had never met Shashi Tharoor.
I simply went to his website and dropped an email regarding the show. An hour later, his manager responded saying that Dr Tharoor watches my videos and wanted to know more about the idea,u201d recounts Verma incredulously. What followed was a two- month chase to lock Tharooru2019s dates. u201c I kept on calling Tharooru2019s office landline number until he answered. The first time he got on a call with me, I froze. Once he heard the pitch, he asked me when the shoot was scheduled and when it would air,u201d he says, adding that the MPu2014 known to have a way with wordsu2014 was the fastest learner of the lot.
Bringing celebrity guests also had its share of pitfalls. u201c One actress who agreed to do the show. So, I went to her house with a female comic [ who would mentor her] and discussed possible topics for her set. But she had to back out when she bagged a big film,u201d laughs Verma.
One Mic Stand has been a learning experience for the creator- host. u201c I was involved in everythingu2014 from figuring the title of the show, to the [ background] music, to [ overseeing] the edit.u201d More About One Mic Stand u00a3 Verma was keen to rope in Shah Rukh Khan u00a3 Dadlani said he was comfortable performing for a crowd of 20,000, but a setting of 50 makes him nervous Vishal Shashi Dadlani Tharoor Taapsee Pannu Sapan Verma
