Comedian Joel Dsouza first charmed Indian audiences with his angry young man demeanour and exasperated observations as a contestant on Comicstaan‘s Season 2. Since then, Dsouza has been a regular face in the Indian comedy scene—majorly Mumbai—testing out his material at open mics, putting up trial shows and performing on lineups featuring some of the country’s top names. He’s also been a familiar face on Samay Raina’s chess streams where he’s dishing out the hottest trash talk and backing it up with his game more often than not.
Lately, Dsouza has been hitting the stage with his debut solo show titled Gift and is set to go on a six-city tour that kicked off yesterday. The comedian believes he’s finally got a meaty hour with a definitive theme to tie all his material together and is excited to perform his first special across the country. Dsouza told us all about the evolution of the show, how he never feels nervous in any situation and analyses Tottenham Hotspurs’ performance this season.
Quick! What’s this show about?
So, during the entire show I talk about receiving various “quirky” gifts. And all these gifts have a definite self-help angle to them. That’s generally the overarching theme of the show. I also talk about growing up in a heavily female-centric family. I have two older sisters. It’s about my world of growing up around more women than men. And as a result, how I looked at the world.
How many shows are you doing, across how many cities?
This month I’m doing Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Pondicherry, Pune and Mumbai. I have multiple shows in some of these cities. I’ve put up three shows in Hyderabad, two in Pune and Mumbai and right now we have only one show in Chennai but I might add another.
How long did you spend writing the show?
So I thought of this theme in November 2021. But at that point of time I felt like I had to add a lot more for it to stand on its own. I also feel like I didn’t have the experience and discipline to finish writing the whole hour. But I really tried. I kept hitting the stage, testing material and adding new jokes. Even when I was done writing it, I wasn’t particularly ecstatic. But I was happy that the overall theme of the show had come together which was the most important part for me. Before this, all the shows I performed were an assortment of jokes I had written across many years. So, as a whole the hour was pretty inconsistent in terms of the person talking. But in Gift I have some shows that are almost five years old. But they fit the theme so well that I had to keep them in. I’ve sacrificed a lot of good jokes to make sure there’s a nice flow to the special.
Will you be recording this show and releasing it online?
Honestly, it’s not like I’m being offered any deals by a streaming service. But I think, even if I was offered that, I probably wouldn’t take it. Because I believe that no comedian can become big behind a pay-wall. If you look at any of the big comedians, people generally watch their stuff on YouTube for free. That’s how they became big and then they moved on to the other streaming services. I remember, during one of my shows in Thane a girl from a popular talent management company approached me to join their company. I asked her what her plan with it was and she said we can sell your special to Amazon. But I knew there wasn’t any benefit for Amazon in this. I also asked her which comedians have become big on a streaming service. She mentioned Zakir [Khan]. Now, he became big on YouTube and cashed in on Amazon Prime. There’s a huge difference between your first special for a streaming platform and your seventh. I feel like this special has a great sense of discoverability for me, so I’ll mostly put it up on YouTube.
Why should we watch it live?
See, whenever I do put up my show online, it’ll be 80-85 percent similar to what you saw live. But the remaining 15-20 percent depends on the city, the audience, the vibe… lots of things. There are so many variables with an audience that can result in some great crowd work or some quick improv. That’s the joy of watching standup live, I feel.
According to you, who would be the ideal plus-one to bring to the live show?
Bring anyone I feel. Siblings, friends, partners. But I would suggest not coming with your parents. I’m not particularly big on swearing during my shows but there are points where I do. And sometimes it can get awkward. Like, during a show in Bengaluru, a girl came with both her parents. At a certain point, they were looking at me as if I had come there to claim their house after they had defaulted on a loan.
Why are you calling the show ‘Gift’?
So initially, the main idea that came to me for this show was about journalling. Then I realised that this can be one part. I needed to add more self-help parts to it. And all the things that I talk about during the hour were technically given to me as gifts. And in general, if you’re slightly weird, you can look at everything in life is a gift. That’s how I thought about it and named the show.
On a scale of 1 – WTFAMIDOING, how nervous are you?
I just don’t feel nervous. I’ve realised that my brain just doesn’t have that part to evoke that emotion. It’s almost like a biological flaw. I’ve never had stage fright. I don’t know, it’s almost like a deformity.
If you had to make tier-list of all the cities you’re performing in, which one would be on top and which would be at the bottom?
I think every comedian in the country would agree that Bengaluru is probably the best city to perform in. I also think Pune is pretty good. But since the pandemic, so many people have consumed comedy in various forms when they were at home, it doesn’t feel like you’re travelling to largely different places. It’s a white canvas for everyone who is travelling. Regarding F tier, I don’t know… I’ve never thought that the audience is sh*t.
What did you think of Tottenham’s performance this year in the Premier League?
If you look at it objectively, it was great. Because, before the season started we lost Harry Kane. Everybody in the world would say we would secure the 5th spot. And now, this new manager wins eight games and draws two of the first 10 and suddenly everybody wants this man to win the title. But there was progress made. We could’ve done better in the cup formats but it was fine. We are young team and they will get there eventually.
Get your tickets for Joel Dsouza’s Gift here.
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