There’s no greater teacher than the audience, says Vir Das

Second-time Emmy-nominated Vir Das was a guest at the ‘Indian Express Adda’ recently. He was joined by other nominees from India: Shefali Shah (‘Delhi Crime 2’) and Jim Sarbh (‘Rocket Boys’), while Anant Goenka, Executive Director, ‘The Indian Express Group’, moderated the session. At the event, the comedian spoke about his journey, the reality of stand-up comedy and his love for the audience of the current generation.

Speaking about how the audience makes comedians humble, Vir said, “Earlier, comedians were like, ‘Here are my jokes. If you are offended, I am off to the next city’. Now we have to be humble about the fact that the audience has a voice and we have to deal with them in the most humble manner. I love this generation. They have destroyed stardom and they value artistry.”

“There’s nothing worse in this world than the silence of the audience. There’s no greater teacher than the audience. There’s no greater editor than the audience. They will change the lines. Our evolution comes from the audience,” he added.

Speaking about the audience getting offended by comedians, Vir said, “We are like this big joint family having dinner together. Someone is going to hate the ‘bhindi’ and somebody may want ‘chanas’. What I love about my art form is that we can fundamentally disagree about it and laugh about it at the same time. These are just words at the end of the day. Whether I am right or wrong, it doesn’t matter in a stand-up comedy setting.”