World Laughter Day: 4 stand-up comics share how they make people laugh during these uncertain times

Keep it consumableWhen the 2020 lockdown started a couple of other comedians and I started Thirst Trap mdash a naughty jokes mic We had promised that itrsquod be free till the end of the lockdown or till the end of the world which seems closer now It feels good to see that itrsquos gained a following of its own We collect just about enough donations to push through and donate the rest to Khaana Chahiye Wersquore not gaining anything out of it the idea was for people to get a laugh if they needed to lighten up The current situation has pushed me to create a lot more content Irsquove been getting several requests to avoid content related to the virus because people are tired of it In general Irsquom avoiding dark humour I try to focus on something that everyone can relate to for example shared experiences like living with family during lockdown Content is getting lighter and has to be easily consumable Like therersquos this other show CrossBorder Comedy mdash thatrsquos half Indian and half international which is free I also run a fun quiz on Twitter but Irsquove been keeping it low to make space for SOS requestsKajol SrinivasanMinus the filterAll comedians are amplifying SOS requests and wersquore doing everything we can through our social media handles Some of us are doing fundraisers and keeping a quota of tickets for patients and frontline workers In my shows a lot of fans are buying tickets in bulk and distributing them to those whorsquod like to lighten up In terms of material ever since the pandemic hit Irsquove stopped holding back and so my comedy has become more unfiltered Irsquove stopped the selfcensorship Us comedians we are sponges we consume whatrsquos happening around us and convert the pain into laughter So the content is now bordering around dark humour as I try to channelise my feelings about how the government is handling the situation In terms of navigating sensitive content I think the onus is not on the comedian to keep everyonersquos sentiments in mindDaniel FernandesStorytellers allWriting standup is difficult these days but I do get many stories from people COVIDpositive patients for whom I conduct free online sessions These sessions can be tough and draining sometimes but usually theyrsquore fun We pull each otherrsquos legs I try to make people forget about their challenges for an hour Whatrsquos happened is that with the pandemic and the second wave itrsquos hard to get into the mindset of writing a joke A lot of it has become more about storytelling Another challenge is that I havenrsquot met new people which is an essential prompt for a storyteller A lot of my writing now is based on earlier life experiences drawn from nostalgia Irsquove also been doing Instagram Reels with my son These days you canrsquot stay quiet online I try to watch some TV to get my mind off Twitter and trolls sometimes my wife and I end up talking about these things for hours or I vent to a friend The tragedy right now is tough the only thing wersquore able to do is to talk these things outAmit TandonSearching deeperPicInstagramIrsquove been feeling that if not the virus censorship will catch up with us In the past year Irsquove felt an increased sense of urgency to speak out and write jokes no beating around the bush Financially we comics are ruined anyway and now the freedom is also shrinking But nothing can shut up comedians Censorship has instilled a fear but it has also pushed us to be more creative Initially last year every comic had similar jokes sitting at home so we were pushed to search deeper as surprising people became more difficult with growing online usage I even wrote a new show Notes From The Bunker An interesting aspect of online shows now is the QampA sessions afterwards where viewers are so desperate to reach out and talk thatrsquos where all the hardcore existential stuff comes out Currently Irsquom doing a show called Comedy for a Cause with a few other comics where the proceeds will go to Khaana Chahiye Irsquom also trying to amplify requests and help as much as possible with fundraisers as these are the need of the hourPunit Pania