Ravi Gupta is nearly halfway through his India-tour and should be leaving Gurgaon for Nagpur any minute now! Curiously, the comedian’s show Kal Ki Chinta Nahi Karta! is primarily workplace humour, but the title suggests—as does Gupta—that it’s got a “chill” vibe. We caught up with the comedian to find out a little more about how he reconciles these two extremes. Speed-read through these rapid-fire questions so you can begin planning your weekend ASAP!
QUICK! WHAT’S THIS SHOW ABOUT?
Meri basically saari observational comedy hai, bahut saari cheezein cover karta hoon usme main jobs ke baare mein, thoda motivational speaker, I’m from UP toh thodi wahaan ki kaahaniya hoti hain aur daily life mein joh bhi cheezein chal rahi hoti hain uske baare mein baat karta hoon.
(I basically do observational comedy—a range of topics, mainly about jobs and I’m a bit of a motivational speaker. I’m from UP, so I share some stories from there. I also talk about things that happen in my daily life.)
HOW MANY SHOWS ARE YOU DOING, ACROSS HOW MANY CITIES?
Yaar, hafte mein four-five shows karta hoon main aur cities mein India ke jitne bhi cities hain, jahaan par bhi stand up ho sakta hai maine cover kar liya hai isme.
(I’m doing four to five shows a week and I’m going to be covering all the cities in India where it’s possible to do stand up.)
HOW LONG DID YOU SPEND WRITING THE SHOW?
Mujhe lagta hai one-two saal tak ka time toh laga hai mujhe yeh pura show iska material pura banane mein.
(I think I have put one to two years of time into making this show and fine-tuning the material.)
IS THIS ALREADY LEADING UP TO A RECORDED SPECIAL FOR A STREAMING PLATFORM?
Abhi, yaar, mera koi plan aisa nahi hai ki main kisi pe apna recorded special daalu. Main chah raha hoon ki pehle bahut saare log hain jinhone pehle special nahi dekha hai, har bar jab bhi main alag-alag sheher mein perform karta hoon toh ekdum nayi audience aake dekhti hai, toh mujhe lagta hai jab tak yeh pura consume nahi kar lunga main, special daalne ka plan tab tak toh nahi hai. Abhi toh nahi hai. Youtube hi meri priority rahegi, main uspe daalta rahunga.
(Right now I have no plans to put my recorded special on a streaming platform. I want that first I can share my special with everyone who hasn’t seen it. Whenever I go to different cities and perform, a fresh set of audience members come to watch the show. So I don’t think I’ll give it to a streaming platform till I exhaust my visibility with live audiences. So, not right now. Right now my priority is YouTube. I’ll keep uploading my work there.)
WHY SHOULD WE WATCH IT LIVE?
So, yeh un logon ke liye hai joh Youtube pe dekhte hain aur unko bahut mazaa aata hai. Agar aap live show pe aaoge toh uska 100% fun zyada hota hai, alag mahaul hota hai aur bahut saare naye material logon ko sunne ko milta hai. Sabko lagta hai YouTube waala hi karte hain hum live mein, aisa nahi hai, hum ekdum one and a half hours naya material karte hain show pe.
(This show is for those people who have watched me on YouTube and have lots of fun. If you come to a live show then you’ll have 100% more fun, with a different environment and new material. Everyone thinks that I use the YouTube material when performing live but that’s not true. I have one and a half hours of new material to use during this show.)
ACCORDING TO YOU, WHO WOULD BE THE IDEAL PLUS-ONE TO BRING TO THE LIVE SHOW?
Kisi ko bhi le aao, yaar, jiske saath aap ko mazaa aata hai, jiske saath achchi vibe hai. Dost, girlfriend, partner, parents, koi bhi! Kisi ke saath bhi aa sakte ho jiske saath aap ko achcha lagta hai.
(Bring anyone who you have a good time with, who you vibe well with. A friend, girlfriend, partner, parents, anyone! You can bring anyone with whom you feel good.)
HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE NAME ‘KAL KI CHINTA NAHI KARTA!’?
Ek meri video viral ho gayi thi same yahin, line yahin thi, “kal ki chinta nahin karta“. Aur mera joh pura material hai, woh bhi thoda sa aise hi hai, ki chill scene hai, kal ki chinta nahi karne wala matlab toh woh jo vibe hai pure show ki woh uss title ko puri tarah se portray karti hai, that’s how.
(I had a video go viral which had the same line, “I don’t worry about tomorrow.” And all of my material, kind of, is like that. It’s a chill scene. That’s the vibe of the whole show and the title portrays that very well. That’s how I came up with it.)
ON A SCALE OF 1 – WTFAMIDOING, HOW NERVOUS ARE YOU?
Agar scale pe mujhe number dene hain ki main apna career ko leke kitna nervous hoon toh main kahunga zero percent. The thing is ki mujhe mazaa aa raha hai, bahut pyar milta hai mujhe, paise bhi mil jaate hain. Aur mujhe lagta hai koi bhi job karke yeh iss tarah ki cheezein toh nahi earn kar paata main so zero percent mere mein nervousness hai, I am very happy with joh main kar raha hoon.
(If I have to put a number on a scale about how nervous I am about my career then I’d say zero percent. The thing is, I’m having fun, I’m receiving love and I’m making money. I don’t think that any job would allow me to earn these things, so I feel zero percent nervousness. I’m very happy with what I’m doing.)
WHAT IS THE NICEST THING YOU’VE HEARD AS A RESPONSE TO THIS SHOW?
So, normally show ke baad log milte hain aur bahut achchi-achchi baatein karte hain. Koi apni anniversary manaa raha hota hai, kisi ne apni wife ko mera show gift kiya hai. Ya koi apne parents ko leke aaye hain and woh bade khush hote hain, ashirwaad deke jaate hain. Yeh sab cheezein hoti rehti hain, koi log bolte hain “main bahut time se hasa hi nahi tha toh aap ne hasa diya!“
(So, normally after a show people come meet me and say lots of nice things. Some are celebrating their anniversary. Someone brought their wife to the show as a gift. Others bring their parents and they respond really happily and wish me well for the future. These kinds of things keep happening. Some people say, “I haven’t laughed for a long time and you made me laugh!”
Aur ek incident mere sath bahut achcha hua, ek corporate show kar raha tha aur joh wahaan ke CEO the woh aaye mere paas aur kahe “aapka kaam bahut achcha lagta hai.” Maine bola “thank you”. Aur baahar gaya toh ek caterer wale bhaiya the, woh daud kar aaye aur kahe “aap ka kaam mujhe bahut achcha lagta hai, meri family dekhti hai.” Toh mujhe yeh cheez bahut achchi lagi ki maine itni wide joh hain janta ko cover kiya hai jaha pe itne log mujhe dekh rahe hain aur connect kar pa rahe hain.
(And one incident happened with me that I really liked. I was doing a corporate show and the CEO came and told me “I loved your work” and I said, “Thank you.” When I was leaving a caterer ran up to me and said, “I like your work a lot and my family watches you perform.” I really liked that I have such a wide audience and that so many people are able to connect with me.)
LASTLY, WILL YOUR FRIEND SIMHA FROM KODAIKANALA BE JOINING YOU ON THIS TOUR?
Yaar, yeh sawaal last wala toh—Simha wala sawal toh kaafi shocking hain, yaar! But I wish ki yaar, woh aa paye. Mujhe toh mohabbat hi ho gayi thi usse aur mera dil wahin reh gaya hai. Kabhi bhi jaunga Kodaikanal toh usse milunga. Agar aisa kuch ho sakta hai kabhi bhi, possible hai, toh main bilkul chahunga yaar, woh aaye, yeh toh bahut achchi cheez hai but yeh sab aap logon ko kaise pata, yaar?
(This question about Simha is really shocking! But I wish they could come. I fell in love with them and I’ve left my heart there. If I ever go to Kodaikanal, I will meet them. If something like that were possible then I would definitely want that they come, that would be so nice. But, how do you people know this?)
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