Check out our conversation with Stand-up Comedian Amit Tandon to learn new trends into comedy and tips for the budding creators and comedians.
The Coalition is an amalgamation of some of the best creative minds from across the country who collaborate, inspire and fuel the next wave of creative trends. This year, Only Much Louder aka OML launched the sixth edition of The Coalition on August 1, 2020, and for the first time in its history it went completely digital.
The Coalition brings together entrepreneurs, artists, content writers and anyone else with a strong creative streak, for two days of interactive workshops and panel discussions, followed by two weeks of Masterclasses that went live on August 15th, 2020.
Apart from the introductory sessions, The Coalition includes detailed learnings shared through these Masterclasses that curate an in-depth curriculum for various creative fields including design, comedy, journalism, content creation, art, fashion, film, gaming and more. The Masterclasses brings intensive 2-8 hour-long courses to the homes of those looking to learn from professionals, educating them on the right skill-set needed in the field they are interested in.
The sessions are being conducted by industry mentors including Tanmay Bhat, Abish Mathew, Vijay Subramaniam, Amit Tandon, Dhruv Sehgal, Kaneez Surka, Kusha Kapila, Larissa D’Sa, Sumukhi Suresh, Rajeev Masand, BigFatMinimalist, Janice Sequeira, Biswa Kalyan Rath, Debbie Rao, Sapan Verma, Mandovi Menon, Anushka Menon, and many more.
Stand-up Comedian, Amit Tandon is doing a masterclass spread over two days, 29th and 30th August to help people who want to learn comedy.
Here’s all Amit Tandon had to say about Standup Comedy and The Coalition:
What are the new trends in standup comedy with things going digital?
"New trends in stand up comedy. One, you know it's become more like a sit-down comedy because we are performing from our houses, you know, using zoom as a platform. One big difference that has happened is, earlier we were used to you know, the laughter of 50 people, 100 people or 1000 people. Now we've started responding to the laughter of 2 people also, 3 people also. And second I think one big issue is that I'll not say issue but the challenge is that earlier we were at least 7-8 feet away from the front row. Now everybody is in the front row and we are just two feet away from them because that's how far the camera is from our face. So our facial expressions have become more important than our body language. That's another thing that's happened. And plus third - Now I think our skill is more being tested because earlier we had a mic in our hand so we were louder than rest of the room now we're as loud as anybody else who's laughing also in the room. So you know that's where we are competing now. It's almost like you know performing for your friends or you know telling jokes to your friends sitting in your drawing room, that's what it's become. It's a different challenge, it's very personal but I still find it enjoyable."
What's your secret of 'Finding Funny'?
"My secret of Finding Funny is that I try to look at what we do on an everyday basis and try to question how some of those things are illogical. Some of those things that we can do without. Okay. And then, you know, I very much look at what everybody goes through. You know, what happens is that a lot of us think the same things, but we believe that we are the only ones who think like that. And when you bring that out, you know, people find it funny."
Standup comedy majorly depends on how the joke or punchline is accepted by the audience, how are you tackling the challenge of performing virtually?
"It is not just a punchline, a lot of times it is also the entire set that can be funny. The story, every line of the story can be funny. So, firstly comedy is not that much punchline dependent, as we believe it to be. You will hear a lot of sets; the level of engagement is pretty high so then people are smiling throughout the set. Secondly, even when I get to the punchline what I do is the voice modulation would change, especially on this medium I try to be a little louder and slower when I am delivering a punchline, to ensure that people get it."
Any tip for upcoming standup comedians to overcome the digital barrier?
"I think that challenge right now is that for a new stand-up comedian, don’t treat it like a stand-up comedy show. Treat it more like a session where you are telling stories to your friends, don’t try to rush into things, so that is what I would suggest."
We also spoke to Gunjan Arya, CEO, OML about The Coalition. Talking about the kind of support will OML offer to the creative individuals who enroll for the festival, she said:
"During this pandemic phase, OML has bridged the gap between education formats and entertainment content to nurture the next-gen of creative entrepreneurs. This festival filters out the fans and connects ambitious learners with the artists to give them a wholesome learning experience on a digital platform. We encourage 1on1 interactive sessions with the audience as opposed to pre-recorded content."
Shedding light on the elements that the digital version has brought into the festival, Gunjan shared:
"OML has created a genre-agnostic approach towards the festival and hopes to extend this to the maximum number of creative fields possible. We have broken the festival into 3 broad formats: Workshops (crisp and introductory sessions to the subject), Masterclasses (elaborate sessions with detailed insights into the subject) and Panel Discussions with industry experts who share their learning, experiences and business expertise with the audience."
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