If you think being a stand-up comedian is all laughs, you may not have been to too many open mic nights. A thirst for stardom aside, there are hundreds who long for a platform to perform and make at least a few people laugh at their jokes; jokes they've spent hours breaking their head to write. So, when they finally get that chance, they'll do anything to hold on to it — even if just one person turns up for the show!
As unbelievable as it may sound, this is exactly what happened during an open mic in Bengaluru a couple of weeks back to Shridhar Venkataramana, a comedian. But being the good sport that he is, he still performed, making sure that his only audience member, a young woman, had a good time.
"This isn't something new. During open mics, not a lot of people turn up. But this time, when we saw that only one person turned up, we were surprised. We checked with the young woman if she was okay with us performing and to our delight, she was on board. So, the show went ahead," narrates Shridhar. The show was mostly like a fun conversation between the 'crowd' and Shridhar and surprisingly, she loved it. "She texted me, telling me how she had had a bad day at work and how the show cheered her up. That made me happy," says Shridhar, whose Facebook post about the incident went viral a few days ago.
Shridhar also explains how an audience can make a difference to a budding comedian. That was one of the reasons behind his Facebook posts. "Also, I wanted to highlight the reality of the stand-up world. It isn't always about glamour. Comedians go through this on a daily basis, but not many know about it," he says. Shridhar also urges people around him to turn up for open mics to encourage budding talent. "These open mics are usually inexpensive or free. So, spare some time and support the talent," he says.
