Oh, what fun!

When Bandrabased That Comedy Club founder Sumendra Singh decided to extend the Bangalore Comedy Festival to Mumbai and Delhi last year the idea was simple create a season of making people laugh Having organised the Bangalore Comedy Festival for five years and also worked with the Melbourne Comedy Festival we decided to make November to January a comedy season with a festival each at Bengaluru Mumbai and Delhi respectively he tells us After the success of the 21day affair in Mumbai in 2019 he had grand plans for 2020Vaibhav SethiaBut of course the year changed the rules of the game altogether compelling the world and Singh to do what matters most sustain And it is on this note of sustainability that the club is organising the second edition of the Mumbai Comedy Festival albeit in a smaller formatSonali Thakker Desai PicFacebookThe founder shares that he wanted to ensure continuity by carrying on with the festival This year we called off the other two festivals and decided to focus on Mumbai as logistically it made more sense since most comics are based out of the city or move here Also we have a stronglyrooted theatre scene so theres adequate infrastructure to grow a festival hereUrooj AshfaMoreover December is a time when a lot of people visit Mumbai so it made sense he shares He adds that their intent this year is to make people comfortable which is why they are operating at less than 50 per cent capacity implementing strict sanitisation and seat assignment measures and ending shows a good one and a half hours before the 11 pm curfewAzeem BanatwallaUnlike last year when the festival was spread across the city this time the shows will be held only at the club While Singh insists its a teeny tiny comedy festival the lineup includes some of the best in the industry including Anirban Dasgupta Vaibhav Sethia Azeem Banatwalla Sapan Verma Sonali Thakker Desai Urooj Ashfaq among others While Dasgupta Sethia and Banatwalla will perform solo there will be double bill acts by some like Verma and Thakker Desai and Shreeja Chaturvedi and Siddharth Dudeja Most comics havent been up on the stage in nine months so holding an audiences attention for long is a big challenge For the festival the lineup includes only those who have been working the crowds since restrictions eased and will up their game he promisesSapan VermaSingh adds that the jokes will be a mixed bag of our unique experiences of 2020 as well as new content He asserts that the lineup will also be updated with surprises hinting at popup acts by the likes of Prashasti Singh or Biswa Kalyan Rath As Singh puts it 2020 has been a daunting year and god knows we could all use some of these surprises and definitely a good laughOn Today till January 3At 3rd Floor Madhu Milan Building 33rd Road Pali Hill BandraLog on to inbookmyshowcomCost Rs 299 onwards